• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, September 26, 2008

Maybe Sen. John McCain is really a politician on the outside and a TV marketing executive on the inside.

 

What better way to tweak viewer interest in him and his Presidential foe Sen. Barack Obama than to cancel the first of three scheduled debates? All this will build interest--and ratings--for the second and third debates.

But as MSNBC's Keith Olbermann says, you need a tiebreaker--the best two out of three, so you can advance to meet the Montreal Canadians in the next round.

The financial markets have been in a state of duress for some time. But Democrats and Republicans have already agreed in principal to the $700 billion bailout package. What's left to be done? A lot, you say, since the nation is in desperate financial straits.

Then I recommend that McCain do the honorable thing: Postpone not just the campaign, but the election as well. If our country is in on the verge of financial collapse, I'm all for everyone chipping in to make it better--and what a story to tell later on.

Right now, all this doesn't do anything but give real TV marketers a headache in scheduling Friday's debate event. Remember, there are regular Friday shows--no doubt reruns--such as "Ghost Whisperer", "Numbers," and "America's Funniest Home Videos" to consider. And for any last-minute decisions for new TV content, there are only so many David Blaine specials to mull over.

This week--because of the financial market concerns--McCain says he couldn't make it on David Letterman. He had no trouble, however, in getting on "The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric"--a show at the same CBS network, scheduled at the same time as the "Late Show" appearance.

   But hey... won't there be something to talk about the next time on Letterman? Think of those ratings! McCain knows what he is doing.

It is tough juggling perceived and real emergencies in these hard economic times. All this will make a great movie of the week-- especially in November, when all network shows could dip further into the doldrums.

We all want some real drama, and already we're getting it.