Sen. John McCain announced Wednesday that he was suspending his campaign due to the nation’s economic crisis, but what does he think he can do to help the problem?

The following appear in an article on CNN.com:

“Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said McCain’s move was “just weird.”

“We haven’t heard hide nor hair of Sen. McCain in these negotiations,” said Schumer, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. “He has not been involved except for an occasional, unhelpful statement, sort of thrown from far away, and the last thing we need in these delicate negotiations is an injection of presidential politics.”

The response above may seem partisan, but seriously, what does McCain plan to do that requires him to postpone Friday’s presidential debate? Wouldn’t he be better served outlining how he would handle the situation by directly addressing the American people?

McCain is again running away from a direct confrontation with Sen. Barack Obama. He offered to have town hall meetings with Obama, but when Obama declined, the McCain camp declared war in the form of an onslaught of negative ads and by essentially running a smear campaign. Why is he afraid to answer mediated questions? Obviously this is a weakness for McCain. If he can’t give a podium a death grip and repeat the phrase “my friends” over and over again, it seems he’s impotent.

So why is a man who is reputed to be so tough, so versatile, a prisoner of war for many years, so sacred of?

McCain should stop trying to put on a good PR campaign and debate the issues. Members of the Senate Banking Committee don’t want his help – let them handle what they were appointed to do. McCain should debate his opponent and stop backing down from direct confrontation, not try to distract the public by acting like a “good guy” when his help is unsolicited.

Popularity: 1% [?]