Was John McCain’s call to suspend the presidential campaign and delay the first debate a brilliant political move or was it gimmicky? Let’s assume his call for Barack Obama, President Bush and congressional leaders to huddle with McCain and draw up a bipartisan plan to address the Wall Street fiasco works. The upside obviously is that McCain comes across as a leader who can bring all parties together to the table and come up with solutions. Just the appearance of McCain calling for such a summit and willing to put his presidential aspirations on the line suggests someone willing to put politics above his country. Plus, it improves McCain’s standing among the electorate, which consistently across the nation has suggested Obama is better able to handle the economy than McCain. With McCain’s campaign in trip-and-fall mode since the downfall of Lehman Bros. and Merrill Lynch, days upon days of missteps (the foundation of the economy is sound?) and watching Obama surge ahead in the poll numbers, the situation left McCain with few options.
Plus, Friday’s debate is to focus on foreign policy, perceived as a McCain strength. No one doubts this economic crisis remain front and center on into the weekend, so the debate would have to share the spotlight with the Wall Street mess. If you’re campaign’s strongest thread is foreign policy and national security, wouldn’t you want the spotlight to yourself instead of sharing it with a story that makes Obama look good and the GOP really really bad?
And so in his maverick way McCain acted.
There’s only one problem.
Will Obama play this game?
Nope:
Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama said at a news conference later Wednesday that he and McCain had spoken by phone and had agreed to issue a joint statement about shared principles in the approach to resolving the economic crisis.
But he disagreed with McCain’s call for postponing Friday’s first presidential debate in Oxford, Mississippi.
“It’s my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person will be the next president,” Obama said in Clearwater, Florida. “It is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once. It’s more important than ever to present ourselves to the American people.”
Regarding McCain’s call to join him in Washington to help participate in the congressional debate over the Bush administration’s proposed $700 billion Wall Street bailout, Obama said, “If I can be helpful, then I’m prepared to be anywhere, any time. … [I] don’t want to infuse Capitol Hill with presidential politics.”
Only time will tell if McCain’s bold move pays off with voters. I think part of his decision was to beat back the calls by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke for a bailout package that would force McCain’s hand on the issue in the Senate, forcing to make a difficult vote one way or the other. Vote for it and tick off the electorate that doesn’t want to help out greedy, mistake-ridden Wall Street types. Vote against it and be painted as someone who’s unwilling to do anything about the current crisis. Not a good place to be for McCain.
Now, the coming day or days will show if McCain has to vote or will the President, Congress, the nation’s financial leaders and/or Obama pull the bailout legislation off the table in favor of seeking something different.
Either way, the victory song about McCain’s move to suspend his campaign has yet to be written.
