McCain's New Ploy

I hate to overuse football analogies, but John McCain, down in the polls, threw a Hail Mary when he picked Sarah Palin. Now, the Palin bounce has ebbed, and McCain, desperate anew, is throwing another long ball.

McCain's call to postpone Friday night's debate is an attempt to change the subject, to turn us away from his belief that the fundamentals of the economy are strong, away from his false statements about his campaign manager's relationship with Fannie Mac and what amounted to a no-show job, away from his campaign's lack of confidence in Sarah Palin, away from his statements that he prefers more deregulation.

Instead of focusing on a mistake-filled campaign, which was temporarily buoyed by the Palin pick, McCain wants us to think that by postponing the debate, he's above politics, when even the dumbest moron knows that this is a purely cynical political ploy.

McCain's call for he and Obama to get involved in the bailout negotiations only politicizes the bailout negotiations.

Seriously, McCain has already said he doesn't know much about the economy; he's not favored to be President; he's desperate; and given that, who on Wall Street or at the Treasury Department is waiting to hear McCain's opinion on the bailout, knowing he's desperate for attention?

I can see it now -- all the Wall Street head honchos, the Treasury folks, the political figures, the markets -- all waiting to hear from the guy who just last week was shouting, "All is well!" and today, his running mate says that unless we enact a bailout fast, we're headed toward a Depression.

The truth is that McCain didn't look at the bailout numbers of $700 billion before asking to postpone the debate. He took at a look at the Washington Post-ABC News poll that showed him down by nine points. Those numbers may cause a depression - in the McCain campaign.

And it is those numbers that caused McCain to act, once again, in desperation.

If I'm Obama, I tell McCain, you can walk and chew gum. You can have a position on the bailout, and show up at the debate that has been in the planning stages for a long time. Obama should call McCain on a cynical ploy and say, "I'll be at the debate, whether you show up or not." And the main reason Obama should show up at the debate is because McCain's playing politics with this economic crisis.

If this gambit by McCain doesn't get him the boost in the polls he desperately needs, what's next? Will he attempt to postpone the election?