Brand new political tactics!

I apologize to anyone who has been reading this that doesn't care about politics, but this is something that has been more and more present in my mind as my life goes on (especially right now...)

So, Wednesday, John McCain decided to "suspend" his campaign in order to help with this "historic crisis" that is facing our nation. Ok, sounds alright, on the surface. I have a few questions for the campaign staff though:

1. Why can't the lovely Mrs. Palin take over the major campaign stops while McCain is in Washington? Are you really that afraid of what less than intelligent comments she might make?

2. Senator McCain has not voted since roughly six months ago... He has not been anywhere near Washington since the major part of this crisis has been going on... No one, not even the senator himself, would cast him as an economic expert, despite his other obvious areas of expertise... Why, then, is it SO important for the senator to be in Washington now? What can he really contribute during this critical time?

3. As Senator Obama pointed out, now, more than ever, we need to know more about the two men who would be president. We need enough information to really decide which of these men is better able to clean up the mess we are in now, not only economically, but in terms of foreign policy as well. Why does Senator McCain want the debate postponed? Is he not prepared yet?

4. WHY on earth did he wait until 2 days before the debate to decide to return to Washington??? The writing has been on the wall for days, weeks, even, that some deal like this might be needed. If he was so concerned, why did this decision have to come at this particular time?

So, all this aside, McCain returned to Washington yesterday, just as a tentative deal was being announced. It seemed he was a moment too late... or was he? Suddenly, this tentative deal collapses, and here comes the "original maverick" striding in to save the day... Yeah, not really. If you believe congressional democrats, McCain's presence might have actually helped kill the deal. They even said so in public! Whether you believe that McCain's presence killed the bill, or that it was the fracture of congressional republicans who think this is too much too soon, it doesn't really matter. The bottom line is that McCain is not a member of any of the relevant committees, he has no idea what has been going on for the past few weeks, and as such, he really had no need to be there.

So, now, after being politely told that he shouldn't be worried about this deal (read: Get the Hell out of our way!!), despite indications that he might skip, the Straight-talk-air will land in Oxford Mississippi tonight, and McCain will take his place on the stage to debate Senator Obama. I'm sure I'm not the only one looking forward to this with baited breath...