McCain's Duck and Cover

As I posted this morning, McCain has been hard hit in the polls by this week's economic crisis. Even the FOX News Poll had Obama up 46% to 39%.

In response, McCain, who has missed 109 out of 110 votes in the Senate since March so he could stay on the campaign trail, announced he was "suspending" his campaign and rushing back to Washington.

Oh, and can we cancel the debates? Well, postpone really. Sarah would gladly give up her spot on October 2 so that the Presidential debates can be rescheduled. Really. All this while Palin, who has been scrupulously shielded from the media was being interviewed by Katie Couric. How was she doing? You tell me:



No time to watch? Here's the highlight of this one:

Couric: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.

Palin: He's also known as the maverick though, taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about - the need to reform government.

Couric: But can you give me any other concrete examples? Because I know you've said Barack Obama is a lot of talk and no action. Can you give me any other examples in his 26 years of John McCain truly taking a stand on this?

Palin: I can give you examples of things that John McCain has done, that has shown his foresight, his pragmatism, and his leadership abilities. And that is what America needs today.

Couric: I'm just going to ask you one more time - not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation.

Palin: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.

During this time, McCain was supposed to be taping an appearance on the David Letterman show. He called on short notice to cancel, explaining that he had to rush back to DC, but managed to stop by the CBS studios for an exclusive with Katie Couric before going.

Letterman, who was alerted to McCain's side trip to Katie's desk was not impressed, remarking, "You heard it here first. This doesn't smell right. This is not how a tested hero behaves. Somebody's putting something in his Metamucil"... and yes, there's more...

Obama meanwhile emphasized that this is precisely the moment when the American people need to hear from whomever will inherit the financial mess and that the President will often have to be able to juggle more than one thing at once.

This evening, President Bush intervened by inviting both candidates and a group of Congressional delegates to a meeting at the White House on Thursday afternoon. Obama has accepted, so we will see what tomorrow brings...