Halftime?

So the bizarre story arc of the last 48 hours appears to be nearing a middle. After suspending (what does that even mean?) his campaign and rushing back to Washington, we find ourselves in the breathing space between when it becomes clear to the McCain campaign that they have made a terrible mistake, and wondering how to get out of it.

The suspension itself is just one more example of McCain hitting on 18, responding to crisis with overly severe, and questionably considered, abruptness. There's no reason at all to believe that his presence in DC is going to facilitate a legislative resolution - by most accounts, he's greatly exaggerated the severity of the problem anyway- but may in fact make it politically necessary for the Republicans to slow the process down. If there really was no crisis, what did he make all this noise for?

Obama, by contrast, seems far more in control of his own impulses, and certainly to the voter who only casually follows the campaign, McCain looks flighty by comparison. And it isn't the first time he's tried to change the beat of the campaign with unexpected moves- canceling the first day of the convention, Palin, careening around the political deck like a loose cannon on almost every policy position. The pattern emerges. This guy's just a little unstable.

Imagine, though, what kooky hi-jinks he'll be pulling from the White House- I'd love to give the State of the Union, but I am currently confronted with a most serious desire to eat a shrimp cocktail, and the government shall be suspended until I'm finished. Really? You still think that sounds absurd? I don't know anymore...

At the moment there seems to be some confusion over whether or not congress and the President have reached a workable deal, about what you'd expect if McCain was somehow working to draw things out a little.

Tomorrow will be interesting. Certainly, McCain stands to inconvenience me, as I've been planning much of my week around debate viewing on Friday. Attempting to cancel both his own, and Palin's next week, is also flaky. Is McCain really going to cede the stage to Obama, and spend the next 40 days fighting the images of Obama running the house next to a darkened podium? Even if the networks only ran it for 10 minutes, the image would dominate the news for days. If McCain does opt to return for the debate, no doubt he will claim that as the crisis is over (if in fact it is), it's now safe to resume reciting his memorized talking points, and no doubt many people will buy that. I won't be among them. It would strike me as yet another example of indecision on the part of McC.

That said, I don't begrudge McCain any tactic, any tactic at all, to try to keep Palin's debate off prime-time television. If her interviews leading up to this point are any predictor, Biden should make rhetorical hamburger out of her. Unless she shoots him first.

After a day of general confusion, it feels like what McCain has really demonstrated isn't his maverick leadership potential, but that he's playing with authority he isn't ready to wield.