I have to say, I think Marc Ambinder has the best response to John McCain’s call to suspend the campaign due to his falling poll numbers the economic crisis. This is exactly when the public needs to see the candidates express and defend the policies they would use to get us out of this mess. This is exactly when we need to see who has the knowledge, intelligence, and fortitude to handle tough problems. In short, this is exactly when we need a debate.
This is the time when politics matters the most, not the least. When the philosophical differences that each party organizes around are put to the test of reality. When conflict builds consensus, not by ignoring conflict. When the public craves answers and debate from their politicians. When the stakes of the presidential election could not be more acute. Comparative advantage: the best thing the presidential candidates can do now is to practice their politics honestly, not to abandon politics altogether — itself, of course, a political move. Suspending your campaign basically says: all that over the past sixteen months? It wasn’t important. Ignore what I said or did. Too late. The tough thing here for McCain is that nobody in Washington asked him to come back; nobody seems to need him to come back; and that Democrats simply do not trust John McCain’s motives.
This whole thing thing did get Rick Davis off the front pages though, didn’t it?
