McCain's Disingenuous Debate Ploy

Let's see - this week he is quickly sinking in the polls, to the dismay of his Christianist supporters, his chief 0f staff has been outed as gay, the National Inquirer has dropped the bomb of an adulterous affair allegation on Sarah Palin, it has been reported that his campaign chief was receiving payments - dare we say bribes - from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac up until a month ago despite his (and McCain's) denials to the contrary, and on top of that, Palin just bombed in an interview with Katie Couric. Oh, and, how did we get from "the economy is fundamentally sound" as McCain recently stated to the economy is on the verge of collapse? Yep, I think I'd want to avoid a debate that might leave me open to questions about one or more of the foregoing nastily inconvenient issues. Especially since McCain has voted with Bush 90+% of the time and opposed increased regulation of the financial markets. Here are some highlights from the Washington Post:

*

NEW YORK -- The financial crisis on Wall Street overwhelmed the 2008 presidential race today, as Republican presidential nominee John McCain this afternoon said he would suspend his presidential campaign tomorrow to return to Washington to work on the proposed $700 billion bailout plan. Democratic rival Barack Obama declined to follow suit, saying he would return only if congressional leaders requested his presence and said there was no reason to suspend the campaign or delay Friday night's presidential debate.

*

But Democrats blasted McCain's action as a political stunt, delivered as the economy has surged to the forefront of voters' concerns, and to Obama's advantage. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said McCain's move was "the longest 'Hail Mary' in the history of either football or Marys.'' The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, which was holding a hearing on the bailout, added "I'm not particularly focused on Senator McCain. I guess if I wanted expertise there [from the GOP ticket], I'd ask Sarah Palin."
A president, Obama said, "is going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time."

*

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada had a similar reaction. "It would not be helpful at this time to have them come back during these negotiations and risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation's economy," Reid said. "If that changes, we will call upon them. We need leadership; not a campaign photo op." He added: "If there were ever a time for both candidates to hold a debate before the American people about this serious challenge, it is now."

*

Unlike his Democratic supporters, Obama declined to say McCain was playing politics. He said he wanted to go forward with the debate. "That's what I'm preparing to do. My general view is that the American people need to know what we intend to do." He added: "Senator McCain is running his campaign, I'm running mine,"
*

P.S. The McCain campaign has accused the New York Times of being "150 percent in the tank" for Barack Obama, but has been unable to demonstrate factual errors in the newspaper's reporting on ties between campaign manager Rick Davis and failed mortgage giants.