Will has his own issues with McCain, but he nails a major concern - McCain’s impulsive nature and ultracombative personality, combined with a stubborn refusal to move away from deeply ingrained certainties (not principles) framed by his life story.

Richard Cohen has a column today on American exceptionalism at http://tinyurl.com/3ms5fx. While it focuses on Palin’s short-comings, its relevant to McCain, too, in pointing out how much the world and the US role in it has changed, and underscoring the flexible mindset needed to deal with new realities. There’s a point at which stubborn adherence to a preconceived world view, combined with intellectual inflexibility and an impulse to play King Canute, becomes highly destructive. We’ve had 8 years of that, and don’t need another 4.

I’m sure McCain will say something to his collegues in congress using the buzz words “My friends….”. Most of the republicans in the senate have reservations on his leadership. Thad Cochran, overall a good GOP senator from Mississippi, states that he doesn’t know if McCain has the temper to become commander-in-chief. When you have guys like Cochran voice concerns, we need to listen.

So now they can both have ritual photos taken after all the hard work is completed. See, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/business/26bush.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin. And please don’t now tell us that the threat of McCain coming in off the trail drove Congress to reach agreement:

““I now expect we will indeed have a plan that can pass the House, pass the Senate, be signed by the president, and bring a sense of certainty to this crisis that is still roiling in the markets,” said Robert Bennett, Republican of Utah. “That is our primary responsibility, and I think we our now prepared to meet it.”

And Mr. Bennett, one of the senior members of the banking committee, made a point of describing the meeting as free of political “posturing” in remarks that seemed aimed at Mr. McCain, who announced on Wednesday that he was suspending his campaign and returning to Washington to help secure a deal.

“I appreciate very much my Republican colleagues who participated in the meeting and added tremendously,” Mr. Bennett said. “We focused on solving the problem, rather than posturing politically and it was one of the most productive sessions in that regard that I have participated in since I have been in the Senate.””

No, not at all. If you don’t provide evidence to support your position, but instead throw out red herrings for the sole purpose of discrediting your opponent, then yes, you are a troll. If you care to share your ideological beliefs that are conservative and support McCain, then you are not. Pretty simple, eh?

I thought this was supposed to be a non-partison blog.”

“non-partisan” and “blog” don’t go together. There is nothing “non-partisan” about a blog.

Do you really think they’ll have TV monitors on as they put the package together? Please. If they’re so easily distracted, they have no business trying to develop a plan in the first place.

“For that matter, I see no justification for McCain’s actual presence in DC.”
- Again, Reid told McCain to get Republican support for the bailout. His presence will have a greater effect on persuading the Republicans that are resistant to the bailout.

Again, garnering support does not require actual presence. You just assume it does. And, as I argued and to which you did not respond, injecting presidential politics into the negotiating room can be counterproductive.

“, or why, if he went to DC, he couldn’t spare a few hours for the debate”
- What kind of President would take a few hours away from dealing with a national crisis to engage in campaign activities? Barack Obama: Politics First.

I bet they take time to eat. To sleep. To talk with their families. A few hours will simply not be to the detriment of the nation, especially when McCain has no significant role in developing the plan under discussion. “Country First” would be to talk with Americans about what one would do as president, not spend time posturing on a subject about which one said one was not an expert. Again, I’d like to name something that McCain was asking us to do to put country first, but I can’t because he doesn’t have a single policy that asks us to lift a finger. Some of us actually believe in country first; McCain is using it as a punch line.

If assumptions are put forward as facts, and if there is little attempt to come up with facts to back up assumptions, then it’s hard to engage in the issues. And if there’s nothing about McCain that one would not defend, no matter how indefensible, then it’s not worth having a discussion.

As a prior poster said, don’t feed the trolls. I won’t from now on.

You said it would be the easiest to move. That doesn’t mean there’s a reason for moving it.

What’s Palin’s role in crafting legislation for the bailout plan? Did she get elected to Congress while I wasn’t looking? Is Biden’s presence needed? What is the justification for moving the debate?

The reasons for canceling Friday’s debate are weak. The reasons for moving the VP debate are practically nonexistent.

“For that matter, I see no justification for McCain’s actual presence in DC.”
- Again, Reid told McCain to get Republican support for the bailout. His presence will have a greater effect on persuading the Republicans that are resistant to the bailout. Hence, Reid and Nancy will more likely get the bipartisan support they wanted. Its not that complicated.

“, or why, if he went to DC, he couldn’t spare a few hours for the debate”
- What kind of President would take a few hours away from dealing with a national crisis to engage in campaign activities? Barack Obama: Politics First.