Let me start by saying that I believe McCain's call to postpone the debate is a shrewd tactical maneuver. If nothing else it allowed him to seize the initiative, put Obama in a reactive stance, and make the headlines about him rather than about the economy. And while it is a big gamble, there is the potential to exploit any outcome that has Obama sitting alone at the debate in Mississippi. First, the Republicans will plaster the television with images of McCain sitting in a study, glasses tipped over his nose, reading important looking papers and conversing with "top economic advisors." They may also release, immediately before, during, or after the debate, some new proposal that has the complete and total acceptance of every Congressional Republican. Even if that proposal is hogwash - as it surely would be - McCain will at least look like he was getting something done while Obama was out-of-the-loop half a country away.
All that being said, I think there is a way to outflank McCain on this with a sublime maneuver. Tomorrow afternoon the Democrats call a press conference and Harry Reid announces that he is scheduling debate in the Senate at the same time the Presidential Debate would have taken place in Mississippi, saying something to the effect of: "The country deserves to see the two candidates for the highest office in the land debate. We cannot deny them that opportunity. At the same time Congress must decide which course we are going to take. And so there is no better time and no better place to have these two distinguished Senators engage in a robust discussion about our nation's economy than tonight on the floor of our the Senate. Let their fellow Senators, and the American people, hear what each has to say and see what proposals each will bring to the table."
First, this move would put Democrats in the driver seat and allow them to reclaim the initiative. McCain is the one that would now be put in a reactive position. Second, it would play to Obama's strength in terms of his speaking style. During the primaries I thought that the candidate debates were his weak point; he is much, much better at delivering prepared remarks. Third, it would make for incredible political theater: the two Presidential candidates, both Senators, having it out in the halls of Congress over the economy and a Bush's bailout plan. No doubt it would be the most watched Senate debate in the history of Senate debates. And think of all the points Obama could hit: capping CEO pay; helping families facing foreclosure; cutting taxes for Middle America. We could even get Biden in the game by saying a thing or two and then Palin would be the one who was left out in the cold. (No Cold War pun intended.) Finally, it could boost the prospects of the Democrat's Senatorial candidates; people would see that the Senate is actually doing something and maybe understand that having Democrats control that house (with a filibuster-proof majority) is of the utmost importance to the future of our country.
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