John McCain seized the initiative on the current financial crisis with his showy suspension of his campaign and his call to postpone Friday’s scheduled debate. He’s right to emphasize the need to make Congressional action a top priority. It’s entirely possible that for President McCain (or for President Obama) the most fateful decisions of his presidency will unfold this week – before the next chief executive is even elected. McCain should also make the point that both men continue to draw their Senate salaries, which mean they ought to be available to do their jobs as members of the most exclusive club in the world. Yes, it’s possible that helping to forge Congressional compromise might even interfere in this case with a much-anticipated national

Obama responded with a whiny press conference emphasizing that he initiated the communication with the McCain campaign by placing an unpublicized phone call hours before his opponent’s dramatic announcement. But Obama also insisted that the two men go forward with the planned debate.

The current answer from the McCain campaign is that Mac won’t show up unless Congressional negotiators reach a meaningful agreement beforehand—which leaves about 24 hours for a complicated and hugely significant process.

Assuming that no such miraculous solution develops before Friday night, what should McCain do?

If he sticks to his resolution and fails to travel to Mississippi, the Democrats and their multiple media allies will claim he’s trying to dodge debate, and afraid of Obama’s fabled eloquence.

If, on the other hand, he simply abandons his determination to stay away and turns up with proverbial tail between his legs, he’ll look like a beaten man and flip-flopper. He’ll lose all benefit from today’s headline-grabbing challenge and come across like an impulsive guy who makes a bold gesture, but then fails to follow through. Worst of all, simply giving in to Obama on this conflict will feel like a major defeat.

What, then, to do?

There’s one obvious potential compromise that the McCain camp ought to consider.

The candidate could agree to join Obama in Mississippi, but ONLY if his opponent agreed to a change in topic. Instead of “foreign policy” they must discuss “the economy” since that’s the issue on the minds of every voter and politician at the moment. This switch goes against the wishes of the Obama campaign: knowing that foreign policy represented their guy’s weakest suit, they wanted that debate out of the way, and then to conclude with “the economy” (their perceived strength) just days before the election.

If Obama doesn’t go along with the sensible and logical change of topic (because it doesn’t suit his political strategy?) then McCain can throw up his hands, say that the other guy isn’t serious about debating the real issue of the day, and get back to work in Washington. A refusal to focus on the issue of the hour would make Obama look petty and insincere.

Another possibility: if negotiations continue to consume  Congressional leaders, McCain might insist that they move the debate to D.C. so he’d only be taken away from his crucial work of leadership for a limited amount of time. Sure, the Commission on Presidential Debates (and the excited audience at Ol’ Miss) will feel disappointed and cheated, but they’d feel even more disappointed and cheated if the economy tanks because the two most important Senators at this moment in history were busy traveling to a scenic setting in Mississippi rather than appearing in a Washington TV studio. If Obama says he’ll only debate in Oxford, Mississippi, but not in D.C., he once again would look foolish and inflexible.

In addition to planning for the debate itself (if it ever takes place) the two campaigns should use the debate-over-the-debate to communicate their most important messages. McCain has grabbed the chance to stress his strongest theme of “Country First.”

Does Obama’s insistence on going forward amount to his support for the ideal of “Politics First”?