NOTE: I feel that this is such an important issue, it is cross-posted on Wordy Laundry.
.authored by something.of.substance.
.McCain seems overwhelmed by multi-tasking.
I didn’t realize Republican Presidential candidate John McCain and current Vice President Dick Cheney had so much in common: when there is a crisis in this country, such as the economic meltdown that is currently ravaging the lives of most Americans, they go into hiding. Unlike Cheney, McCain isn’t in some un-disclosed bunker, holed up with all the comforts of the plush life and none of the reporters. Instead, he has decided to suspend his Presidential campaign (with only 41 days until the election) and hunker down in Washington. And, even though the taxpayers of America are looking for reassurance, answers and a detailed outline of where $700 billion is going (three pages just doesn’t cut it), Senator McCain doesn’t want to talk to you right now.
At first, this might appear to be something of a noble effort: McCain is putting partisan issues to the side in favor of national resurgence. However, I suspect this is more of a political gimmick on his part; if he is part of a bail-out that is approved by Congress and the public he can take credit for his participation (however minimal it may be) and hope to recover some of the twelve point loss on economic issues he’s showing in the polls. What he fails to understand is how effectively shutting down his campaign will probably hurt him in the eyes of America.
Part of being President of the United States is being able to address multiple issues simultaneously. Indeed, most of what got our economy into this mess was the current administration’s inability to look ahead and address the future, let alone addresses issues as they arose. By not continuing to campaign for an election that will happen on November 4th regardless of how the economy looks, McCain is proving that he is only choosing to resume the Bush White House’s mechanism of ignoring the future. By not debating in a timely fashion with Senator Obama, McCain is announcing that he is unable to handle crises as they come. The last time an administration failed to manage a crises as it happened, we were left with the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. Before that, Bush’s famed seven minute non-response on 9/11 showed us the danger of electing politicians who were only “prepared” under calm, intensive coaching.
