Thursday, September 25, 2008

McCain a No-Show In Yoknapatawpha County?

Senator John McCain thought he was doing the right thing, suspending his campaign for president temporarily, to help work out a bill to bail out Wall Street investment firms' bad business decisions to the tune of $700 billion. The latest example is Washington Mutual, for which the government took over the assets and sold them to JP Morgan.

McCain also asked that Friday's appearance in Oxford, Mississippi with Senator Barack Obama to debate national security issues be postponed. How noble of the Arizona senator, making Obama and the people who run the debates look like fools insisting that the show go on while a national crisis is in progress.

If McCain went through with not showing up, the debate would have to be canceled. No one wants to see Obama debate an empty podium. Also, financial security is on most people's minds these days than national security.

But there are a few flaws in McCain's attempt to look presidential a few weeks before the election.
  • Congressional leaders said that, with a deal close to being finalized, neither McCain's nor Obama's presence in Washington was required. They didn't want a preening photo-op with President Bush in the White House to obscure the issue. Well, that's what they got.
  • McCain might be putting "Country First" with his focus on the Wall Street crisis. But if he wants to be President, he has to learn how to multitask. Even President Bush knows how to do that.
  • Obama is now leading in most polls by as many as 10 points, thanks in part to the economic meltdown.
  • After his nationally-televised pledge to suspend the campaign and return to Washington, McCain remained in New York to be interviewed by Katie Couric on CBS, blowing off an appearance on Late Show with David Letterman. We understand Letterman was steamed.

As of right now, there is no agreement among congressional leaders and President Bush to come to the economy's rescue, putting the debate in William Faulkner's home state in jeopardy. All the sound and fury is in Washington, signifying everything.

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