McCain, Trailing in Polls, Continues Campaign By "Suspending" It

John McCain, trailing by 9 points in national polls, has announced that he is "suspending" his campaign.

Having lost significant ground to Obama on the issue of the economy, and facing a potentially defining and withering debate on Friday where he would be confronted on his statements on the economy that have led to this sharp decline, McCain has attempted to change the rules of the game, to erase many past errors through a putatively "unpolitical" move--something we have seen before.

A simple question: Under the same economic conditions, if McCain had been leading, does anyone believe that McCain would have "suspended" his campaign?

This is the ultimate in cynicism--using the current conditions in order to attempt to blunt a sharp decline and try to control the media dialogue, through a political act designed to avoid a potential political debacle. He is continuing his campaign--which was leading to loss in all directions--by "suspending" it. It is an attempt to silence media criticism and questions--and to prevent a debate on these issues that for him is sharply unfavorable.

It is impulsivity masked as statesmanship, along with an attempt to control the media dialogue, as we saw yesterday at the U.N.--the cynically political masked as the unpolitical, as we saw in the VP pick.

McCain, in attempting to avoid the debate in the face of his decline in the polls, until he can try to control the issue that has caused his decline, shows the lack of press access and communication that has characterized his campaign, as well as an extraordinary willingness to use difficult conditions to serve political ends.

He surely would like to put off the debate, and attempt to create more favorable conditions for it.

This is just the time for a debate. We can work on solutions as well. Don't be cowed.