Preaching to the choir

John McCain wants to suspend his presidential campaign, including delaying Friday's scheduled debate, so he can go deal with the economic crisis. He thinks he and Obama should put "patriotism" ahead of wanting to win an election. He thinks he can remove "politics" from the process if they both suspend their campaigns and return to Washington.

I call bullshit.

This is all politics. This is an attempt to make yourself look like a leader. To keep your name all over the news while taking the negative ads against you off the air (if Obama plays along). This is aimed at stopping your slide in the polls. And it doesn't hurt to buy a few more days of the media blackout around Palin.

Either that or McCain really thinks that a bailout package is more important than electing the next President. Seems like John McCain just doesn't grasp what's really going on November 4. He seems to think that the presidential campaign is just a side thing that is distracting him and Obama from doing their real jobs. It's just American Idol or Survivor: a game show that should take a back seat when something really important comes along. That's what he's conveying when he says he wants to suspend the campaign. We can just put this really important decision that will affect every aspect of this country for the next 4 years aside for a few days.


Well, here's the thing: The presidential campaign is a big deal. It's an important thing. It is your job right now. This isn't a popularity contest or a beauty pageant. This isn't just some contest that you'd really like to win. This is the choice of a new leader. You have asked us, the American public, to consider you for the job of Leader of the Free World. That's a big decision for us to make. It will affect far more than the banking industry. It has the potential to affect all of our national and international policies. We have to decide which of two people we think will offer the best ideas, will surround himself with the best advisers, and will lead our country in the direction we'd like to go. We'd probably also like to see which one of you can best juggle multiple things at once. There is nothing petty, trivial, or insignificant about it.


We are about 40 days away from election day. I don't think now is really the time for the candidates to shut themselves off from the voting public and from debates with each other. We can't put off the election.