So come Thursday morning, which media narrative about John McCain's campaign suspension and rush to Washington will stick? Will it be John McCain, the hero and maverick, putting politics aside to put his "country first" as he has so many times before? Or, will it be John McCain, the desperate and flailing politician who is trying to cynically use the country's severe economic crisis for his own benefit, calling his entire campaign slogan into question?
Reading some of the analysis coming out early this morning, I tend to believe the media is seeing through this latest stunt. Can you believe it?
Harold Meyerson, Washington Post:
Can McCain pull this off - persuading the public to forget how he and his fellow Reagan Republicans changed the nation's economic rules in ways that allowed Wall Street to run amok, and refocusing its attention on his decisiveness at this moment of crisis? I doubt it.
McCain's ploy was transparent.
Todd Gillman, The Dallas Morning News:
Democrats accused Mr. McCain of pulling a stunt to halt a slide in the polls. They also tweaked him for declaring the economic situation so dire it requires suspension of his campaign, a week after he declared the fundamentals of the economy are sound.
Some independent analysts agreed. "It is a stunt. It is a ploy," said David S. Birdsell, dean of the school of public affairs at Baruch College in New York, an expert on presidential debates.
He called it a "very high-risk strategy" for Mr. McCain to take responsibility for brokering a solution to the economic crisis. "He's not president yet," Dr. Birdsell said, adding that pulling out of a debate is unprecedented. "That notion that we take one of the most sacred obligations and rituals of American politics and suspend it because there's an urgent national question is highly problematic."
Rocky Mountain News (CO) Editorial Page:
If Winston Churchill could leave London in December 1941 and travel to America to address a joint session of Congress even as British troops in the Far East were reeling under Japanese attacks, somehow we think John McCain can make his way down to Oxford, Miss., for a debate Friday evening without imperiling the future of America. In this case, Barack Obama is right.
John Dickerson, Slate:
Even more than his selection of Sarah Palin as running mate, this gambit feels like a wild improvisation someone in the McCain team mapped out on his chest: OK, you run to the fire hydrant, cut left, and then when he gets to the Buick, John, you heave it.
It's not clear what exactly McCain is going to do in Washington. He doesn't sit on any of the relevant committees and everyone is already deep in negotiations. Still, he's coming anyway. It doesn't make much logical sense.
Thomas Defrank, NY Daily News (with the photo caption: Bold... or bonkers?)
Still, there's an old saying in politics: Think political, but never look political. Given McCain's timing, this seems more political than altruistic. "It looks like a desperate stunt," said another GOP political consultant who worked for a McCain primary opponent. "McCain could have bailed out of the debate a week ago if this was really about the merits."
New York Times Editorial:
We don’t know if Mr. McCain or Mr. Obama will do any good back in Washington. But Mr. McCain’s idea of postponing the Friday night debate was another wild gesture from a candidate entirely too prone to them. The nation needs to hear Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain debate this crisis and demonstrate who is ready to lead.
Deron Snyder, Florida News-Press:
I guess John McCain thinks postponing Friday's debate is the noble thing to do, putting politics aside to work on the financial mess. But the suggestion alone is pure politics, with McCain hoping for a win-win scenario.
Wall Street Journal Editorial:
Last we checked, the President of the United States was still George W. Bush, the Secretary of the Treasury was still Henry Paulson, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve was still Ben Bernanke, and Congress still had 533 members not running for President who are at least nominally competent to debate and pass legislation.
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?
I could go on and on since I found so many examples of the media seeing through this latest political stunt form the McCain campaign but I'll stop here. I think the reaction I've been reading indicates that the debate will go forward as planned on Friday - maybe with more emphasis on the economy - and McCain will just end up looking like a big fool. What do you think?
UPDATE: Thanks for the recs. I've never made the rec list before! I live in South Korea so I get to read all the early morning news at night!