What's Happening to John McCain

In the past week, we have witnessed the start of what is likely to become a full-blown implosion of John McCain's presidential campaign. The media has begun its revolt against the McCain campaign's refusal to allow Sarah Palin to answer media questions, as if they believe that since she is a woman, she can't handle the pressure. If they truly believed, as they continually suggest, that Gov. Palin is ready to take on global challenges, then she should be able to handle the media. Since September 15th, when the economy finally buckled under all the pressure it has faced, the same day that Sen. McCain said that "the fundamentals of the economy are strong", the GOP campaign has lost anywhere between 4 and 7 percentage points in the national polls, depending on who you ask. His convention bounce is gone, and his running mate's popularity numbers are falling steadily.

Today, Senator McCain announced the suspension of his presidential campaign, ostensibly to turn his full attention to the ongoing market and housing crisis. Sorry Johnny, but all I can say is that your excuse is a load of bullshit. A lot of people will fault me for shrugging him off, and accuse me of being partisan. But look at the reality. This crisis broke a week ago, and for all of last week, Senator McCain tried his best to make partisan hay out of it. Even many of his Republican supporters found his actions to be more than a bit crass. Moving on from last week, Senator McCain and his running mate have spent the first half of this week chatting up world leaders to bolster Gov. Palin's foreign policy credentials. Now, on the eve of the first debate, McCain is asking for an extension. He has had a week and a half to wake up to this one, but he chose to wait until the last minute.

I certainly hope that his request for an extension is denied. The timing of his announcement, given how much time he has had to make it, smacks of nothing less than pure political opportunism, and he ought to be exposed for it.