Left Flank

About Republican presidential candidate, and former fighter jock, John McCain's decision not to campaign while Wall Street suffers, here's a shorter version of the longer version I think John McCain should not be president.

I, for one, think Congress has been handling this pretty well so far. The Bush Administration came to them with an obviously flawed package. They responded with appropriate skepticism and are busy coming up with what look like sensible alternatives.

Implicit in McCain's appeal is that the presidential campaign was politicizing this issue, in ways that have made crafting a response more difficult. It's not clear to me that's actually been happening--or that politicizing the issue is such a bad thing. Coming up with the right response requires making choices about political values. Is it important to help homeowners? Is it ok for the government to own part of the investment business?

What does seem apparent, though, is that putting the two candidates in the negotiating room is far more likely to distract--and derail--negotiations than having them out on the hustings. Besides, it's not as if McCain has any great expertise he can bring to this subject. Or does he plan to bring Senator Phil Gramm, Mr. Deregulator himself, along?

One other concern: McCain just made it clear he expects a negotiated solution by Monday. In other words, he's just set a deadline. But, like many commentators and experts, I'm increasingly convinced that haste is bad idea here. If it takes a few extra days--or even a few extra weeks--to craft legislation, that might not be such a bad idea, as long as Congress makes clear that it will, eventually, do something.

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