McCain suspends campaign as he slips in polls

Posted at 4:02 PM on September 24, 2008 by Tom Scheck (5 Comments)

Republican presidential campaign John McCain has decided to suspend his campaign and return to Washington to work on the economic crisis. He also wants to postpone Friday's debate (the debate host says the debate will continue as scheduled).

McCain announced the decision as several polls (Fox News, Pew, battleground states, etc.) show him falling behind Democrat Barack Obama.

Politico's Ben Smith points out that the only thing that has changed in recent days is the polling data.

Question of the Day: Is McCain truly focused on the economy or looking to change the game?

Comments (5)

Question of the Day: Is McCain truly focused on the economy or looking to change the game?

I suspect that McCain is asking for a time-out so he and Sarah Palin can have a few days to read "The Economy for Dummies."

But I think it's safer to say that McCain is trying to avoid a debate which he knows he will lose, if it's held this week.

This week a Republican White House is trying to orchestrate a takeover of the economy which their own party has described as "socialist." The crisis, which Sarah Palin says may lead to another Great Depression, is due to irresponsible de-regulation of the finance community--the de-regulation that McCain has fought for throughout his career, since before he was implicated in the Savings and Loan scandal and bail-out.

The trouble with John McCain's argument for delaying the debate--that he's suspending such "political" events to focus on the crisis--is that John McCain currently holds no office or position that would enable him to resolve the crisis. He's a US Senator (and a no-show on many key Senate votes.) He's not "in charge of" any office or policy making authority that can prevent the meltdown that his "de-regulate" philosophy helped to cause.

So--yeah, this grandstanding and political cowardice in the face of a spectacular conservative policy failure.

Posted by Bill Prendergast | September 24, 2008 4:48 PM

I think McCain's goal here is to get through the next few weeks looking "bipartisan" without actually tipping his hand on any specifics of what he'd do. Then, around October, he'll shape his position to fit whatever looks best at the moment and say, "If only they'd done what I had so statesman-ly proposed a month ago..."

That is, assuming we're still talking about the bailout in late October. Bin Laden could release another video, one of the candidates might say the word "lesbian" -- there are all sorts of shiny objects that the media could go chasing after.

Posted by Chris | September 24, 2008 6:43 PM

It's a desperation move by McCain. He is trying to change the headline, and possibly also prevent the vice presidential debate from going ahead and having Palin fall on her face. Note that he proposes to postpone this week's presidential debate to the time slot next week slated for the vp debate. Contrast the impulsive deer in the headlights behaviour of McCain with the cool and tempered response of Obama, and it's pretty clear who has the real leadership qualities. Go Obama!!!

Posted by Deborah | September 24, 2008 10:00 PM

lol...If "Cut ande Run" McCain has skedaddled, does this mean Obama will get to debate Palin??

Posted by Drake Millhouse | September 25, 2008 10:37 AM

Breaking News - John McCain has NOT suspended his campaign. read this and spread the word...it's nuts we keep getting lied to like this - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/25/mccain-campaign-still-act_n_129327.html

Posted by andyt | September 25, 2008 5:59 PM

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