Economic Crisis or a Political One?

By now, I'm sure everyone has heard: John McCain will be suspending his presidential campaign some time tomorrow in order to focus on the proposed legislation for bailing out Wall Street. As part of his campaign suspension, he is also pulling out of the long-scheduled and anticipated debate with Barack Obama on Friday, and his campaign has mentioned the desire to postpone the vice-presidential debate, slated for next week, until an undetermined time.

If someone tried to make this up and sell it as a movie script, it would be deemed a fantasy. It is just that out there.

For one, McCain has been absent from the Senate since April 2008. Up until today, he has felt no apparent sense of urgency about getting back to the role of being senator, and the Senate, for its part, does not seem to have ground to a halt. In addition, McCain is on neither the Joint Congressional Economic Committee nor the Senate Banking Committee. He has admitted that economics is not his forte. He has a long and storied history (up and until some time last week) of being a champion of deregulation. So why exactly is his input so direly needed at this juncture? He hasn't been at the hearings, hell, as of yesterday, he hadn't even "examined" the bailout package proposal. Realistically, what does he have to add to the mix that is so important that he needs to miss a presidential debate? I mean, seriously. Is his input even going to be helpful? For a hardcore deregulator to turn around and try to write economic regulations would be like a fundamental Muslim trying to write a Papal encyclical! It makes no sense!

Second, the news of the Wall Street crisis and talks about a bailout hit last week. Last week. Where was McCain's sense of urgency and duty then? Why didn't he come off the campaign trail at that time and rush to Washington so that others could learn the fundamentals of economics at his knee? Couldn't he have skipped his rally in Minnesota on Friday? Or how about his rally in Pennsylvannia on Monday? Why now? Especially now that there are so many questions about his campaign, and more specifically, his campaign manager, Rick Davis. And if the crisis was so urgent, why didn't he fly back to Washington immediately after making his announcement today? Why stay in New York for an interview with Katie Couric and to give a speech tomorrow morning? It doesn't add up.

Third, the McCain campaign wants to postpone the vice-presidential debate. Seriously? Why is that exactly? Sarah Palin has absolutely no role in Congress. She is not needed there to work through the details of the bailout. So why postpone her debate if Joe Biden is ready to go forward with it? I mean, Sarah Palin has had zero - count `em - zero press conferences since becoming the Republican vice-presidential nominee. The amount of interviews she has given can be counted on one hand. For someone who could potentially become the next president of the United States, there has been very little opportunity to see whether she can truly pass muster. And that is frightening. If she is, as the McCain campaign has stated, ready to lead on Day 1, then why isn't she ready to debate next week?

The move reminds of an action that I am sure many people have done at one time or another. It's the "dog-at-my-homework" move. I remember being in high school and not being prepared for a test, so instead of showing up and failing my test, I used the good ole "I'm sick" routine to buy more time. I've been there, really. But the difference was, I was in high school and the only one who was really affected was me. I wasn't a 72-year-old adult vying for the highest office in the land. I mean, once I became an adult and had real responsibilities, I didn't shirk them in that way. And would hope that someone who wants to guide our country for the next 4 years would have more integrity and gumption than to pull something like this.

Honestly, Senator McCain, it seems that the pressing crisis of the moment is more a political one than an economic one. The only reason you're worried about the economy is because the economic crisis is causing a political crisis for your poll numbers.