Perhaps the on-again, off-again strategy was a strikingly effective way of lowering expectations for McCain…
Woody Allen said 90 percent of life is showing up. Now we will see how McCain does with that other 10 percent.
UPDATE: The more I think about it, the more I think McCain was perfectly fine going back to Washington. He was even fine suspending the campaign. The misstep was calling for the debate to be postponed, which was a gamble, and that put the ball in Obama’s court. Once Obama said he wasn’t going to agree to a postponement, McCain had to either concede the stage — a move too easily, if completely unfairly, painted as fear or doubt — or reverse a decision that was groundbreaking, surprising and hard to explain to the casual voter.
But… by the end of the night, we may not be talking about this at all.