WTF? Seriously, what the fuck are they thinking? Is the McCain campaign that cynical? That desperate? Or that stupid? All three? Cancel the debate and run to Washington to try and get in on the bailout negotiations and look like he was in command of the issue? Even the Wall Street Journal is dismissive of this latest grand dramatic Hail Mary move:

“So count us as mystified by Senator John McCain’s decision yesterday to suspend his campaign and call for a postponement in Friday’s first Presidential debate so that he and Barack Obama can work out a consensus bill to stabilize the financial system. This is supposed to be evidence of leadership?”

In all fairness the WSJ criticizes Obama in the same editorial, but this is no surprise, their editorial board has been spewing vitriol about him for months. Does their criticism have merit? Sometimes. In this case, uh no. It’s pretty clear that there is one candidate grandstanding this and it’s pretty clear that this is McCain’s modus operandi for any situation where he is clearly at a disadvantage.

Again, WTF?

Like a lot of others, I had a lot of respect for John McCain. Back six months ago I even proclaimed my willingness to vote for him over Clinton should she succeed in winning the primary. But “had a lot of respect” is the operative phrase. Past tense. Now, I have none. I’d even hold my nose and vote for Hillary over him.

What happened to the man? Does he realize that what people liked about him was that he seemed to be smart and independent. Now he just looks like a figurehead for the bunch of cynical fools he calls his “advisors”. First, they led him down the Palin path and now this. Conservative commentator Andrew Sullivan has basically called the Palin pick the ultimate Hail Mary. His reaction to Katie Couric’s interview yesterday with Palin:

“America is in a profound crisis economically and in two grueling wars. And John McCain thinks that if anything were to happen to him, this person is qualified to run the world. One word: terrifying…”

First Palin, then this “suspending” of the campaign and trying to run from the debate. This so obviously a desperate and cynical move. And it’s not a suspension of the campaign, it’s a calculated campaign ploy. David Letterman hit the nail on the head last night:

“Are we suspending it because there’s an economic crisis or because the poll numbers are sliding?”

The McCain camp was clearly having a bad day. The latest polls look grim, and the NY Times revealed yesterday morning that his campaign manager was getting paid as a lobbyist for one of the recent failed mortgage companies up until last month. Rather than stay on message, the McCain campaign panicked and tossed it up.

So how many times in a football game is a Hail Mary in the last 20 seconds of the game anything but a desperate and failed play? Sure, if you’re John Elway the play works. But if you’re Elway, it’s not a Hail Mary, it’s a good play. He can pull it off. McCain can’t. He thinks he’s making a good move but he’s just throwing it up and praying.

If this is what McCain does just because his poll numbers are sliding or to distract from the corruption of his advisors, what kind of plays could we expect if the American people actually bought his drama queen antics and voted him President?

You don’t throw plays like this as President - it ends up real bad. And everyone loses that game…

Politics //