McCain leads, Obama blinks and follows

John McCain has got more guts than a Polish sausage factory. Has any presidential candidate in the history of this nation ever suddenly shut down his campaign to go to Washington to deal with a national crisis that's more important than politics? None that I know of.

Newt Gingrich is a far better historian than I and he says President Dwight Eisenhower's promise in the midst of war is the closest match.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich said the decision to suspend campaigning and lend a hand to the negotiations in Washington was "the greatest single act of responsibility ever taken by a presidential candidate." He said it rivaled Dwight Eisenhower's declaration during the 1952 campaign that he would go to Korea as president, if necessary, to help end the conflict there.

"This is the day the McCain-reform Republican Party began to truly emerge as a movement which puts country first, solutions first, and big change first," he said in a statement.

McCain's gutsy move caught everybody by surprise, particularly Obama, the Democrats and the media (same crowd), an even bigger shocker than his pick of Sarah Palin. Why you'd think the man had supported an unpopular war at the peril of his own political future. Oh right, he already did that.

Rick Moran at American Thinker said this at first blush yesterday:

This is an eye opener. First of all, the Dems don't dare call it a gimmick. McCain has effectively silenced the Democrats about the crisis for a few days.

Secondly, this is bold, decisive leadership - and McCain thought of it first so he gets the cookie. Obama is eating his dust right now and is no doubt kicking himself he didn't think of it first.

Third, this kind of surprise move will make the voters sit up and take notice. Some who may have been moving away from McCain will give him a second look. After all, we now have proof that in this race, there is one guy who talks about bi-partisanship and another who actually does something about it.

Moran was wrong on one count, Democrats did indeed dare to call it a gimmick. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi had both called on McCain the day before to stop campaigning and come to Washington to pull reluctant Republicans on board their bailout plan. But when McCain took them up on their obviously sarcastic request, Reid was so mad he hung up on McCain when he called to tell him he was on the way. And then Reid called McCain's request to President Bush for a bipartisan economic summit at the White House a "photo op." Gimmick or guts?

The contrast could not be sharper between John McCain's quick, decisive and gutsy action in the midst of a national crisis and Obama's hesitancy and indecision. His first reaction was "Huh?" Then he said he could do two things at once, keep on campaigning and deal with the crisis in Washington by "long distance." Finally he recognized how bad his absence from an economic summit might look and caved in.

We're still waiting for Obama's rescue plan, which he hasn't had the guts to admit is nonexistent. He can't even do one thing at once. Mr. Vapid, Hesitant and Gutless is looking about as presidential as a first-term Senator who's never run nothing before but his own mouth.

Sarah Palin nailed Mr. "Vapid, Hesitant & Gutless" Obama's response to McCain's leadership in her interview with NBC Katie Couric.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, in her third interview since joining the Republican presidential ticket, licked her finger and stuck it in the air, saying that Sen. Barack Obama might wait and "see what way the political wind's blowing" on the Wall Street rescue package.

Maybe Obama needs a Weatherman to know which way the wind's blowing and his buddy, ol' Bomb-Throwing Bill Ayers, wasn't available because he had all the long-distance lines tied up talking to Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, the mainstream media and the leftwing nutroots.

The New York Times grudgingly acknowledged that today's extraordinary meeting at the White House by Obama, McCain and Congressional leaders with President Bush was initiated by McCain, but had to note McCain read his startling statement from a teleprompter. Obama can't speak without one, but that's not news and it's news that McCain used one? They don't even try to hide their bias against McCain.

The meeting with Mr. Bush on Thursday was precipitated by a call from Mr. McCain, who cast his request as a matter of urgent national priority. “Following Sept. 11, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis,” he told a small group of reporters, while reading the brief statement from a teleprompter, in a small ballroom at the Hilton New York hotel. “We must show that kind of patriotism now.”

Dan Balz of The Washington Post "analyzed" McCain's bold move but the headline and the lede give away his pro-Obama slant. Under the headline Selfless or Reckless? McCain Gambles On Voters' Verdict, Balz gives his game away, answering the question himself: "He's Reckless!"

John McCain is a gambler by nature, and the bet he placed Wednesday may be among the biggest of his political life.

So is it reckless or selfless to gamble your political career on doing what's best for your country? I seem to recall the same thing being said about John McCain two years ago when he gambled his political career vs. winning a war for his country. Not reckless then either.

He managed once again, at least in the short term, to shake up the presidential race at a time when national and state polls show Obama opening up a clear lead. And by day's end, he had forced his rival to blink. Obama initially resisted McCain's call to join him and return to Washington. But hours later he was forced to capitulate whenPresident Bush called him and asked him to participate in a White House meeting with congressional leaders and his GOP rival.

Mr. Blinky still thinks he's in charge despite being forced to board McCain's bus at gunpoint. He's insisting the debate Friday is still on even though McCain has said he won't be there. Unless McCain blinks, it's going to be a lonely debate. Balz points out how foolish that plan is.

Obama ... may look high-handed if he insists on going ahead as negotiations in Washington reach a critical moment by this weekend.

Balz also states the obvious contrast, McCain's bold leadership vs. Obama's "long-distance encouragement" plan for dealing with a crisis.

At a minimum, voters were treated again to contrasting styles of leadership Wednesday, with McCain willing to act boldly, if impulsively, to inject himself into the middle of delicate negotiations to force a solution, and Obama adopting a cooler approach designed to show calm in the midst of crisis while preferring to give long-distance encouragement to all parties in the talks.

Finally, Obama's rescue plan is revealed. No need for an economic summit in the White House. Mr. Cool can handle it via long distance.

Oh well, on to Plan B for Obama since the long-distance deal didn't float. I fully expect him to emerge from the White House this afternoon, smile at the cameras and say with a perfectly straight face that he is delighted to be the One who will lead us to financial stability with his secret plan. He'll announce the details right after McCain works it out with the adults, if there are any others in D.C.

Speaking of juveniles, I was picking up a sub sandwich after work yesterday and the shop had MSNBC on with Chris Matthews going ballistic. He wasn't concerned at all about the financial crisis. He was flipping out because McCain said Friday's debate had to be delayed.

The thrill up his leg musta climbed up higher as his girlish voice got shriller and shriller, demanding to know why the debate couldn't be held on schedule? I wondered, what is the big deal? William Kristol must have heard the same panic I did because he answered my question.

As for the question of Friday night's debate, which some in the media seem to think more important than saving the financial system--if the negotiations are still going on in D.C., McCain should offer to send Palin to debate Obama! Or he can take a break from the meetings, fly down at the last minute himself, and turn a boring foreign policy debate, in which he and Obama would repeat well-rehearsed arguments, into a discussion about leadership and decisiveness. And if the negotiations are clearly on a path to success, then McCain can say he can now afford to leave D.C., fly down, and the debate would become a victory lap for McCain.

So the action of these few days becomes more important than the talk of that hour and a half Friday night. One could even say the contrast between the two men in action becomes the true debate over who should be president. The media, being talkers and debaters, love debates, overestimate their importance, and are underestimating the possible effect of McCain's dramatic action. In the debate itself, McCain should mock the media's greater concern for gabbing than solving our economic problems, and should associate Obama with such a talk-heavy media-type approach to politics. If the race is between an energetic executive and an indecisive talker, the energetic executive should win.

I've been expecting McCain to eat Obama's lunch in the debates, simply because he can think on his feet and Obama can't talk coherently without a written speech flashing across a teleprompter in front of him. Hillary ate him alive in the last debate he was in, which is precisely why Obama hasn't participated in one since. And now that events have overtaken the campaign and the only issue that really matters is what to do about this economic meltdown, what can Obama answer when McCain asks him what his plan is? Call it in by long distance?

Or as Kristol and others have suggested, if McCain sends Palin to debate Obama, well. I'd drive down to Mississippi just to watch that.

And I'd take my camera so I could get a picture of Obama with that "deer in the headlights" look on his face when Sarah locks and loads.

One more item. Remember that Washington Post-ABC-BS poll yesterday that showed Obama with the big lead? The one the media chattered about constantly all day? Total BS. Today's Gallup daily tracking poll has the presidential race back to a dead heat at 46-46, with McCain gaining two points and Obama dropping a point. Why am I not surprised? The Gallup numbers show McCain gaining and Obama dropping.

This update covers interviewing conducted Monday through Wednesday, and as such includes one night after McCain's announcement that he was suspending election campaigning and flying to Washington to help seek a bipartisan solution to the financial crisis. A night by night analysis of interviewing results, however, does not suggest that McCain had a dramatically better night against Obama on Wednesday. Instead, the data show that McCain has been doing slightly better for the last three days than he had in the previous week, and with some strong Obama days falling off of the rolling average, the race has moved to its current tied position. This is the first report since Sept. 13-15, in which Obama did not have at least a one percentage point edge.

You know how to tell when one of the talking heads of the mainstream media is lying? Watch closely. They lie every time their lips move.