McCain Missteps, Obama Steps Up

The time between John McCain’s impromptu televised press conference and Barack Obama’s response from Florida may have been the most important hour of the campaign thus far.

Sen. Obama phoned Sen. McCain this morning and suggested the joint statement than McCain referred to as if it were his idea in his statement. In that conversation, McCain expressed his belief that both campaigns should suspend operations and focus on the financial crisis and impending bailout vote in Congress. Obama stated that he did not agree to postpone the debate, and that McCain was simply “mulling it over”.

If things are usually accurately interpreted at first glance and listen, then McCain looked desperate and smarmy. His call to delay the debate was so clearly political that it oozed out of his hastily prepared and amateurish remarks.

About an hour later, Sen. Obama took to the airwaves from Tampa. He outlined the timeline and the fact that he initiated the idea for a joint statement, something that McCain left out. He looked confident and Presidential, assured and informed. The most brilliant part of his statement was that he did not address the question of the debate. He proceeded as if everyone knew that Friday’s debate would go on. It was not until Obama took questions that he even spoke to the issue. When he did, his point was clear and perfect sense. If ever there was a time for the American people to hear from the two candidates for President, it was now.

It the campaign’s most critical moment, McCain blinked and Obama stepped up strong and assumed the role of leader. McCain’s ‘Chicken Little’ call to scramble back to Washington loses its impact when you consider that less than a week ago McCain said that the fundamentals of the economy were strong. On which point should he backtrack?

Pundits everywhere assumed that McCain’s statement was not as much in response to the pending vote on the hill than it was about his plummeting poll numbers over the last week. Today’s events could potentially impact the polls as much as Friday’s debate. If McCain struggles in the debate, his numbers could dip to dangerous levels.