There are 18 days until the end of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign. Having begun this campaign as the clear front-runner -- not only for the Republican nomination but for the presidency -- and as the supposedly moderate force who could bring order to Washington, the Arizona senator finds himself the odd man out. He is out of time and out of step, a figure paralyzed by the events around him.
...
With three presidential debates and "Joe the Plumber" behind him, McCain is in a spot that seemed unimaginable only weeks ago. Down by as many as 14 percentage points in the most recent New York Times-CBS News poll to "that one," otherwise known as Sen. Barack Obama, McCain, who has resurrected his political career from near-ruin before, must somehow pull off his best rescue operation yet. He must do what many deem impossible -- become the person who will right the nation's economic fortunes and the leader who will save us from our failings, financial and otherwise.