9-25-08, 9:09 pm

John McCain's decision to suspend his campaign and return to Washington was little more than stagecraft, a political stunt to garner photo opportunities and to distract voters from his sinking campaign, congressional leaders suggested this evening, Sept. 25th.

From the time he announced his decision to suspend his campaign in New York, McCain stayed the night in the Big Apple in order to conduct a few interviews with friendly media, according to various media sources. So much for a national emergency requiring immediate action, some commentators suggested.

In fact, McCain arrived in Washington just as the first announcements of a deal between Congress and the White House were being made, somewhere close to 24 hours after McCain's declaration of the emergency.

Meanwhile, despite McCain's announcement of the suspension of his campaign, a number of McCain campaign events around the country went forward, including appearances by Mitt Romney in the Midwest and Sarah Palin on the east coast, various news sources reported. McCain campaign surrogates also continued with TV appearance attacking Barack Obama. Other campaign activities, such as TV commercials and local campaign efforts, continued throughout the day.

Aside from failing to abide by his own announcement of suspension, McCain appears to have done very little while on Capitol Hill. Congressional Democrats seem to feel that John McCain's role in the bailout negotiations has been a hindrance. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, told CBS news that he thinks the late afternoon White House summit 'was more of a political stunt for McCain.' Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters that at the meaning with the president, McCain had little to say and when he did speak he 'said nothing substantive.'

While a deal between Congress and the White House on the bailout plan appeared to be struck in the early afternoon, political insiders are now suggesting that McCain's late arrival delayed the deal in order for him to float an alternative plan that offered nothing of substance except more tax breaks for corporations and less independent regulatory oversight. McCain's alternative plan suggested little deviance from George W. Bush's usual economic policies.

In other words, McCain's version of the bailout plan appears to seek to reward CEOs and corporations that caused the financial crisis with new tax breaks and to continue the same practices of refusing to ensure consumer protections and independent review of business practices on Wall Street.

A memo circulated by the Obama campaign charged that McCain hadn't suspended his campaign, but in fact used the crisis to try to boost his campaign. McCain 'turned a national crisis into an occasion to promote his campaign,' the memo read. McCain's actions were nothing more than a stunt 'aimed more at shoring up the Senator’s political fortunes than the nation’s economy.' McCain's actions did 'nothing to help advance this critical legislation to protect the American people during this time of economic crisis,' the Obama campaign noted.