If John McCain is afraid to debate the economy, how can he run it?


Senator John McCain (R-AZ), 73, is pulling out of this Friday's presidential debate and "suspending his campaign" citing his decision to focus on "the economic crisis," reports MSNBC. But as recently as last week McCain said, "the fundamentals of our economy are strong" as the Dow fell 300 points, according to National Journal. Perhaps voters see him as out of touch. In any case, McCain's standing in the polls has changed -- a recent Washington Post-ABC poll shows him nine points behind his opponent.

So exactly why is he so afraid to fight back to regain some of that lost standing in the polls? Is it possible that his well established track record as a foe of financial regulation will make it too obvious to voters that he shares responsibility for the mess we're in and can't credibly solve it? Or is he afraid that he'd lose even more ground by debating his opponent than he would by suspending his campaign?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I am not aware of a candidate who has received the nomination of his party ever suspending his campaign days before the first debate with his opponent. It does not instill much confidence in his leadership skills.

Update. The enclosed video from David Letterman suggests that McCain should have appointed his vice presidential nominee to run the campaign while he ran away from the debate with his opponent.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

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