John McCain's shock suspension of campaigning has drastically altered the fundamentals of the 2008 Presidential Election Winner (Individual) contract at Intrade.
The stunt is being met with wide spread selling of McCain, while traders have simultaneously ploughed into Obama, rocketing his price up to 57. Obama has now opened up a 13 point lead against his opponent. McCain's move was met with widespread disbelief in this morning's media.
The Wall Street Journal confessed to being totally mystified by McCain's suspension of campaigning:
Last we checked, the President of the United States was still George W. Bush, the Secretary of the Treasury was still Henry Paulson, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve was still Ben Bernanke, and Congress still had 533 members not running for President who are at least nominally competent to debate and pass legislation.So count us as mystified by Senator John McCain's decision yesterday to suspend his campaign and call for a postponement in Friday's first Presidential debate so that he and Barack Obama can work out a consensus bill to stabilize the financial system. This is supposed to be evidence of leadership?
In an article titled, "John McCain's Decision to Suspend his campaign is bold - or bonkers," the New York Daily News had this to say:
Still, there's an old saying in politics: Think political, but never look political. Given McCain's timing, this seems more political than altruistic. "It looks like a desperate stunt," said another GOP political consultant who worked for a McCain primary opponent. "McCain could have bailed out of the debate a week ago if this was really about the merits."
Is McCain experiencing a mere wave of panic selling? Can he rebound from 44? Time will tell, but so far traders don't seem to be buying McCain on this dip, nor is anyone taking profits yet on Obama. A few more days should tell whether McCain's gamble will pay any dividends, but so far traders have judged his move as 'bonkers,' not 'bold.'
Perhaps look for McCain to reverse this decision soon if he hopes to regain momentum.
(Originally posted at Intrade).