Steve Schmidt Talks On The Final McCain Flight
John McCain came back to bid farewell to his traveling press corps on his final campaign flight from New Mexico to Arizona. A few minutes later, his chief political strategist Steve Schmidt stood in the aisle surrounded by reporters' digital audio recorders. Here is a quick transcript of what he said:
He's [McCain's] been working very hard over the last 100 days of the campaign. Long day yesterday. Late night. Early start this morning. And he's going to cross the finish line head up, running all the way. We will see results here in a few hours. . . . It's the only way to finish anything that you do in life, that's a competitive venture, which is full speed. . . . We did our absolute best in this campaign in really difficult circumstances. We had some tough cards to play all the way through, and we hung in there all the way. You look back in the middle of September, [the] economic collapse of the country, a number of different things. We did the best we can in historically difficult circumstances from a political climate. It is entirely doubtful that anyone will have to run in a worse political climate than the one John McCain had to run in this year. And we have a path to victory. We are going to know what it is in a few hours. But certainly on a personal level I am very proud to have a chance to be associated with John McCain. He's a hell of a good guy. . . . The global economic collapse in the middle of September occurred at a time when we were ahead in the race, dropping the right-track number to roughly 5, 6, 7 percent, which are numbers that I don't think will ever be seen again in any of our lifetimes. It was a bad economic environment throughout the election, where people were angry at the incumbent party. At the end of the day, I don't think there is another Republican that the party could have nominated that could have made this a competitive race the way that John McCain did. It's one thing we know for sure is that at a Congressional level the Senate Democratic majorities and the House Democratic majorities will expand. The party has been very unpopular. The president's approval numbers were not helpful in the race. But the party as a whole is unpopular with the American people, and that was a big albatross.
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1
Schmidt took no shots at the media, MS? I'm surprised.
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2
Wah wah. It's not my fault.
"I ran out of gas! I had a flat tire! I didn't have enough money for cab fare! My tux didn't come back from the cleaners! An old friend came in from out of town! Someone stole my car! There was an earthquake! A terrible flood! Locusts! -
3
But the party as a whole is unpopular with the American people, and that was a big albatross.
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Huh, weird. The candidate that promises to continue his unpopular predecessor's policies...is unpopular.
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I didn't see that one coming. -
4
dennisdenuto114 - mad props for a Blues Brother quote.
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5
Shorter Schmidt:
"It's not my fault!" -
6
Someone I respect made the same point earlier today but I don't buy it. There ARE decisions he could have made which would hacve allowed him to do better. Flying to Washington to help with the crisis wasn't a problem but announcing that he was 'suspending' his campaign when he did no such thing and trying to cancel the debate both played very poorly.
And face it. Selecting Palin was a huge mistake in that it revealed that he wasn't actually taking the consequences of his decisions seriously. Not a good trait for a potential CiC!
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7
Isn't it a few hours early for a concession speech? That was kinda pathetic.
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8
That looks like a concession speach if I ever saw one. Yes, the timing is wrong for McCain. McCain was his own worst enemy. He abandoned himself to join the mindless hateful fascists in his party. He had the oppotunity to not only restore his party from the Bushie damage, but to restore the country too. He took the low road, and Obama took the high road. May all Republican fascists burn in hell. McCain and Schmidt will be there if there is a just god.
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9
Nice try Schmidt, but I don't think the Republican establishment will buy this. To them, this guy had a white war-hero POW established-brand-maverick loved-by-the-media who lost to a leftist inexperienced black guy in war time.
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10
[...] did anyone read this statement by steve schimdt today? [...]
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11
Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah nah, nah nah, Goodbye.
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12
Schmidt is right, the economy is the only reason the Democrats won. Sarah Palin is the still the future of the party. With Sarah Palin at the helm, a non-issue, full bore insult and innuendo campaign, is sure to work next time. No one should should break a sweat trying to dissuade Schmidt of his assumptions.
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13
We have a new President. He is practical, moral, and intellectual. ............
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/11/04/finally-an-intellectual-moral-president/
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14
Steve Schmidt's time to talk
Apologise for reports
Set up for failure? -
15
The global economic collapse in the middle of September occurred at a time when we were ahead in the race, dropping the right-track number to roughly 5, 6, 7 percent, which are numbers that I don't think will ever be seen again in any of our lifetimes.
As long as we keep the Republican Party, as it is currently constituted, out of power I agree with him.
- michaelscherer @alangrayson TIME told your story (http://bit.ly/cdG9qb), tho not how you would have told it, here: http://bit.ly/YSRHh - 7 hours ago
- michaelscherer RT @PElliottAP: Obama makes surprise visit to White House briefing room. Tune in. - 9 hours ago
- michaelscherer RT @ryssiebee: 92 magazine covers, 10 years, 2 minutes. http://bit.ly/5d7oCo - 12 hours ago
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