The fundamentals of our economy are strong

That was then:


This is now:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Wednesday said he will break off from campaigning to help on a Wall Street rescue plan and asked that a Friday night debate with Democrat Barack Obama be postponed.

McCain, in a statement to reporters, said he would suspend his campaign on Thursday to return to Washington and called on Obama to join him, saying he had spoken to the Democrat.

He said he did not believe a current $700 billion rescue plan would pass the U.S. Congress in its current form. He urged President George W. Bush to call for a bipartisan meeting of lawmakers to try to find an agreement.

"It's time for both parties to come together to solve this problem," he said.

OK, so what the fuck changed in the past week that Saint John is going to "suspend" his campaign and ask Barack Obama to do the same? Besides his tanking poll numbers, that is?

UPDATE: In poking around the interweb for this post i cam across this from the Foreign Policy blog last week:

It is a pretty tone deaf thing to say on a day when the Dow loses more than 500 points -- its worst session in seven years. And it is looking increasingly false, Donald Luskin's horribly timed best efforts to the contrary.

But still, is what McCain said any different than what Obama might be saying a year from now if he's in the Oval Office and -- as many expect -- things continue to go south? What's he going to tell the American people then? "This economy is going down in flames! Head for the hills and hide the children!"

(emphasis mine)

Isn't that exactly the message that John McCain is sending to the American people right now? I don't remember reading that the 1932 presidential campaign needed to be suspended at any point in time, just as an example. So either John McCain was flat out lying last week, when he said our economy was still "fundamentally strong," or he's in complete panic mode right now.

Neither exactly qualifies as "leadership" if you know what i mean.

UPDATE II: So the McCain camp tries to spin this as showing that McCain is "above politics?" And the Washington Post swallows it hook, line, and sinker? No wonder the newspaper business is going to the dogs.

UPDATE III: From CNN

McCain senior advisor Mark Salter told reporters Wednesday that the Arizona senator’s decision followed two days of discussions with colleagues on Capitol Hill, who told him that the bailout plan from Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson faced an uphill fight.

He also said that McCain called President Bush today and told him of the plan, but would not characterize the president’s reaction to the proposal.

The McCain campaign will suspend airing all ads and all campaign events pending an agreement with Obama, though Salter did not know whether John McCain will suspend fundraising activities.

He added that McCain would take part in the debate as scheduled if Congress reached agreement on the measure by Friday morning.

(Emphasis added)

So this is the McCain camps equivalent of threatening to hold their breath until they turn blue? Either pass the bailout plan, or i won't debate you? Who's pulling this man's strings?