A Cynical Ploy

John McCain's call to suspend the campaign is a cynical attempt to reset the political clock.  Since the crash of the financial markets, McCain's numbers have been in a freefall.  Americans blame Republicans for the debacle by a 2-1 margin and recent polls have shown Obama pulling ahead by numbers outside of the margin of error.

One poll, The Washington Post/ABC News, showed McCain down by 9 points with Obama over 50%.  In the first show of panic by the McCain campaign, McCain's pollster called to complain that the numbers were wrong.  The standard line of the campaign should have been, "We're not paying attention to the polls" or "Polling is all over the map."  The reactionary response, though, showed fear.  A few hours later, McCain announced he was suspending his campaign.

What the McCain camp really wants is time.  Time for the people to settle down and hope that he can change the conversation, making the debate about leadership and not the failed policies that got us into this mess--policies John McCain supported.  They hope that four or five days of no debate, no ads and no press will give them the time they need to retool their game.

Obama's response was spot on.  Now, more than ever, the American people need to hear from the people who ultimately lead us through this troubled economy.  This crisis is real, but hiding from the press and the people is not the answer.