This move strikes me as very smart politics, completely aside from the question of it being smart policy. The central message of McCain’s campaign is “Country First” — that McCain will willingly transcend partisanship in order to work on behalf of the good of the United States of America. Suspending his campaign and departing for Washington is a striking illustration to the voters that McCain is serious about putting country first. So one benefit is the vindication of his campaign’s major theme.

The other major benefit is that it might allow McCain to reverse the perception that the financial crisis has knocked him off-balance. By making such a dramatic move, McCain is creating facts to which Obama must now respond. He is shaping the battlespace. Obama is thus left with a dilemma: defy McCain’s call to unity and risk looking petty and partisan, or follow suit, allowing McCain to appear the leader and Obama the follower. If Congress succeeds in crafting new legislation, McCain will be able to say that it was because of his bold leadership; and if Congress fails, McCain will be able to say that it was because of the Democratic party’s partisanship. A win-win.

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