Gimmicks 'R' Us

McCain suspends his campaign because of financial crisis? Oh please. Given today's poll numbers--even Fox has him dropping--it seems another Hail Mary (like the feckless selection of Palin) to try make McCain seem a statesman, which is difficult given the puerile tenor of his campaign's message operation.

Perhaps, if he's really interested in this financial stuff, McCain should propose that he and Obama change the topic from foreign policy to economics this Friday night--they could even stage the debate in Washington, so they wouldn't have to stray far from the bailout negotiations. I'm sure their fellow members of the Senate won't mind if McCain and Obama spend a few hours enlightening the public on this crucial subject.

Oh, and By the Way : I thought it was fairly gimmicky for the Obama campaign to reach out to McCain to make a joint statement of principles about the bailout, too. (Note to Commenters: I know that Obama's outreach to McCain was done privately, this morning--and I still think it was a bad idea. Obama has the advantage here: he has more credibility on the economy than McCain. If I were Obama, I'd also have some doubts about whether McCain, a career deregulator, really is philosophically committed to the greater government role that he is suddenly spouting.)