CNN just texted and emailed me with this little gem:
Not to be a jerk, but I already invited people over, cleaned the house, bought the chips and dip and with the economy the way it is, I’d hate for all of that onion dip to go to waste. 
Is this step to avoid debate or is it to show McCain as a “man of the people, obviously more interested in fixing the country than fame”?
I’m so annoyed.
What? Hilarious.
Look, for 5 and a half years John McCain couldn’t do anything hilarious.
Is this an acknowledgment that they both are, in fact, stil full-time Senators and not professional campaigners?
Heh-heh…what if Obama says no? What if he tells ol’ Wrinkley Dude that he’s capable of doing both? All the talking heads are saying they don’t need to halt the debate.
My WAG–both. He certainly didn’t suspend the campaign during either hurricane (despite the schedule-juggling on day one, the RNC did go on all four days) and hasn’t gone back to Capitol Hill until … conveniently… it’s debate week.
I think he knows he’s not up to mano-a-mano with Obama, so he’s employing the Brave Sir Robin Defensive Jutsu.
McCain will suspend to address the bail out bill.
Puts Obama in an interesting spot. Do you suspend at a time when you are building a lead or do you not suspend and look like a jerk?
How long of a suspension would this likely be?
I have been wondering if he’d claim illness,or an old POW wound to avoid the debate. But this is genius.
Hpw many of you think Obama will cave in to this scam?
I’m gonna have to go with no, Bob.
A 3 hour program, plus travel time and maybe a bit of prep time. What is that, 16 hours? They can’t find 16 hours to hold a debate?
If the world didn’t stop without them a week ago, it’s probably not going to stop without them for one day. This is slimy.
On preview: Kalhoun nailed it. Obama’s line should be, “I care very deeply about our economy and am committed to both addressing this crisis and providing you, the American people, with an insight into your candidates for the esteemed office of President of the United States.”
WIN.
Either this is very clever, an act of desperation, both, or neither. Hmmmmm.
McCain just said he will suspend to build consensus on the bill and that he thinks he can get a consensus by the time the markets open on Monday. So, it’s a one business-day suspension? … the day of the debate? :dubious:
I’d like Obama’s team to say that Obama is perfectly able to handle more than one important task in a single work week. Or does McCain expect to be allowed to suspend and delay issues that pop up out of nowhere when he’s president?
You know what this is, is fucking transparent. It’s support for a later talking point of “I wanted to roll up my old-timey bartender sleeves, and Senator Obama wanted to continue to play politics.”
Fuck this guy, I’m done with him.
I don’t see what the dilemma is. IMO, Obama should counter with a simple “sorry, but there’s an election occuring in a few weeks. I’m capable of campaigning and keeping up with the economy, and I’ll see you Friday.” A bit more eloquent, of course.
The country hasn’t swelled up into a black hole without either of them on the Senate floor for months now. What the hell is John McCain planning to “work on” to the magnitude that it would prevent him from spending a few hours away from Washington?
This is ridiculous. We’re having an economic “crisis,” for lack of a better word, and the best McCain can do is “hold up, I need to work on this”?
Should we expect that same attitude if President McCain were to face a serious national threat? “Hold on, <insert country of choice>, time out. I need to work on my response – no more attacks until next week, please.”
Sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe I’m the only one who thinks that this is a very serious thing that’s going on…seems that way sometimes. And that at this moment the most important thing for the government (Dems AND 'Pubs) to be doing is figuring out what the fuck needs to be done and doing it fast before the whole things goes tits up.
My respect for McCain has gone up a notch, whether this is a ‘scam’ or not (frankly, I don’t see why it would be…it’s only the Obama faithful who think it’s a slam dunk that he will wipe the floor with McCain…as Biden will with Palin).
-XT
This was my thought. If Obama suspends, he’s slowing up when he could be piling on the points. If he doesn’t, McCain gets to accuse him of putting the campaign before the good of the country. Not a bad move by McCain.
I think McCain just won the election (and I’m a loyal Obama voter).
This is a brilliant political move. It makes him look presidential, and it casts him as a country-first statesman. Why, he’d rather lose an election than lose the economy!
All bullshit, of course, but that won’t matter. Obama can’t respond. He’ll either seem callous, or he’ll look like a follower.
A simple record of all the time that McCain spent campaigning since this story first broke should be sufficient.
Did he do any campaigning this week? The selfish bastard.
I wonder McCain’s calendar will be too full to reschedule a debate in a timely manner. I wonder of the Palin/Biden debate will be affected.
"Okay, I’ll come back to Washington to work out the matter, but let’s have the debate right there, on Friday What the hell, John it’s only 90 minutes,"says Obama.