Let's hope this is the approach across the MSM:

Spin aside, McCain blinked in what had become a high stakes staring contest between he and Obama.

More here.

So, the McCain team isn't content with lying about things he's done in the past or present; they're now predicting the future:

"McCain Wins Debate!" declares the ad which features a headshot of a smiling McCain with an American flag background. Another ad spotted by our eagle-eyed observer featured a quote from McCain campaign manager Rick Davis declaring: "McCain won the debate-- hands down."

More here.

From Survey USA:

60% of Americans have No Confidence in President Bush’s ability to lead during these economic times.
50% have No Confidence in John McCain’s ability to lead during these economic times.
43% have No Confidence in Barack Obama’s ability to lead during these economic times.

While 43% giving Obama no confidence isn't exactly good, even more people distrust McCain's abilities. More here.

From NRO:

As we’ve seen and heard more from John McCain’s running mate, it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she doesn’t know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion.

More here.

From Huffpost:

Across the country, McCain campaign offices are up and running, accepting volunteers, conducting phone banking, literature dropping and other GOTV activities. This held true on a local, state, and even regional level. The Huffington Post called up 15 McCain-Palin and McCain Victory Committee headquarters in various battleground states. Not one said that it was temporarily halting operations because of the supposed "suspension" in the campaign. Several, in fact, enthusiastically declared the continuation of their work. Others hadn't even heard that the candidate for whom they were devoting their time had officially stopped campaigning.

More here.

Politico:

According to a list of attendees circulating for today's White House meeting, McCain is bringing a campaign aide, while Obama's bringing a Senate staffer.

McCain will be accompanied to the meeting by economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin, according to the list. Obama is bringing Ian Solomon, his legislative counsel.

Emphasis added. More here. Let's see if anyone in the MSM calls out McCain on the fact that he's basically lied about "suspending" his campaign.

Oh, and she also did a photo-op with firefighters at Ground Zero. Yeah, that's a suspended campaign alright.

More here.

From CBS News:

Sarah Palin took questions on Thursday from a small group of reporters in her first organized media availability since becoming the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Asked whether she agrees with the way the Bush administration has carried out the War on Terror, Palin said, “I agree with the Bush administration that we take the fight to them..."

Blah, blah, blah. Who cares what she said? She's holding press conferences when the campaign is supposed to be suspended? After refusing to talk for weeks? Is this really what a suspended campaign looks like?

More here.

Reverend Witchhunter speaks.

It's high time that we have top Christian businessmen, businesswomen, bankers, you know, who are men and women of integrity running the economics of our nations. That's what we are waiting for. That's part and parcel of transformation. If you look at the -- you know -- if you look at the Israelites, that's how they work.

From Sullivan.

From Politico:

What exactly constitutes a "suspended campaign?"

Well, Team McCain is still working away this morning. Joe Pounder, the indefatigable press aide, blasted out his morning email of clips and quips to reporters with just a bit of dissonance

More here.

I still hope I'm wrong. Regardless, this is the moment that future pundits will declare that the race was decided. McCain will either win as a bold maverick willing to put his country first -- or crash and burn as a desperate cynic pulling a cheap stunt to try to distract the voters from the real issues.

Of course, I hope for the latter. But as Menken said, no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.

Here's what I posted a few days ago. McCain's doing it; Obama's not. Let's hope I was wrong.

From the latest ARG poll:

George W. Bush's overall job approval has matched its low in American Research Group monthly polling as 82% of Americans say the national economy is getting worse, according to the latest survey from the American Research Group.

Among all Americans, 19% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 76% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 17% approve and 78% disapprove.

...

No Americans say that the national economy is getting better, 13% say it is staying the same, and 82% say the national economy is getting worse.

More here.

What have we gotten ourselves into? And how is this "bailout" going to solve it?

The unregulated and poorly reported credit default swaps may have actually passed $70 trillion last year, which means that they were about $5 trillion more than the GDP of the entire world.

More here.

My fellow Americans, as you know, our country is in the midst of its greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. And, as I stand here, members of Congress from both parties and both Houses, are working feverishly to come up with a solution that will resolve this crisis and protect the homes, savings and future of the American people. As a sitting United States Senator, it is my duty to be there with them, helping craft a solution that will secure our country's future. Therefore, I am returning to Washington immediately and suspending all campaign activity until this crisis is resolved. The future and well-being of the American people is my number one priority, now and in the future.

And if neither of them say it, we should ask them why they're even bothering to run.

There's a little bit of growth there, though if you compare it to another term that's been bandied about during this campaign, it's still tiny. Still, Hank's plan to mortgage our future to save his pals on Wall Street is raising interest in the Keating Five, the S&L debacle, and John McCain's role in it. I don't expect anyone in the Dem hierarchy to talk about it, but that doesn't mean the media and public shouldn't!

As if you needed another reason not to trust Hank Paulson to handle his $700 billion blank check in a fair and transparent way, all you have to do is look at this exchange between Paulson and Tom Brokaw on Meet the Press earlier today:

MR. BROKAW:  There is a big political debate about whether, whether the fundamentals of the American economy are strong or not.  Is it fair to say that the fundamentals of the American economy may not be strong, but, in fact, they're staggering at the moment?

SEC'Y PAULSON:  Well, what I should say is, I won't bet against the American people.  We're an entrepreneurial people, a hard-working people, and we will work through this, we always do.  I wouldn't bet against the American people, and I wouldn't bet against the long-term fundamentalists of this country.

I don't know what the fk a "long-term fundamentalist" is, but one thing's pretty clear from this post: Paulson is a party man, and is following a party line. And this means that, even when he's pleading for all of us to open our wallets and sing a bipartisan hymn about how great it is that Hank is saving us from a fate worse than debt, he won't dare contradict John McCain. The quote is ludicrous. Of course the fundamentals are fked -- we wouldn't be in this situation if the economy was hunky dory. And, of course, McCain never meant that the "fundamentals" referred to people. But here we have Hank parroting that idea, referring to the "American people" to answer a question about the fundamentals. This guy is trouble, and we should not be giving him carte blanche to mortgage our future.