Lucia

de Vernai

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September 26, 2008

McCain to the Rescue? Results Are Long Overdue for Mr. Maverick

Mr. McCain goes to Washington to save the country from big business mistakes. Why did the Arizona senator make the bold decision to suspend his campaign and return to Capitol Hill where he is indispensable to rescuing the economy? Because he is an old Navy pilot who knows when you need all hands on deck, or so he told the press.

The time for cute analogies – lipstick on pit bulls and all – has passed. It’s time to stop pulling the wool over constituents eyes, insisting that being a POW or whatever experience from McCain’s eight decades his campaign is harping on now is just what we need. All spending bills originate in the House of Representatives presently, controlled by the Democrats, not the Senate. So McCain’s trip has less to offer than he would have voters believe. Not to mention that in this high-stakes and high-pressure environment, his feigned expertise on the subject, and his long history of changing his positions will distract and annoy lawmakers from both parties in a race against the clock.

Having previously warned against the economic and moral catastrophe that governmental regulation was sure to bring, McCain is now a populist. He is also a cunning man who knows how to use an inconvenient situation to his advantage. Landing in Oxford, Mississippi at the last minute to tell 100 million viewers about the Republican objections to the bailout, from his perspective of course, would be just another day in the life of McCain the Maverick.   

This type of publicity heroics, complete with MSNBC speculation and voter attention (let’s be honest, most of us have no idea what’s been going on with bailout negotiations until the past few days), is risky, but holds the promise of a large reward for McCain. Given the progress in science, another four decades of McCain telling the world about his bold move to rescue the American economy above his presidential ambition should not surprise anyone.

What would be even more impressive is if the connection between “I went to Washington” and the results were clearer. Given that the Economic Policy Institute reports executive officers of companies in need of bailout are making 275 times their workers’ salary, and state and city governments around the country are bleeding themselves dry (pre-$700 billion in surprise expenditures), results are way overdue.

McCain went home for the night, did multiple network interviews, but has no time for the debate? Prioritizing is a good thing, but knowing the extent of your influence is better. Witness how much he angered David Letterman when he canceled his appearance on his late night show because “he was racing back to Washington” and instead appeared in a Katie Couric interview.

At the end of the day, the agreement in principle has been scrapped, and the “bipartisan” meeting in the White House has been called “political theater” by observers. But don’t feel bad for McCain – none of McCain’s campaign offices suspended operations, several don’t know about their candidate’s very public decision at all. What a tease.     

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