President Abraham Lincoln was able to campaign for a second term in office in the middle of biggest crisis in the nation's history. However; John McCain feels it necessary to suspend his campaign to deal with the crisis - as if there aren't enough people in Washington already up to their armpits in this mess.

The last time a candidate suspended campaigning to deal with a crisis was when President Jimmy Carter used his "Rose Garden Strategy" when dealing with the Iranian hostage crisis during the 1980 presidential campaign. It didn't bring the hostages home any earlier and didn't win Carter any votes either.

John McCain is not on the banking subcommittee or any Senate committees that are involved in dealing with the 2008 financial crisis so it is unclear what role he'll play other than political cheerleader. This is clearly a risky strategy because it will be viewed by the Senate Democrats as strictly a political move and they'll likely do whatever they can to marginalize his activities. Worse than being seen wedging himself in the middle would be being pushed to the outside and perceived as a bit player.

Unfortunately, all this is going to do is politicize the process even more than it already is. Senate Republicans will do whatever they can to give McCain a starring role while Senate Democrats will try equally hard to make him irrelevant. Meanwhile, they do have work that desperately needs to be done.

It is no wonder Wall Street has grown increasing skeptical that they'll get their bailout. When it was first announced the market jumped by nearly 800 points in two day. Then reality set in. In this case the reality is that in Washington politics trumps action, even in emergencies. In the middle of the crisis the political dance music just got turned on. McCain has shown up with his disco ball and platform shoes. The chances of a smooth deal getting done just got a whole lot more complicated.