I think John McCain and the stubborn House Republicans are posturing for a last minute deal today. McCain rode his white steed back to Washington to save the day and his House counterparts and playing the part of the antagonist.
  The play will end this afternoon with John McCain at a microphone with those stubborn House Republicans announcing that he, John McCain, has saved the day and just in time to fly to Mississippi to debate Barack Obama, who has been played like a fiddle by the McCain campaign.
  McCain will breeze into the hall two minutes before the foreign policy debate, where he will likely overshadow Obama on the issue of foreign policy despite Obama spending three days in Florida (while McCain was playing mediator in Washington) cramming for his foreign policy final exam.
  It was brilliant politics on McCain’s part and total naivete on Obama’s not to see this coming.
  People love a person who puts aside their own ambition for the good of the country (even when they are so apparently doing it for their own ambitious reasons) and Obama’s statement “call me if you need me,” is so unPresidential that it had to be off the cuff.
  When you look at Harry Reid or Obama’s face as they sat at the White House table you could see the resignation that once again the Republicans had out flanked them on a major issue.
  Of course, I could be wrong.

Oh, and don’t underestimate the effect this will have on the McCain=Bush argument. It is the Democrats siding with George Bush and McCain and the House Republicans are opposing him. So much for that campaign tactic.
  I’m an undecided voter, leaning towards Nader, so I am simply admiring the shrewd McCain tactics.

And is this payback to Bush for the ads against McCain in SC in 1999 primary?  Probably not, but Bush has to wonder.  This is high stakes politics, no question.  But are the American voters buying McCain’s white steed rescue or Obama’s “Presidents have to multi-task” arguments.  I guess we’ll know later today.  I suspect you are correct, #1.