The Politics Of A Suspended Campaign

In an unprecidented move, John McCain has suspended his presidential campaign, in order to return to Washington and help pass the $700 billion dollar bailout. Not only that, but he has asked Barack Obama to return the the senate with him, which would also mean suspending his own campaign. 

The politics of this move are fundamentally good, and on paper it seems like a good idea. By doing this, John McCain has put Barack Obama on the defensive. By doing this, John McCain is attempting to seize the economic issue right out from under Obama. 

Of course Obama would not like to suspend his campaign, no one would. However, Obama has only two choices in this matter. He can either suspend his campaign, and follow John McCain's lead, or he can continue campaigning. Both have consequences that are not good for Obama, and he must choose carefully.

If he follows McCain's lead and suspends his campaign, then it looks as if he is admitting that McCain's judgement on the issue is correct, which undermines his whole campaign's basis that Obama's superior judgement is a substitute for his experience. 

On the other hand, if he does not suspend his campaign, he may look as if he is not concerned with getting the bailout passed, and may loose his moral authority on the economy. He will look as if he does not care about rescuing the economy, so much as he cares about becoming the next president. McCain would of course seize on that, and a whole new round of claims of Obama only worrying about political expediency would surface. Like last time, these claims would be very effective.

As of this writing, the Obama campaign has issued no response to the news. Essentially, Obama is stuck between a rock and a hard place, and will need to make this decision carefully. The ball is in his court, and it will be very interesting to see how the Obama campaign responds to this very unconventional news.