Nowhere-Fast.net

So McCain wants to suspend the campaigns and postpone the debate in order to deal with the financial crisis.  As is normal Republicans are praising it as the act of a true leader and Democrats are decrying it as the act of a desperate partisan politician.  The truth, as is always the case, lies somewhere in between.

Yes, there is a partisan political component to McCain’s request.  The two men are locked in a tight race for the office of the President of the United States - when they take a dumb it’s a partisan political action.  That’s not all that there is to it, though.  The job of our elected officials is not to get elected, it is to govern the nation.  Will a presidential campaign get in the way of the job of the two politicians running for office?  Of course it will.

John McCain has become the de facto leader of the Republican party because no other dominant figure retains any credibility whatsoever.  Obama is not in that position among the Democrats.  Right now it is more important for John McCain to stop campaigning and focus on leading his party but that isn’t the case for Obama.  Right now Obama needs to focus on not losing the election (he should really have it in the bag but for some reason it’s still a close race) and that is exactly what he’s doing.

One thing, though.  During the hurricane Gustav situation I really respected Obama’s decision to stay away from New Orleans unless he was personally requested because his inevitable entourage would disrupt the vital rescue and clean up efforts.  Saying that he doesn’t want to butt his nose in unless he’s invited and can actually help was the sign of a reasoned person valuing pragmatism over earning political points.  The thing is, he said effectively the same thing when McCain invited him to Washington.  He’s in a position where he should jump right into a crisis like this because his input should be incredibly helpful.  If it isn’t then he shouldn’t be running for president.