Great Debate for Palin, But It’s Only a Footnote

Go Sarah. Palin definitely won the debate — with herself. So far the instant polls give the night to Joe Biden, and that is because he did what he had to do: no harm.

Debate aside — and it will end up being just an aside — these are tough days for the campaign and candidacy of John McCain. Palin problems and money problems have clearly plagued him for weeks, but the Wall Street crisis told us a lot about McCain. From start to finish of the bailout struggle on Capitol Hill, McCain has bungled a critical opportunity. He “suspended” his campaign but didn’t. Tried to delay the debate but showed up anyway. Then in the days that followed he made it clear he wasn’t leading on the bailout negotiations in that bipartisan way he promised. Not at all.

Then on Wednesday night McCain voted for the Senate bill that attracted 75 votes with its savory bacon smell. Larded up with “a $2 million tax benefit for makers of wooden arrows for children; a $100 million tax break to benefit auto racetrack owners; $192 million in rebates on excise taxes for the Puerto Rican and Virgin Islands rum industry; $148 million in tax relief for U.S. wool fabric producers; and a $49 million tax benefit for fishermen and other plaintiffs who sued over the 1989 tanker Exxon Valdez spill,” it was a real crowd-pleaser.

A Republican veteran I spoke with Thursday said he begged the campaign to seize the moment for McCain, suggesting McCain hold up the heavy 400-page bill and claim “no,” he would not support the way Washington works, doling out pork to pass emergency legislation. McCain could have stood against both parties, and on the side of the taxpayer, but he stayed silent. Yesterday, when he was asked about the pork he didn’t have an answer (read the AP story here).

Why didn’t McCain speak on the Senate floor about the bill? Why didn’t he speak out against the pork? And as his friend and former adviser Mike Murphy asked this week — what was McCain doing getting grumpy in the conference room of The Des Moines Register with an editorial board of a paper in a state he is clearly going to lose?

Unfortunately for McCain, Charles Krauthammer isn’t asking questions anymore and sounds like he has pretty much given up on him. Read his column today here.

DOES PALIN’S GREAT DEBATE HELP MCCAIN? Ask AB returns Monday, Oct. 6. Please join my weekly video Q&A by sending your questions and comments to askab@digital-staging.thehill.com. Thank you.