Is it official yet? Can we now say that McCain has officially gone off the deep end?

Good thing he's going back. Apparently you can only see the consensus if you're in Washington.

There has been a clear consensus on the Administration's proposal. Everyone is against it.

It's Dodd's plan that people are getting behind.

I think this is cover for an urgent trip to Walter Reed.

Isn't McCain pretty blatantly seeking to mislead people by suggesting that the Bush/Cheney/Paulson administration's plan is the only plan on the table?

Obviously, there is a strong Democratic counterproposal on the table, and according to the excellent reporting over at TPM-M (maybe you guys at TPM-EC can cross-post), the plan has been on the table in the same basic form all week.

You can even read the outline of the plan at TPM-M! That sounds like it's on the table to me!

These seem to be the EXACT same words he was saying a day or 2 agao - maybe he was reading the wrong cue card???

This has nothing to do with the national economy; it is his campaign's economy. McCain can't afford to campaign for the next 40 days. He is going to be outspent on every level, so he wants to take his ball and go home for a while.

Anyone else think McCain's campaign suspension will end before his campaign manages to pull all of his ads off the air?

What is this "dangerous situation" that has occurred? (according to mcShame) We've all been living with this for over a year now! And knowing about it for far long.

Where was this guy for the past 8 years?

Apparently McCain is holding a rally at the Philadelphia airport today. At least according to Ambinder.

Unbelievably cynical use of the economic situation for political ends.

From:

Head of State

http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/09/mccain-trailing-in-polls-continues.html

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

McCain, Trailing in Polls, Continues Campaign By "Suspending" It

John McCain, trailing by 9 points in national polls, has announced that he is "suspending" his campaign.

Having lost significant ground to Obama on the issue of the economy, and facing a potentially defining and withering debate on Friday where he would be confronted on his statements on the economy that have led to this sharp decline, McCain has attempted to change the rules of the game, to erase many past errors through a putatively "unpolitical" move--something we have seen before.

A simple question: Under the same economic conditions, if McCain had been leading, does anyone believe that McCain would have "suspended" his campaign?

This is the ultimate in cynicism--using the current conditions in order to attempt to blunt a sharp decline and try to control the media dialogue, through a political act designed to avoid a potential political debacle. He is continuing his campaign--which was leading to loss in all directions--by "suspending" it. It is an attempt to silence media criticism and questions--and to prevent a debate on these issues that for him is sharply unfavorable.

This is impulsivity masked as statesmanship, as well as an attempt to control the media dialogue, as we saw yesterday at the U.N. He wants to attempt to force media to avoid covering openly his flailing campaign--the cynically political masked as the unpolitical, as we saw in the VP pick.

McCain, in attempting to avoid the debate in the face of his decline in the polls, until he can try to control the issue that has caused his decline, shows an extraordinary willingness to use difficult conditions to erase and avoid political errors, and serve political needs.

The Chicago Tribune provides us with indication of what "suspending the campaign" actually means:

"John McCain's sudden "suspension'' of his campaign and his call for a postponement of the premier campaign debate Friday night has sparked a round of criticism from people asking why the presidential candidate cannot manage a financial crisis and a debate at the same time.

Among them: "Late Night's'' David Letterman, who told his own audience in taping at CBS today that he was hoping to see the Republican nominee for president but McCain called him to say that he had to rush back to Washington to deal with the nation's financial crisis. Then, as Letterman told it, he got word that in fact McCain was down the hall sitting for an interview with his colleague at CBS, Evening News anchor Katie Couric, which aired this evening."

Cite:

Head of State

http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/09/mccain-trailing-in-polls-continues.html

McCain is setting himself up as a white knight.

McCain is trying to orchestrate a game with the congressional Republicans, saying to them oppose for now and let me come in and "save it" in the 11th hour. Will they play along? Probably.

If things start to look that way, Dems need to come out HARD and say that the Republicans are treating this crisis like a political game. They are not serious about solving this issue, only about trying to score political points.