Sorry, John, but that was too little too late, His charge back to DC to save the day has failed.

[maddezmom]

Sorry, John, but that was too little too lateMcCain's charge back to Washington to save the day has failed to enhance his credibility as a leaderAll comments (0) Michael Crowley The Observer, Sunday September 28 2008 Article historyWoody Allen once said that 80 per cent of success is showing up. That aphorism may have been on the mind of John McCain when he landed in Oxford, Mississippi, on Friday afternoon, having agreed at the final hour to participate in that night's presidential debate with Barack Obama. Seventy two hours earlier, McCain had said he would skip the debate because his services were desperately needed in Washington, where he would ensure that Congress swiftly approved a $700bn bailout of the stricken US financial system.

Yet McCain's trip to Washington accomplished nothing and may even have set back the negotiations in Washington. The fate of the bail out remains less clear than when McCain chose to get involved. But no matter. McCain decided to debate anyway, making clear that the whole idea was about manufactured drama from a campaign that loves nothing more than an audacious political stunt. (See Palin, Sarah.)

As it happened, McCain delivered a strong performance. He made a crisp and engaging case for his own leadership abilities, while Obama was professorial and dispassionate. But it may have been too little, too late for a candidate floundering in the polls who has seen the political climate swing ruthlessly against him.

For much of the past year, the 2008 presidential campaign has revolved less about real issues than cultural signifiers. A stabilised Iraq and reduced concern about terrorism alerts offered Americans the luxury of obsessing about race, age, gender, elitism and Alaskan moose hunting. But with little more than a month remaining in the campaign, it is suddenly time to think about first principles again. The prospect of a gigantic federal intervention in the financial system has raised fundamental questions about the very nature of American capitalism

more:http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/28/john.mccain.economy