McSame's 'Suspended' Campaign: Da Call

(Updated below)

So, McSame today suspended his campaign:

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is announcing that he would like to suspend his campaign and delay Friday’s foreign policy debate to focus on the financial crisis. According to MSNBC, McCain would like to come back to Washington and help work out a bailout package on Thursday.

(...)

This interest in the bailout is new for McCain. As recently as yesterday, when a reporter asked him about his position on the Bush administration’s financial proposals, McCain said, “I have not had a chance to see it in writing. I have to examine it.” As the stock market tanked and the federal government bailed out financial institutions over the past week, McCain has been campaigning around the country. Originally, McCain McCain planned to skip the vote on the bailout and continue campaigning.

The last time McCain voted in the Senate was on April 8.

(...)

McCain senior adviser Mark Salter said that McCain “will suspend airing all ads and all campaign events pending an agreement with Obama, though Salter did not know whether John McCain will suspend fundraising activities. He added that McCain would take part in the debate as scheduled if Congress reached agreement on the measure by Friday morning.”

Let's hear it in McCain's own words:

In his statement, McCain said it had become clear that “no consensus has developed to support the administration’s proposal.” He called on Bush to convene a leadership meeting in Washington that would include him and Obama.

McCain said that if Congress did not pass legislation to address the crisis, credit would dry up, people would no longer be able to buy homes, life savings would be at stake and businesses would not have enough money

“If we do not act, every corner of our country will be impacted,” McCain said. “We cannot allow this to happen.”

Or, as he put it in other words:

"I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time."

The question is, of course, why does McCain deem his presence in the bailout package negotiations so indispensable? Because:

Salter also said McCain called President Bush and talked to colleagues in Washington and learned that passage of the bailout plan was next to impossible.

Impossible? Really?

What say you, Mr. U.S. Secretary of Treasury?

"I believe we're going to get a bill that works and a clean bill," he told TIME. "It certainly won't be exactly what we asked for, it never is, but it's got to be sufficient to let us do the job." And Paulson thinks he'll get it soon. "We're right in the period where the sausage is being made," he says, but "I clearly believe we're going to get it done this week. We need to get it done this week."

Okay. What about you, Mr. chairman of the House Financial Services Committee?

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee (...) said in an interview on MSNBC that negotiators were close to reaching a tentative agreement on the bailout and said Obama’s and McCain’s help was not needed.

Indeed:

The debate over a proposed $700 billion government bailout of the nation's financial system raced forward on Wednesday as the Bush administration and congressional Democrats moved closer to a deal.

Ooopsie, eh Mr. McSame?

Oh - and what was that your campaign said about the need to keep "politics" out of these negotiations and all? Ah, yes:

Aides denied that the proposal was a political move. They said McCain hoped to create a “political free zone” until a deal to rescue the the financial industry could be reached.

Political free zone, you say, eh?

Let's see:

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, welcomed MCCain’s offer (to suspend his campaign and come to Washington to help in the negotiations). “This is the John McCain I know,” Hatch said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Hardball.” “He is willing to risk [the] election to do what’s right for the country.”

Or this:

Immediately after McCain's announcement, White House press secretary Dana Perino released this statement: "We welcome Sen. McCain's announcement. We are making progress in negotiations on the financial markets rescue legislation, but we have not finished it yet. Bipartisan support from Sens. McCain and Obama would be helpful in driving to a conclusion."

And this:

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a McCain ally, said that having the candidates join in negotiations over the bailout would be "enormously helpful."

"We need a solution on this financial crisis more than we need a foreign policy debate," said Graham, R-South Carolina. "The next seven days could determine the financial well-being of this country. We can postpone the debate for a week."

And Rep. Roy Blunt, the Republicans' House whip, said McCain's decision to return to Washington "is a testament to the fact that [he] is a guy who would rather be part of the solution than run away from the fight."

Or this:

U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced that he is suspending his campaign, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) called the tactic "an outstanding idea."

Or this:

And this:

Fox reporter Carl Cameron lauded the “very, very big move” by McCain. Fox host Martha MacCallum hailed it as “a bold move, a very strong move.” Cameron added that McCain is making “some political sacrifice” by volunteering to leave the campaign trail.

Or this:

"John McCain's leadership and experience credentials outrank Barack Obama's," said Sarah Simmons, a McCain campaign strategist, this morning. "[We are] walking through a crisis and people are looking to see how it is going to be handled."

Or how about this crass exploit (yet again) of 9/11:

McCain went on to compare the current crisis in the financial markets with the attacks of Sept. 11 and called on politicians to draw on the bipartisan spirit created during those times in order to solve the economic problems of the country today.

"Following September 11th, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis," McCain said. "We must show that kind of patriotism now. Americans across our country lament the fact that partisan divisions in Washington have prevented us from addressing our national challenges. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country."

No injecting politics into bailout negotiations ... ri-ight.

Nevermind also that all the proper talking points were primed and ready before McCain announced his "campaign suspension".

It must be sheer, incredible coincidence then that in terms of the timing of this move, the only thing that's changed in the last 48 hours is the public polling - no? Indeed:

Obama has opened a nine-point lead in the race for president amid voter concerns over the U.S. financial crisis, according to a poll published Wednesday.

The Washington Post-ABC news poll suggests Obama has backing from 52 per cent of voters, compared with McCain, who has support from 43 per cent of voters.

According to the poll, respondents gave Obama a double-digit edge in his ability to handle a troubled economy over McCain, while just nine per cent of those questioned rated the economy as being in good or excellent shape, reported the Washington Post.

Conclusion: McCain's so-called suspension of his campaign is nothing more than a facile, cynical political ploy in order to win sympathy among the American public and come across as Da Self-Sacrificing Decider - all the while dodging the bullet on this Friday's debate-to-come and, at the same time, trying to help Palin also dodge the bullet in the upcoming VP debate (not counting throwing pixie dust in everyone in order to distract from his utter incompetence in dealing with the economy and the overwhelming presence of lobbyists tied to the current crisis).

More than ever, the McCain campaign is nothing but a long series of cheap political stunts (9/11 memorial video, Palin choice as VP, calling for firing U.S. Secretary of Treasury, etc.).

Da call: McCain and campaign - 2 minutes for delaying the game, 5 minutes for unsportsman-like conduct, and automatic loss for abandoning the game.

As Obama puts it:

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) just gave a press conference responding to Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) suggestion that they both suspend their campaigns, postpone Friday’s debate in Mississippi, and return to Washington to deal with the financial crisis. Obama said that he would like to the debate to go forward as planned because “it is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once”:

With respect to the debates, it’s my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess. And I think that it is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once. I think there’s no reason why we can’t be constructive in helping to solve this problem and also tell the American people what we believe and where we stand and where we want to take the country.

Or, in other words:

"It's the longest Hail Mary pass in the history of either football or Marys."

Hear, hear!

Meanwhile, Bush is about to speak to the American People, to say a bunch of platitudes, that all of this crisis is not his fault and that the bailout plan he proposes must be without oversight - so that all those poor CEOs can be saved "as it oughta be" ...


Update 9:30 PM: wow - did I call it or what? And now Bush is saying that the U.S. is looking at "a long and painful recession"? Ooops - here's that reality thing finally biting him in the ass again, eh? Did someone say - incompetence? That's about right.