John McCain and his advisers know that he is in trouble when the polls show the presidential contest even.  Now when the latest Washington Post national poll show Barack Obama turning the country  Democratic blue with his nine-point lead over McCain, it's panic time for the GOP.  McCain and his advisers are in disarray and desperately seek to stem the tide by any means necessary. Their initial response was to refute the polling data as bogus, but that is tame compared to what McCain and his advisers are now trying to accomplish.  Fully realizing the necessity to stop the Obama surge before it's too late, McCain has announced the suspension of his presidential campaign.  He has taken this unprecedented action supposedly to focus full attention on the current economic crisis.  In addition, McCain wants to postpone his Friday debate withObama.

To use a sports analogy, athletes often seek a postponement or red-shirt from competition when they lack adequate preparation. Therefore, I suspect the unspoken reason that McCain is seeking a postponement is because he feels inadequately prepared to faceObama in a debate on Friday. In essence, McCain wants red-shirt status in the homestretch of a presidential contest to avoid falling further behind Obama in the polls.

It wouldn't surprise me if McCain also tried to delay the presidential election...until he is ready.  For someone who brags about being ready to assume the presidency on Day One, McCain is not even ready to debate his opponent on Day One. As more Americans turn their attention to the serious business of electing the next president, when they objectively assess the qualifications of McCain andObama , McCain will be rejected as an unacceptable candidate.  No longer a straight talker, McCain seems to have lost his way. He is running a typical slash and burn GOP campaign strategy overflowing with personal attacks, innuendos and flat out lies about Obama. Dishonesty reigns.

Even today when Obama reached out to McCain with an offer to tackle the economic crisis in a nonpartisan manner, McCain shamelessly tried to take advantage of Obama's gesture by claiming to be its originator.  What a peculiar way to build trust and lay a foundation for reaching across the aisle.  That kind of behavior will only assure a continuation of Washington gridlock. Nevertheless, the game continues.  No one knows when McCain will unveil his next brilliant idea.  However, if hisun-presidential attempt to red-shirt is any indication, no one but McCain's most ardent supporters expect his idea to be anything remotely compelling.