Suspended Animation

John McCain has been so successful suspending his campaign that he spoke at the Clinton Global Initiative this morning, sent out the usual morning email blast, deployed surrogates all over TV and radio, and continues to fundraise. I'm assuming the volunteer offices are still open as well.

That's some suspension!

I'm reminded of that line by Charles Grodin in Midnight Run, "You guys are the dumbest bounty hunters I've ever seen!" This gambit is so easily mockable, so silly, that it's impossible to take it seriously, especially since the McCain campaign doesn't take it seriously by virtue of their still actively working.

And then there's the threat to skip the debate. It is the height of disrespect to the office to suggest to try and cancel a public event like this. There have been far worse times in American history where campaign events continued to be held. Presidential campaigns and events have been held during the Civil War, WWII, even the Great Depression. Now, there is precedent of a candidate skipping a debate, but it's not exactly good precedent for McCain - Jimmy Carter dipped in the polls as a result. (How about John Anderson's energy policies?)

And I truly believe that David Letterman's mockery, his catching McCain in a lie by seeing him give an interview to Katie Couric when he said he had to rush to Washington and cancel his appearance on the talk show, is the beginning of the end for McCain. He's become a national joke. You can't dig out of a hole like that.

I'm suspending the rest of this final sent-

...UPDATE: His website and Google ads are still up as well. This is all based on the media not noticing that McCain hasn't suspended the campaign.