Multi-Tasking

 The topic of the campaign became multitasking. Get back to Washington and take some action v stay on the campaign trail and talk a lot. McCain says it is time to act. Obama says be in Mississippi for the debate tonight — and why can’t McCain multitask?

The answer may be that sometimes it is time to focus on one thing. Besides, both McCain and Obama have jobs. They were “hired” to represent the people of Arizona and Illinois, respectively. They have been AWOL from the US Senate for months. Most people will forgive it under the circumstances. I would agree.

But there is serious business before the Senate. And it is extremely contentious. It may come down to the votes of only one or two. Maybe coming back to Washington before there was anything to vote on was premature. But the general intent is appreciated by the people. Neither one is a primary player in the negotiations for the bail-out. But they should weigh in. One of them will be administering the outcome by the end of January.

In any case, it is much more important than some campaign, photo-op, sound-bite generating debate. A debate, if properly structured and moderated, is an excellent opportunity for voters to learn something of value about the candidates. I think there should be as many as they, and we, can stomach. But putting the campaign ahead of serious matters of government business is a significant lapse in judgment. You can’t multi-task a vote from Mississippi, or anywhere else outside of Washington. If that is suddenly “job one” then doing anything else, even as an accomplished multitasker, is to fail.