As promised:
So I had the chance to hear James Carville and Mary Matalin speak. I'd asked Kossacks for question suggestions. Thanks again to everybody who posted.
Sadly ... the Q&A was a bust. Written questions only. I never expected mine to be read. For the record my question was, "When will McCain, and Matalin, and the people who brought us this war start to urge young people to enlist? And would Carville and Matalin urge their daughters to enlist?"
Can't wait for the reply by email.
During lunch I chatted with the gentleman next to me, and I shared my question with him. "Good question," he said. "I wonder why they don't say that." So it wasn't a total loss.
I will say I was not bored:
The event was hosted by the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, which of course is heavily Republican. It was held at the Biltmore, a slate-and-marble structure designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, who believed that architecture can improve people.
On the way in I passed a van with the logo of a major right-wing gasbag outlet, KTAR, decorated with an elephant and a head shot of McCain. The event was MC'd by one of the station's staff, Darrell Ankarlo. At least 300 people made it into the ballroom. The Chamber of Commerce apparatchik spoke briefly about voting and civility and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
(You can see why I didn't expect my traitorous, America-hating question to be read.)
Mary Matalin spoke first. She promised objectivity, given that she supported Fred Thompson, "the only candidate who ever tested positive for Ambien." Mostly she gushed about McCain, and claimed he has the momentum. Why? Because he's decisive, incisive, sincere, ahead of the curve (evidence: Georgia) and able to "act in real time." And a better campaigner than Obama. Media and voters think they know McCain but they really don't and are continually being delighted and surprised by him. She said McCain is underestimated and Obama is overestimated.
She said Barack (she only called him by his first name) was like an opera singer: beautiful, but you can't understand a word. She told us to watch for "the pressure [on Obama] to reduce these abstractions" -- to give shorter, clearer answers. She said the public feels the media is on his side and they don't like it. "That's why they're flocking to these books." That was as close as anybody came to acknowledging the existence of Jerome Corsi.
She said Obama's campaign is relying too much on "the environment," which I took to mean not the ecology but the economy and the sense that the country is going down the tubes. But this environment is not static, she said; it can change. She admitted that the Republican brand was damaged but that when candidates can establish their conservative credentials, they will do well.
Thunderous applause for Matalin. James Carville was up next. Good to be here with the Chamber Democrats: "Both of you." (Funny, that's my shout-out to KTAR's listeners of Glenn Beck.)
He said this election is completely unprecedented: "This thing is incomprehensible.... This is one for the ages." We're seeing a unique confluence of events, he said, including the first major black candidate, the first major female candidate, the oldest major candidate ever, the most-divorced bunch of Republicans, and unprecedented levels of funding, activism, and interest. Who would have expected high ratings for the 23rd debate?
He predicted Obama will make a safe VP choice, like Bunn or Niden, to reassure voters that he won't sell out the government to left-wing crazies (that's us, folks). McCain's pick will be a surprise -- who knows who? (How about Hillary Clinton? That would be a surprise.)
On the 3 a.m. moment, Carville said he just turned 64 and knows damn well where McCain is at 3 a.m.: in the bathroom.
He advised Obama to turn McCain's attacks on him to attacks on the very idea and concept of change. As in: "He's only saying such & such because he wants business as usual." To not run on just the economy. And: "Be a little less cool about everything": Show some passion, some outrage and urgency. "Remind people what's happened."
If he were advising McCain: Promise to serve only one term. Frame the election in terms of where he can and can't work with Pelosi and Reid: I can make X happen and prevent Y from happening, my friends. To promise to appoint four Democrats to the Cabinet.
He said he didn't think the election would be a blow-out but it wouldn't be a squeaker either. It would be won by "four points or something." (I assumed he meant won by Obama) He said don't worry about the state polls: they always follow the national polls, so stay focused on that.
Q&A. Softball time. When will Bill Clinton wholeheartedly support Obama? At the convention. Do they try to influence their daughter's politics? One was for Obama and the other for Ron Paul. How would you advise the other guy? See above.
Subtext: What a great couple. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all get along like them? Civility. Bipartisanship. One nation under centrism. Wotta country.
And above all else:
Try not to mention the war.