McCain’s Crappy, Crappy Week

This week is a total disaster, politics-wise, for John McCain. Maybe he’ll blow everyone’s mind at the debate tonight and as a result his strange gambits over the last few days will be forgotten. But I doubt that.

Let’s review, briefly.

McCain began the week with his standing in the polls sinking, the economy imploding, and Sarah Palin continuing to give embarrassing interviews (and, for the most part, not giving public interviews, which was also embarrassing). On Wednesday, trying to get the spotlight back on himself and attempting to appear presidential and above politics, McCain announced he would be suspending his campaign and heading back to D.C. to help push an economic rescue plan through, and that he would not be attending the presidential debate on Friday if the economy wasn’t saved by then.

That’s quite a marker to throw down. And if you do that, you better be thinking several steps ahead about possible moves by your opponents. But it seems like McCain wasn’t.

First, Obama gave a press conference in Florida announcing that he believed the debate should go on, and saying, essentially, that a president needs to be able to multi-task. He also warned that injecting presidential politics into complex economic negotiations in D.C. could be a bad idea.

Then, when McCain landed in D.C., it turned out that lawmakers were already close to an economic bailout deal. Without him. Then, at a big White House meeting that McCain appears to have requested, the deal fell apart. (Who predicted that?)

Then, today, still with no deal, McCain put his tail between his legs, reversed himself, and put out a statement saying he would be at the debate despite the little progress being made.

That’s a total reversal, and again, a total disaster.

McCain, through a series of impulsive decisions, has managed this week to set traps for himself and give Obama an opportunity to look calm, deliberative, multi-tasky, and presidential. At the same time, McCain has left a lot of people with the impression that all he does is create an atmosphere of utter confusion around himself — an atmosphere that impedes real progress.

I don’t know how much of this week’s machinations will filter through to the general public. And, of course, more drama at the debate could sweep all of this out of the media spotlight. But if this week enters the collective consciousness as an object lesson in how McCain would run the country, then McCain is toast.

Via Slog.