Not Obama's finest hour

On September 24, Barack Obama joined John McCain in issuing the following high-minded statement concerning the nation's financial crisis:

The American people are facing a moment of economic crisis. No matter how
this began, we all have a responsibility to work through it and restore
confidence in our economy. The jobs, savings, and prosperity of the American
people are at stake.

Now is a time to come together -- Democrats and Republicans -- in a spirit
of cooperation for the sake of the American people.

The plan that has been submitted to Congress by the Bush Administration
is flawed, but the effort to protect the American economy must not fail.

This is a time to rise above politics for the good of the country. We cannot risk an economic catastrophe. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country.

It only took 24 hours for Barack Obama to use John McCain's efforts to "work through it and restore confidence in our economy" as a bludgeon with which to launch a political attack.

It's plain to see that Obama never viewed the effort to rescue the financial markets as anything but a political problem for his campaign. Had the negotiations gone quickly and easily, he would have dismissed McCain's involvement as a "photo op designed to distract from his faltering presidential campaign." Now that the negotiations are proving difficult (if that's possible to say after just one contentious meeting), Obama is blaming McCain for somehow causing an impasse.

The media will largely repeat Obama's talking points on this unless and until events force them to present a different account. Nevertheless, it should be recalled that McCain never said this was going to be easy. To the contrary, the entire premise of his decision to suspend the campaign, delay the debate, and return to Washington was that there was no consensus on the Paulson plan and that there was tough -- and urgent -- work needed in order to resolve the crisis. What part of that didn't Obama understand?

Nothing better illustrates Obama's craven duplicity during this episode than his suggestion after yesterday's White House meeting that it would have been better for the presidential candidates not to have intruded on the ongoing negotiations because "the cameras change things." If that's what he truly believed, then why did he show up in the first place? He should have stayed out on the campaign trail if he thought his presence would only impede progress in finding a solution. But then, of course, he would have risked not being able to share in any of the credit if and when an agreement was reached. Instead, he and his handlers devised a strategy whereby Obama would go along for the ride so long as things appeared to moving in a positive direction, but would be prepared to bail out and turn on John McCain at the first sign of trouble. That's not exactly a profile in courage. Then again, we shouldn't be surprised. This is the same guy who voted "present" 130 times in the Illinois state legislature.

Sadly, Obama could actually win this election. If he does, America will be saddled with a president devoid of even a minimal capacity to lead. Indeed, when has he ever taken a tough stand on something and stuck to it? Being president requires more than simply being black and having the ability to read speeches from a teleprompter. It takes some guts. Obama hasn't exhibited the strength of character to be an effective senator, let alone chief executive and commander in chief in a time of war.