As many of you, I was shocked today by the announcement from the McCain campaign of the suspension of his campaign so he can deal with the economic crisis.
What surprised me was in two major parts. I'll address this to Senator McCain, who I have long respected as an American war hero.
Part one. Senator, with all due respect for your heroic actions in Vietnam and your position in the Senate, you are not the President of the United States. We already have one of those. He is going to speak tonight. This is not 9/11 for you; it is another crisis that the current administration has to deal with. Perhaps you will be sitting in the Oval Office in January. I do not know. While I have my own preference in the current campaign, and it isn't you, if you win in November, you will have the Big Job.
You don't have it now, so it isn't "your" crisis to deal with. You have at least 98 other Senators, minus yourself and Senator Obama, who can work in the Senate to create a solution to the current crisis. That is what we, the American people, elected them to do. So, Senator, please calm down and get back on the campaign trail. This is what you wanted to do, so please, go back out there, man-up, and run for the presidency. That is what we expect you to do.
Secondly, as my friend Eric Rauchway wrote today this is not 1864. You are not President Abraham Lincoln looking at the realistic possibility that he would be the last elected president of a fully United States, with nearly 400,000 of his fellow Americans lying dead on the field of battle. You do not have to deal with the specter of a global war of a scope that is nearly unimaginable, as did President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 and again in 1944. Why? As I noted above, you are not the president of the United States. It isn't your job.
No, it is the job of someone whose policies you supported for the last eight years. It was your job, to deal with the economic crisis a long time ago. You could have done something about the deregulation that you instead supported with your friend and colleague, Senator Gramm. No, you had your chance to do the job that the fine citizens of Arizona hired you to do. And you didn't do it. So now, the Bush administration and your friends in the Senate get to deal with the crisis.
Your job is to get out there and tell the American people how you would fix it if you were President. You have the chance to do it on Friday.
Man Up Senator. Don't take your ball and go to one of your homes like Achilles sitting in his tent. Don't hide behind the flag, as that just lessens the importance of those colors that you, I, and so many others have fought to defend.
Tell us Senator. Convince us of your great plan to solve the financial crisis that you helped to create.
Unless you don't have a plan. Or are just afraid that your opponent does.
Time to Man Up. The health of this Republic demands it. Our democratic system demands it. Our ancestors who went to the polls in 1864, 1940 and 1944 demand it.