Suckers!

Hey Charles,

This just in ... McCain will attend the debate! What, was Katie Couric busy?

Not sure if you saw McCain's statement that he is "resuming all activities," including traveling to the debate this afternoon. Here is my favorite part:

"The difference between Barack Obama and John McCain was apparent during the White House meeting yesterday where Barack Obama’s priority was political posturing in his opening monologue defending the package as it stands. John McCain listened to all sides so he could help focus the debate on finding a bipartisan resolution that is in the interest of taxpayers and homeowners. The Democratic interests stood together in opposition to an agreement that would accommodate additional taxpayer protections."

Of course, we know what really happened. Now in the job I have, I try not to call too many meetings. But if I do, I usually don't just sit there and not say anything -- certainly not for 40 minutes! Maybe Obama was, in fact, posturing, as McCain alleges. And I'll be the first to tell you that in meetings there's always someone who just likes to hear himself talk. But if you're going to make a big point of suspending your campaign, flying back to Washington, and calling for a meeting with the president, are you not obliged to say something, to offer some type of solution to the gridlock? What did he think was going to happen? "Oh, John's here. We can all go home now!" I mean, if you didn't have to play the games, the Chicago Cubs would have a couple of World Series titles by now!

If the situation weren't so serious, I might find this political grandstanding entirely amusing. I mean, you have a Republican proposal that is struggling to get Republican support. You have a party leader in McCain who suspended (we also know the truth about that, too) his campaign to make sure this plan gets through, but, by coming out too strongly in support of it, risks alienating the populist folks in his party who he desperately needs to win in November. And let's not forget that our Republican rescue hero is the same guy who admits that the economy is not his strong suit and who, until recently, took advice from another guy who said America was turning into a "nation of whiners."

Of course, maybe McCain's relative silence yesterday was better than some of the scenes and statements that happened at yesterday's meeting, described in this morning's New York Times. "If money isn't loosened up, this sucker could go down," said President Bush upon suddenly morphing into Mr. T. One sucker, Treasury Secretary Paulson, actually did go down, kneeling in front of Nancy Pelosi, begging her not to withdraw Democratic support for the plan. Phil Gramm would've slapped him had he been there.

Alas, saving us from this ridiculousness is the first presidential debate of 2008 and it promises to be a good one. That is, of course, if journalists can somehow focus on the substance of the debate, and not the style and sighs of the candidates. As this look back at the 2004 debate coverage shows, we'd be wise not to expect too much from our trusty friends in the media.

But I guess we should just be grateful that we're even having a debate. Thank you, John McCain. You've saved us again!

Ryan