Mccain just announced he's suspending his campaign and returning to Washington to focus on the economic disturbances we're experiencing. He's asked Obama to agree to suspend the national security debate, which was to take place this Friday.
What? The? Hell?
The President has a lot of jobs to do. One of them is shaping economic policy (jointly with Congress). Another is handling national security policy. When you're President, reality doesn't always give you the option of wearing just one hat at a time. Seriously, I'd like to know what McCain intends to do if -- just to choose a hypothetical example -- North Korea decides to throw out the UN monitors and restart its nuclear weapons program while we're trying to address a liquidity crisis here at home?
I understand that McCain has good reasons for wanting to suspend his campaign. He's behind in the polls, and dropping fast. His running mate is an embarassment. And the US is experiencing major economic disturbances, which is a bit inconvenient for McCain, since all he knows about economics is that his campaign manager Rick Davis and his chief economic adviser Phil Gramm are going to be first against the wall when the revolution comes. I can see how McCain might think he'd benefit from looking serious for a change.
But he screwed this one up good. The President has to be able to perform all of his duties, whenever they're needed. McCain just admitted he's not up to the task.