A McCain Comment That Shouldn't Be Forgotten

McCain continues to lash out wildly at Obama on the economic crisis. Yesterday he said this:

McCain attacked Obama for having “declined to put forth a plan of his own” in a speech Sunday to a National Guard convention in Baltimore. “At a time of crisis, when leadership is needed, Senator Obama has simply not provided it,” he said.

But as Ben Smith points out:

McCain’s own plan for a new institution to lead the bailout appears to have been entirely ignored in Washington.

Nothing demonstrates your leadership quite like proposing a "plan" so lacking in seriousness and detail that everyone ignores it.

But let's not forget, this is actually McCain's second "plan." Last we he told MSNBC: "I think maybe we ought to have a 9/11 commission type thing, because this crisis is very serious and … certainly a threat to our economy.”

In the chaotic news cycles of the last week, this earlier statement hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. Yes, Obama mocked McCain's idea at the time and the soundbite was played on several news channels, but I haven't heard anyone mention it since then.

If I were running the Obama campaign (a phrase I use far too often), I would make a concerted effort to remind voters of McCain's commission idea. McCain wants to tout his supposed leadership skills and his ability to handle a crisis. But what was his first reaction as our financial system began to spiral completely out of control? He proposed setting up a major commission to examine the problem. That's like calling for a weeklong fire prevention meeting while the city is burning to the ground. Or to use McCain's analogy, like calling for the establishment of the 9/11 commission while the planes were still in the air.

That's laughable. It's the opposite of leadership. And it would make for a devastating commercial. All you would have to do is play that clip and juxtapose it with clips from others talking about the gravity of the situation and the need for immediate action.

I also think Obama should continue to mock McCain for his commission plan in his stump speech. I'd say something like this:

As the economy spiraled into chaos last week, John McCain suggested that we set up some sort of "9/11 commission type thing" to study the program. I'm serious. That's a direct quote. That was his plan. You know, that would have made for an interesting commission report. I imagine the report would have started something like this: "Unfortunately, while this commission was meeting, the worldwide financial system appears to have completely melted down. Welcome to the Second Great Depression."