good--just say no!!

John McCain is official the Roberto Duran of politics. I would beg Obama to run a "No mas! No mas!" ad.

Obama: Say this: It's clear McCain wants to be MIA for a tough talk about tough times. Americans need us now than ever--they need to know where we stand on issues like this.

This IS the 3:00 am call and McCain wants to put "gone fishing" on his voicemail....

The Obama campaign message must be:

"We tried to make a non-partisan move on behalf of the country but John McCain turned it into a political stunt. John McCain has stabbed us in the back."

the only objective thing to say now is this: mccain has sold his soul to the devil ........plain and simple ...

How many rediculous stunts can he possibly come up with? I say he'll film a homemade porn video with Pamela Anderson (or maybe Charo) next.

that's putting country first? that's putting aside politics to lead? is mccain trying to make bush look bipartisan by comparison?

McCain has now canceled his appearance on Letterman for tonight--Olbermann will appear instead. (Go Keith!!).

Do I see a pattern here? Talk about fearful and running off with your tail between your legs....

It wouldn't even be the first time in this campaign that debate questions were asked towards an empty John McCain podium, if you saw the Values Voter Debate.

And I thought then that this campaign couldn't get much weirder.

Obama should state that he is surprised at McCain's independent statement asking for his cooperation when, at Obama's initiative, they had already agreed earlier that day to cooperate and issue a *joint* statement.

He should state further that his campaign is prepared to both deal with the financial issue and to carry on with the debate, which the American people have much anticipated. That of course he undertook this campaign knowing that he would have to also continue serving as Senator from Illinois even as he campaigned, and is prepared to do so know. However, if Mr. McCain feels that he would prefer to tackle one responsibility at a time, Obama's campaign will oblige them by postponing the debate.

However, as the Democratic campaign is not the work of the candidate alone, but of several million volunteers, he is unable to suspend it in any meaningful sense.

Massive error on McCains part. Obama is doing this exactly right. Now McCain HAS to show up and Obama in the drivers seat.

Advice to the Dems: Sign the deal Friday afternoon and make McCain miss his flight. Then show up in Mississipi late, tired and angry.

McCain...decides it's time for a stunt.

Have you seen the polls lately? Notice any trends since the McCain peak after the RNC?

it's time for a stunt.

Instead of canceling the debate, change the focus from foreign affairs to the economy. Obama and McCain can do a little brainstorming. We'll see who better understands the economy.

Sound the retreat!

Too late for stunts like this. McCain is getting hammered and now he's cut and run from his opponent. Gutless. A pair of pretty legs couldn't save him.

Obama should just stay steady as she goes. Don't over-react, don't make wild exclamations. Just keep campaigning on the issues.

The media will address Senator McCain's very odd behavior. McCain definitely does not look "presidential" now. Bush, and now McCain, have made the Republican brand as worthless as AIG's assets.

why suspend the campaign? isn't that what a "back-up" is for? in other words, if mccain needs to be in washington, why not send palin in? obama v. palin on friday would be great.

McCain suspends his campaign so he can apply a tournequet to his mouth.

If you think this is "desperate" just wait until Cheney, Bush, Palin and McCain announce that the election will be "suspended".

So a man who admits he knows little about the economy and has no actual leadership or administrative role in the economy MUST rush to Washington for photo ops?

Or is this a guy with early dementia who is afraid to be seen by the American people in any sort of venue beyond the prepared statement and photo op?

McCain has no 'job' in Washington on the economy. Heck he hasn't made 60% or more of the votes on all issues in the last few years.

This is about hiding from the American people.

If not facing the American people and responding to questions now? Then when? Switch the debate to the economy and talk to us.

You got to love this. Neal Boortz, rightwing talk show clown, said on CNN that he's afraid people will think the reason for McCain wanting to delay the debate is that he's not prepared for it. Really? Not ready for a debate on foreign affairs? Rightwing talk show hosts need to learn to not say everything they think.

Jimmy-John McCarter.... I guess this is how you answer the Rick Davis fiasco...and the tanking economy....just put off the debates.. like Carter did with Reagan until it was too late.
I can't believe the lengths this guy will go to.

Obama's reply should go something like this:

Real leadership requires the capacity to attend to all of the nation's problems. A President can't ask Al Qaeda to stop attacking our troops so he can work on the economy; a President can't ask the potential hurricane off the North Carolina coast to suspend its movement so that he can work on the economy; and a President can't pretend that foreign policy can wait for another day so he can work on the economy. Real leadership requires leaders who can lead and who aren't afraid of the challenge. I can and will attend to my responsibilities as a Senator and debate Senator McCain Friday evening, and I am disappointed to learn that he doesn't think he's man enough for the job. (last phrase intended to set off McCain's infamous temper).

I'd say that a brief suspension of both campaigns is a very good idea.

I agree--do McCain/ Palin if need be--but what does five hours on Friday night make a difference to what is going on?

Where is Bush/Cheney in all of this????

It's really up to BUSH et al. right now to help us and only for Obama and McCain to comment and propose...as right there in the debate...

McCain is panicking yet again...

SecularAnimist: I've been waiting for that announcement. It will be say something like, "In times like these we can't afford an election."

Joke's on McCain, though. Once they cancel the election, Bush and Cheney will just settle in for the long haul, and appoint Sarah Secretary of State.

Obama looks sensible, steady, and mature while McCain caroms from one stunt to the next, one lie to another. This is the first national crisis that either of them have had to confront and the difference between their responses is not good news for McCain.

I think McCain's about to pull a Ross Perot, from when he pulled out of the campaign in 1992 and had trouble restarting it. Sure, McCain only means this to be a short-term reprieve, but this will do SERIOUS damage to his campaign. Even the wingnuts will have trouble taking this seriously (though I'm sure they're pretend to).

Perhaps some day his handlers will figure out that gimmicks aren't a substitute for strategy, but I'm quite positive it will be too late. McCain hasn't had a strategy since he started running for president and was lucky to make it this far. Political gimmicks will only take you so far.

"Where is Bush/Cheney in all of this????"

They've checked out. They've fattened their wallets, they've opened a cash spiget over their cronies...Mission Accomplished. They don't care about any of this.

McCain speech, shortened: "Oh my god, we're headed for a Depression!!!"

Michael Masinter nails it at 4:04 PM.

...except I'd end it like this.

"Perhaps now more than ever, the American people need and deserve to hear what they can expect from the next POTUS, whoever they choose. I cannot agree with any proposal that leaves Americans feeling even more in the dark than they already are about what is happening and what they can expect to happen in our respective administrations."

Or some such. Do it, Barack.

Debate. We the American people want and need the debates to happen. The world will not end if they are not in Washington. There are many solutions and there are more people working on them and they do not need McCain in there. He is AVOIDING the debates and needs to stop the stunts.

Him being there is useless.

As I said as part of a more extensive post at 3:26 on the prior thread. . .

All Obama has to do is say

"Look, I don't know about John McCain, but I have been focused on the economy. Yes, I've been preparing for our debate, too, but I understand that if I get the honor of serving this great country as President, you don't have the luxury of suspending things coming at you too fast. You have to deal with more than one thing at a time. So yes, we should focus on the economy and I intend to do that. But there is no need to leave the American people out of that focus. The American people have an important decision to make in just over 40 days. We should focus on the economy by taking this discussion to them, not holding it just in Washington. Delaying debates only keeps the American people in the dark. So my challenge to John McCain is this: we should go ahead and debate this Friday, but instead of the planned Foreign Policy debate, lets debate the most pressing issue on the minds of voters today - the Economy? How about it John - you've been in Congress 26 years, you should be ready to discuss the economy. I plan to be at that debate, and I look forward to both of us sharing our views on how to help the American families, American workers and American main street through this crisis."

McCain doesn't know what to do so run to the Whitehouse and ask big George?

Heck if McCain is a leader he should be able to lead where ever he is.

i don't know. . .as much as we all agree, the crazies on fox's web-site are all thanking sen. mccain for putting country first. it's going to work with a lot of people, sadly enough.

Suspension of disbelief.

If Wealthcare is the most important thing for John to work on right now, re-enter the quasi-world of Senatorhood, then he has my permission to do so.

What he can't do is postpone the debate. The American people are not going to be glued to their tv sets tonight when GWB pontificates about Wealthcare. What we need now is a clear picture of what a new administration would look like.

It's as if the importance of the election has faded. In a way that's true since a huge chunk of money isn't going to be around soon, hog-tying anyone's plans.

Greatest thing that could ever happen to Obama - he plays it right (aka just show up for the debates saying 'I can do more than one thing at a time') he slam-dunks the election.

So, Obama plans on taking money from the middle class and shoring up the super wealthy?

This is the bind that progressives get in to, rather than programs that make the poor better in their current, local environment, they make the poor dependent on federal aggregation of funds and therefore the poor participate in bailing out the rich.

One might think that progressives, rather than make poor people worse off, would stop for a minute and try to figure it out.

Absolutely -- candidates have dealt with crises and managed their electoral campaigns before this.

McCain's move was motivated by desperation, not statesmanship.

McCain choose Sara Palin - there isn't anything else he can do to surprise or disgust me!!

The proper response from Obama would be to call for a change in focus with the debate. Debate economic policies and put the foreign policy debate off to a later date.

zeitgeist @4:12 PM - brilliant.

To think I ever respected or even admired McCain. The man is a coward, an idiot and a pile of s__t who's sold his soul in his desperation to become president. There's one reason and one reason only why he's doing this; he's losing and he knows it and he's afraid that if he does poorly in this debate it could be over. So he's running from it. Coward.

Here's an idea: Obama could take McCain up on this with one vital difference: allow their VP picks to stand in for them. That is what VPs are supposed to do, right?

Kudos to Zeit for getting it absolutely right. But one point nobody's noticing. McCain's saying he's suspending his ads, hoping that Obama will do the same -- but that won't stop Republican 527s from keeping up their own ads.

why suspend the campaign?

I'm pretty sure the idea is that it makes him look like a man of action (looking presidential is inconsequential at this point), that his actions will determine what the Senate decides. Suspend the campaigning = enough talk! roll up your sleeves democrats, there is a new maverick in town.

It may just sell. What else does he have?? It'll take the heat off of the Davis situation and take Palin out of the spotlight and thrust McCain into the spotlight/issues. Whether he can handle them or not is a totally differnt question. This could be his last hail mary attempt here at 4th down.

Why NOT suspend the campaign when Bush/Cheney are going to suspend the election?

Taegan Goddard quotes The Politico's Ben Smith:

"The only thing that's changed in the last 48 hours is the public polling."

Word.

And we didn't suspend Presidential elections during the Great Depression or World War fucking II. The American people won't stand for it now -- not with Bush at rock-bottom approvals.

So McCain can't multi-task....gotcha. I would have hated to have HIM in charge during WWII. "Let's ignore Germany, while we take care of Japan first."

In all honesty, this shows why McCain is REALLY out of touch with middle America: Namely he thinks that we are unable to focus on anything BUT the financial crisis, so he feels that's what he has to focus on. Well, McCain, many of us are adroit multi-taskers -- we have to juggle our childrens schedules, our financial investments, our jobs, our bills, all at the same time. We don't have the luxury of taking a break from one problem to deal with another.

Man, that guy IS a maverick!

His base and a few Joe Six-packs will be conned into seeing this as McCain putting "Country First." But, this too will fade. I don't think Obama has to lay a glove on McCain over this. Ultimately, McCain is punching himself just fine.

Someone said earlier that this would be the time for Palin to make a quiet exit. I can definitely see that happening.

"Issuing a joint statement outlining their shared principles and conditions for the Treasury proposal and urging Congress and the White House to act in a bipartisan manner to pass such a proposal"
Lipstick, meet pig.

The way Bush-Paulson-Bernanke and now McCain are handling this crisis is eerily similar to the buildup to the Iraq war. Selectively release dire information from high-level officials to create a sense of urgency. Make it seem like immediate, unilateral action is the only solution to this problem. Don't ask questions -- just let the Oval Office call the shots until it all blows over.

Then, one week before the election, Bush unfurls the "Mission Accomplished" banners and McCain struts ahead of the marching band boasting about saving the country from the biggest economic disaster since the depression (even though he and his staff sleepwalked through it and even helped cause it).

Creating a central economic authority with no Congressional oversight used to be called a monarchy. Screw this bullsh*t. Now is the time for transparency and public debate -- we need more democratic process, not unconstitutional power grabs. Look where it got us with Iraq.

Country first? What about democracy first? After all, if democracy is good enough for Iraq and the Middle East it should be good enough for the taxpayers. Didn't George Will just tell us last week that one of the interpretations of the Bush Doctrine is the promotion of democracy?

Republican leaders are as incompetent as they are arrogant, a bunch of shallow, transparent autocrats with an appreciation of politcal theatricality but bereft of ideas.

New slogan:

John McCain: Too sexy for his campaign

I think it's a medical issue.

Look, they've both got private planes. It would take, what, six or seven hours to fly from D.C. to Oxford, MS, have the debate, and fly back. The idea that it's impossible for McCain to be there is absurd. Notice that he didn't suggest having the debate at a site closer to Washington, either.

No, he "suspended" his campaign, which means he will now go into seclusion, out of public view for the better part of a week. All of this in the middle of a closely fought, see-saw campaign, just prior to a debate that would be VERY widely watched and that would play to McCain's strength as a candidate.

The more I think about this one, the weirder it looks. I'm thinking McCain has had a stroke, or maybe they found him talking to a coffee pot and decided they had to call a time out before he melted down in public.

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