Never mind: McCain blinks, will debate Obama
From the Washington Post, the McCain statement:
John McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign was made in the hopes that politics could be set aside to address our economic crisis.
In response, Americans saw a familiar spectacle in Washington. At a moment of crisis that threatened the economic security of American families, Washington played the blame game rather than work together to find a solution that would avert a collapse of financial markets without squandering hundreds of billions of taxpayers’ money to bailout bankers and brokers who bet their fortunes on unsafe lending practices.
But don’t worry, McCain fixed it!
Senator McCain has spent the morning talking to members of the Administration, members of the Senate, and members of the House. He is optimistic that there has been significant progress toward a bipartisan agreement now that there is a framework for all parties to be represented in negotiations, including Representative Blunt as a designated negotiator for House Republicans. The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the Senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners.
Who really doubted he wouldn’t be there? An empty lectern would have been devastating for him IMO.
BTW, there’s a good article in the new America by the USCCB’s director of media relations that lists ten things Catholics should consider while forming their consciences in advance of their voting decisions this November. Access may require a subscription, but here’s the link:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11104
Oops… Who really doubted he WOULD be there? (Time for more caffeine.)
Good piece from Mary Ann Walsh, I thought. Thanks.
As for McCain, I thought the debate maneuver had a big chance to backfire, but one never knows how it will play in the hustings. Frankly, I thought he’d want to face-off with Obama as he could do better in a debate, if he gets his free-wheeling side going without sticking his foot in his mouth. One too hot, the other too cool, as they say. I dion’t know what the debate delay ploy was about. Was it really about pushing Palin to the sidelines? That seems too clever by half.
Regarding the piece in America Magazine, I find it frustrating that these kinds of Catholic voters’ guides are all about “moral” issues, but they don’t really say anything about “government” issues. They say that life issues are paramount, and that you shouldn’t selfishly vote for your petty little economic self-interest, but they don’t seem to be concerned about big issues, like the direction the country is headed in. If you have to pick between banning embryonic stem-cell research and warding off another great depression, you are apparently bound to opt for the former, no matter what devastation to the entire country (and world) a serious depression in the United States would cause.
I think McCain was genuinely trying to put off the debate — it became clear that this “foreign policy” debate was going to end up being about the economy, and McCain didn’t know what he was supposed to say about that, so he was hoping Obama would cave and agree to postpone, giving him time to find out. (I know Sarah Palin believes the American people are waiting to hear what McCain will say on the subject, but I suspect it’s the other way around.)