Today I gave a presentation...

...about how today's political culture is driven by the politics of the Narrative--stories and personalites winning out over policies and ideas. That was the perception when Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary, and ever since the nomination of What's-Her-Name, it was clear that the Republicans were fighting to win the election on the back of compelling biographies and identifiable personal histories.

But my presentation today hinged on one key factor that is dominating this race: the MEDIA. Members of the MSM, as Vigilante pointed out not long ago, have taken on the job description of moderators looking to inject themselves into the story whenever possible, and in the MSM's hands, the presidential race has taken on the attributes of a high-stakes, down-to-the-wire sporting event--Presidential Bowl XLIV.

If the MSM has its way, this race will remain close and only get closer until crunch time, when one candidate will come through in the clutch and win the presidency after the "game" has been squeezed of all possible drama. In order for the moderators to achieve such a goal, it means that every story the MSM peddles--every Narrative they spin, whether by perpetuating current campaign narratives or creating yarns of their own--must fit into the "punch-counterpunch" framework of the best boxing matches. In short, each candidate must saturate the news cycle for a period, and then the other candidate must take over...back and forth, so on and so on. Because the simple is this: if you dominate the media narrative, you become the prominent candidate and the poll leader. Obama was the main draw (and, hence, the poll leader) right up through the Sarah Barracuda announcement--after that, the narrative shifted and the saturation of the Palin Story took effect. And voila!...McCain-Palin took the media reigns and rode it right into a slight lead in the polls. The combination of repeating the same old colloquial talking points, flaunting Palin's public speaking skills, and hiding her true stance on the issues worked savvily in the Republicans' favor. They found their version of Obama--a big, new, popular story to attract American voters. They seized control of the media narrative, and in so doing seized control of the national polls.

BUT THEN...

Can you say "bailout"? So can millions of other Americans...and for many of them, "solution to economic crisis" begins with "ousting Republicans from control." And so, as The Barracuda Effect became weighed down by Common Sense and Reality, the McCain-Palin Media Domination Phase came to a quiet close....and so did their lead in national polls.

So what does an old, cranky, tired, confused, desperate, calculating Republican presidential nominee do when he's waffled on the economic crisis and is losing his grip on the electorate, even with his Golden Goose-Killer by his side?

Well, he follows the advice of his advisers, of course, and attempts to TAKE BACK MEDIA SATURATION!

Smart idea...but what if it flies in the face of logic (well, perhaps I shouldn't be asking that question to the man who nominated Sarah Palin)? The last 24 hours of John McCain's presidential campaign have been among the most appalling and ridiculous of this 2-year process. He tries to steal back media attention by usurping a moment of genuine bipartisanship from Barack Obama, and then taking it ten steps further by calling for a delay of Friday's debate?!?! Obama's response was swift and correct (to paraphrase: "uh, can't presidents multi-task?"), clearly underlining just how presidential he is and McCain isn't.

Regardless of McCain's cowardly-whining-disguised-as-leadership, bipartisan negotiations commenced today in Washington, and--lo and behold--a tentative bailout deal was reached that both Democrats and Republicans believed to be passable and workable. "Great," I thought, "the debate will certainly go on as scheduled."

The headline I now read from the AP: McCain Campaign Won't Commit to to Debate on Friday.

Uh, huh. Yeah, I see how it works now. McCain is still holding out...still holding strong...still hoping that he will somehow look resolute and presidential as he bucks against a debate that should never be canceled for reasons so illogical...still wondering what the fuck he's gonna do to repair his image...still hoping one of his much more sinister and devious operatives will come up with a masterful strategy to get the Old Man out of this ditch.

Why is he doing this? ....Because at least it's media attention. And even if it's grasping at straws, what does Johnny have to lose? He's already down....he might as well pull out all the insane stops to try and get up off the mat. He's throwing insanity at the electorate and hoping something sticks....his Media Saturation Period depends on it.

I do want a debate tomorrow. I am naively excited about this election cycle. But if Johnny can't make it, I at least hope the networks stick around, Barack shows up, and uses the 90 minutes to talk directly with the American people about why he's the only one capable of leading this nation....since after all, he's the only one who's willing to show up to share his views with America.