Yesterday there were a rash of diaries and comments echoing the same theme; McCain (or his campaign at the very least) have concocted some vast, Machiavellian plot, a lose-lose for the Dems in general and Obama in particular from which there was no escape.
I, too, felt that this was a possibility, consdering the strangeness of McCain's actions; there were tremors in the Blobosphere, fears running rampant, since no-one could figure out what was going on. It seemed that the default position ("This is Rovian politics, and so therefore dastardly") seemed reasonable.
But the last 24 hours have convinced me of one overwhelming truth that can no longer be ignored.
There is no plan.
McCain is floundering, flailing madly trying to appear Presidential and failing in every single metric ist is possible to use.
First came the announcement of the "suspension"; a canard of the lowest sort since the only thing "suspended" were his personal appearances (except on the news and at the Clinton Global Initiative, of course), while the ads, surrogates, fundraisers and everything else were still very much a "go".
Then McCain (eventually) parachuted into Washington, where he immediately caused uproar, but not in the way he had evidently hoped to. The tentative deal that was in place fell apart within minutes of his arrival. The meeting with Bush (little more than an attempted co-op Photo-opportunity by the failing President) revealed his utter lack of ability in the field of economics. Reports (independent and from Dems present at the meeting) suggest he simply sat there, looking bemused, finally (painfully) speaking up to deliver a two minute speech that was best described as "weak", and mainly characterized (to paraphrase Dodd and Schumer) as "gibberish".
House Republicans seemed to have grasped the opportunity afforded by McCain's appearance to present their own (deeply flawed) plan and refuse to have any truck whatsoever with anything else, refusing even to discuss their own plan with anyone else.
The house minority leader actually threw McCain out of the House, directing him to the Senate - a searing indictment of just how "important" McCain really is.
In statement after statement, McCain has tied his fortunes to the success of the bailout plan. Yesterday I wrote a comment to the effect that House Dems should seek to tie McCain irrevocably to the Bill, forcing his hand and making him, rather than them, appear foolish and untrustworthy in the event of spectacular failure.
They no longer need to do that; McCain has done it for them.
By his every action, before and since arriving in DC, McCain has proven himself incapable of acting like a leader, incapable of handling a crisis of any sort, incapable, even, of holding a rational thought in his head at a time of National importance.
The Dems need do nothing more now than reiterate McCain's own stated intent to "act decisively" on this matter and contrast it with the actual events on the ground. Compare McCain's showy TV appearances talking up how important this is with Obama simply working quietly behind the scenes to actually get something done.
So I feel I can say now that there simply was no plan. It is obvious now; McCain gambled his final chips on the Bailout package, and he has already lost. The Dems will hang this around his neck from now until November 4th. He has been revealed as weak, grasping, ridiculous, hollow and all-too-willing to put his campaign ahead of the Country.
McCain has just sounded the death-knell for his own campaign, and we and the Dems should be ready to help him dig the rest of that grave, chuck him in, and cover it over before the election.