Halloween Week: Now’s the time for the October Surprise
October 26th, 2008 at 10:15am Chuck Sweeny
We’re in the final phase of this election; Obama has a lead in the polls and a huge advantage in organization and money. The political talking heads on Sunday morning TV say the election is in the bag for O.
However, as I’ve said many times before, I don’t believe it. The last week — Halloween Week — is historically the time of the October Surprise, a last-minute, game-changing political bomb that cannot be easily rebutted in the time remaining.
It happened to George W. Bush in 2000, and very nearly changed the outcome of that election. As I recall, it was the final Thursday before the election. I had just finished covering Bush speaking at a huge and enthusiastic GOP  rally at the College of DuPage.
(Hilarous Side Note: The rally MC was former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka. However, when then-Gov. George Ryan introduced him, he inexplicably called the man “Dick Butka.” If looks could kill, George wouldn’t have lived long enough to be indicted, convicted and sent to prison. Let’s just say Da Coach was not amused.)
 After the rally, I made my way to my car and waited in a long line of traffic to get back on the road to home. I turned on trusty old WGN to learn that the October Surprise had been dropped by Democratic candidate Al Gore’s campaign.  When Bush was a young man he’d gotten a DUI in Kennebunkport — and never fessed up to it.
 The news sent the high flying  Bush campaign reeling and the polls began to drop. He squeaked by, just barely, with the help of the U.S. Supreme Court and Al Gore’s blunder — he should have demanded a recount of all Florida counties, not just a few.
Anyway, if the McCain camp has something really, really dirty on Obama, and the polls still show the Chicagoan in the lead, the maverick will unload the information on Wednesday or Thursday — and no later than Friday morning.
There’s also the possibility that an external event will occur that makes voters more likely to prefer McCain. That would probably be a Middle East event, such as Israel launching an air assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
I’m not predicting any of this will happen, just giving you some possible scenarios to watch out for as we wrap up the fight I’m calling the Thrilla From Wasilla.
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4 Comments Add your own
1. hokumboy | October 26th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
“There’s also the possibility that an external event will occur that makes voters more likely to prefer McCain. That would probably be a Middle East event, such as Israel launching an air assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities.”
Or,,
US helicopters attacking an area inside Syria’s border?
2. coldhotel | October 26th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
An October Surprise may not necessarily work to McCains advantage. The surprise may be information damaging to either Sen. McCain or Gov. Palin (though I can’t imagine there’s much left); if the surprise is an external event, it all depends on how voters see McCain’s response vs. Obama’s. McCain sometimes is very scary when he talks unscripted; he may say something that makes voters tend to think he wants to start WW3. I think even hawks would be hesitant about another massive troop committment.
3. Milton Waddams | October 27th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Even if the McCain camp doesn’t have something “really, really dirty on Obama” they are not too proud to just make something up. They have proved that they’re willing to do that a few times now.
4. SNuss | October 28th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Who needs to make things up? Obama’s agenda is scary enough.
He wants to raise capital gains taxes to “punish” stock traders for making too much money, even though that will stifle business growth AND reduce tax revenues.
His plan to “spread the money around” is basically a rewrite of Karl Marx’s quote: “From each according to his ability, to each according to their needs”.
And then w get to his Judicial philosophy: Senator Obama has stated very clearly what kinds of Supreme Court justices he wants– those with “the empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old.”
Like so many things that Obama says, it may sound nice if you don’t stop and think (like you of the Far-Left)– and chilling if you do stop and think. Do we really want judges who decide cases based on who or what you are, rather than on the facts and the law?
If that doesn’t scare you, you are must be rabidly Left-Wing partisan, a Socialist, a fool, or all of the above.
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