In a surprising move today, John McCain has announced that he is suspending his political campaign and flying back to Washington to work on the financial crisis.  He has also suggested that the campaigning Senators focus on doing their jobs and delay Friday’s 90 minute debate.

McCain has missed 64% of the votes this year, more than any other senator, even more than South Dakota Senator Tom Johnson who suffered a stroke.  Obama has managed to miss less than 46% of the votes and Clinton has missed 32% even though the democrats had a much longer primary season.  So why is it McCain suddenly finds his vote important?

Obama has rejected McCain’s “tactic” and believes that a president must be able to deal with a serious issue and give a speech to keep Americans informed.  He stated “It’s my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear form the person who...will be responsible for dealing with this mess.  It’s going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once.”

Just 10 days ago, McCain was saying “the fundamentals of our economy are strong” but now he appears to have changed his mind.  Historians have noted that presidential campaigns were not suspended during the Civil War, World War II and the Great Depression.  At this point, McCain’s campaign is looking beyond erratic and the hopeful president is not looking very presidential.