A Ruse and a Trap

CNN reports:

McCain senior advisor Mark Salter told reporters Wednesday that the Arizona senator’s decision followed two days of discussions with colleagues on Capitol Hill, who told him that the bailout plan from Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson faced an uphill fight.

...

He added that McCain would take part in the debate as scheduled if Congress reached agreement on the measure by Friday morning.

So, let me get this straight...

McCain says we're facing a financial crisis so severe that he must suspend his campaign and return to Washington to fix it. He also says that Obama should join him in doing this even though they disagree on some of the fundamentals about what caused the problem and how to fix it. And now a top McCain aide says that everything can get back on track for Friday's debate as long as Congress hurries up and forks over $700 billion to Hank Paulson before then.

For a few minutes there I was fretting that this silly stunt might actually work for McCain. But now the whole thing is completely transparent to anyone who cares to see.

The financial crisis is serious enough that nothing Congress, the president, or Paulson can do in the next two days is going to fix it. Frankly, it's going to take far longer than the remaining weeks of the presidential election. So McCain's argument is completely and utterly hollow. Suspending the campaign and delaying the debate can in no way help the economy. All it can do is muddy the waters and get McCain positive press.

But it's not all just a ruse aimed at making McCain look presidential through his allegedly non-partisan actions. No, it's much worse than that. And, again, transparently so.

In addition to distracting the the public away from the actual debate about the issues surrounding the financial crisis, McCain's campaign suspension ploy is also an attempt to bully Congress as a whole--and Obama in particular--into signing on to the Bush administration's current bailout plan with as few alterations as possible.

If the plan passes tomorrow or Friday, then McCain will claim success on Friday night. He will say that the economy was teetering on the brink and that other members of Congress--specifically Obama--were too busy bickering with each other to roll up their sleeves and get the job done. But not him. No, John "Country First" McCain risked it all, suspended his campaign, and got the job done. Under his brave leadership Congress finally came together and passed the bill that saved the economy! And all Obama did was follow along like a little junior senator without enough experience or ability to lead.

That's the narrative the McCain campaign wants. They don't care whether Paulson's bailout proposal is really a good idea. They don't care about seriously examining how we got into this mess in the first place. No, all they care about is shaping events such that McCain looks like the maverick, no-nonsense leader he sells himself as.

Please, Obama, please don't fall for this trap. Suspend your campaign and go back to Washington if you really feel you must, but don't be bullied into passing this $700 billion monstrosity in the next two days. That's what they really want out of this. Don't give it to them.

Stand up and show the country that true leadership is about real ideas and sound, well-considered policy-making. Make it clear that these are what you offer in place of McCain's gimmicks and recklessness. Do that, and you will win.