“Do Nothing” McCain seeks to delay the election?

With his poll numbers in freefall, and with his debate preparations not going well at all, John McCain yesterday announced he would skip the debate to return to Washington because of the economic crisis.

In his speech yesterday morning, Mr. McCain said the “crisis calls for all hands on deck.” He “formally suspended his campaign” (whatever that means), and confirmed he intended to skip the debate. “With so much on the line, for America and the world, the debate that matters most right now is taking place in the United States Capitol — and I intend to join it,” McCain piously claimed.

This despite the fact that McCain is not on any of the relevant committees -- not Finance, not Banking, and not Joint Economic – and thus has nothing to do with the government’s response to the credit market meltdown. (McCain is on the Armed Services; Indian Affairs; and Commerce, Science & Transportation committees).

Because McCain is not on any of the relevant committees, and because all the work is being done in committee, behind closed doors, McCain is returning to Washington DC to do nothing. He is not allowed to attend those committee meetings. None of the Republican finance folk have any respect for him. He returns to Washington with nothing to do but hope somehow he gets credit for whatever result the relevant committees come up with.

Though McCain trumpeted his immediate return to Washington DC yesterday morning, he did not in fact arrive back in the capital until noon today. He cancelled his appearance on David Letterman’s show at the very last minute yesterday, telling Dave he was needed immediately at the Capital, and then proceeded to remain in New York and give an interview to Katie Couric. Letterman was rightfully pissed off, and his show last night was extremely funny.

McCain says the crisis (which he has no roll in addressing) demands that he suspend his campaign and skip the first presidential debate. And he piously demanded that Obama do the same. But we’re not going to dely the election, are we? It’s clear McCain is just grandstanding – something he does whenever he gets flustered, which is often – trying to shift attention away from the fact that the whole crisis is his fault, at least in part, because he was one of the main backers of banking deregulation.

McCain fretted: “It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the administration’s proposal to meet the crisis. I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time.” Well, it looks like, once again, McCain had no idea what he was talking about. Consensus has emerged, entirely without his input or help, and McCain’s whole gambit is being seen for what it is – a desperate move by a flustered old fool. Ridiculous!