Campaign first

John McCain likes to run around crying, "Country first," but this week showed us what he instinctively puts first. There are several accounts now circulating across the web that tell us quite frankly what we had suspected from the first, that John McCain's quixotic antics last week displayed a willingness to try and save his campaign in the face of crashing poll numbers even if it meant wrecking the country.

Frank Rich yesterday wrote a searing article that describes the events that surrounded McCain's decision to "suspend" his campaign, trying both to reverse his terrible poll numbers and cover up Sarah Palin's disastrous interview with Katie Couric. Frank commences his must-read piece with the observation:

What we learned last week is that the man who always puts his “country first” will take the country down with him if that’s what it takes to get to the White House.

The Washington Post today in a piece aptly titled, Days of Chaos, Improvisation and Drama, chronicles how McCain last week lurched "from one strategy to the next, defensively reacting to events while trying to regain his footing." The article repeats the word, "lurch," over and over, and time and again refers to McCain's "disasters," born as the outcomes of his impetuous and imprudent improvisations. McCain did this apparently despite repeated requests that he butt out of the process. Markos this evening has a long post that describes how McCain was asked to refrain from interfering in the negotiation over the Bailout Bill but still ran through the process like a bull in a china closet.

I mean, really. The last eight years have been horrible. I truly believe the dictum that you will know a tree by the fruit it bears. We need to put this country back together again. If we somehow mysteriously elect John McCain our president, get ready for Mr. Toad's wild ride. This guy is erratic and will lurch from one disaster to the next without regard to anyone's interests but his own. Last week was his, "Alright, Mr. Demille, I'm ready for close-up," moment.

You want to know what a McCain presidency would be like? Just study his behavior last week.