Friday, September 26, 2008
Editorial: The debate must go on
McCain's campaign gamble makes him appear out of touch with Washington and Americans.
From the RoundTable blog
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More than John McCain's poll numbers are slipping. So is his grip on leadership qualities Americans expect in their next president.
McCain must have thought he'd look maverickishly presidential when he announced he would suspend his campaign in order to rescue the economy. This, from the same man who last week was so detached from Wall Street's meltdown that he claimed "the fundamentals of the economy are sound." His actions this week confirm he remains out of touch.
McCain claims finally to get it. He said Wednesday he would cancel his ads and appearances, wriggle out of tonight's presidential debate, put his personal ambitions behind duty to country and rush to Washington, D.C. to ... what? ... save the economy?
On the way, though, he dropped by CBS to do damage control after his running mate bombed an interview with Katie Couric on his economic record, of all things, and to meet with a deep-pocket campaign supporter.
As events unfolded, McCain's arrival in D.C. was too late for him to emerge the savior. Hours before he and Barack Obama were to have a sit-down Thursday afternoon with the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., congressional leaders appeared to have struck a deal on the $700 billion bailout.
They did this by pulling an all-nighter that eclipsed a week of grueling hearings with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
McCain skipped those hearings. As did Obama. Neither serve on the Senate Banking Committee. And as The Hill reported Thursday, McCain hasn't introduced one piece of banking legislation during the 110th Congress. (Obama has sponsored five bills, including one dealing with executive compensation and another with mortgage fraud.)
All of which makes McCain's remarks Thursday even more bizarre: "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 missed that boat. Americans need to know if he's capable of boarding any on time.
The debate that matters most today is the presidential debate scheduled for tonight. McCain can ill afford to snub Americans' interest in weighing the candidates. For them, too much is on the line.
