McCain has put his campaign on hold and has canceled his debate appearance tomorrow saying that he needs to be in Washington to help broker a deal to bailout the banking industry. He made the statement that now is the time to be above political rhetoric, but clearly this is not the time to be above political stunts.
That's what this is.
It's a stunt to divert attention away from his campaign and somehow paint himself as a "can-do guy". But canceling his appearance at the debate flies in the face of everything he's been saying for months now. McCain has stated again and again that he wanted to have townhall meetings with Obama and wanted to debate the issues. Now that we're on the eve of actually having that first debate McCain wants to back down.
Yes, I can hear you say that this is an important and critical time and he needs to be available. But when that proverbial 3am call comes in, the President can't call a timeout while he deals with that one issue.
The fact that McCain won't debate shows that either he's desperate and clutching at straws, or he is completely unfit to be president.
Either way, this stunt is unacceptable and should be decried.
You act like McCain shot your dog after giving this announcement. Depending on the situation, I would probably decry such an act. But delaying a debate isn't that big of a deal.
The "3am call" is the current financial crisis, not the debate. The debate can wait; the financial crisis cannot. If Obama and McCain can go to Washington and get something done, I'd be willing to wait a week or two for the first debate.
PS - I hope your dog gets better.