Postponing the Inevitable

McCain latest Hail Mary move is absolutely true to form. Let's postpone the debates. Let's put the campaign on hold while we rush to Washington to try to fix the economy. Of course, McCain has not made a single vote in the Senate in five months and is, by his own admission, utterly clueless regarding the economy.

I see it as a bonehead move. Lets take attention away from the candidates and the issues. It is similar to the faux concern during the first day of the Republican convention about the hurricane hitting the gulf coast.

But, the idea to postpone the debates and stall the campaign causes me to think of two prior instances where postponement of elections was contemplated. The first was commonly known. Giuliani wanted to continue as mayor of New York City and postpone the election that brought Bloomberg into the office. That trial balloon was a non-starter and was shot down by everyone but Giuliani.

There was an earlier exercise aimed at postponing an election which has received little coverage. It is little known, but the Nixon White House had the Rand Corporation investigate the impact and consequence of postponing the 1972 Presidential election. The exercise came to naught, and the mere fact that such an undertaking even occurred has now fallen into the dustbin of history and is denied.