The important thing is for the American project to go on:
Today is September 24. On this day in 1864, Abraham Lincoln presided over a country at war with itself and a party split to its roots over the question of how to plan for the nation’s reconstruction—to such an extent that on this day, Lincoln reluctantly accepted the resignation of Montgomery Blair, his Postmaster General and a valued advisor, owing to disputes over plans for Reconstruction.
Yet the campaign for the presidency was “now being prosecuted with the utmost vigor,” as one could read in the New York Times.
Read the whole thing (plus some additions) to see how past aspirants to the Presidency managed to govern and to present themselves to the American people to interview for the job.
This morning, John McCain spoke at the Clinton Global Initiative Forum while Congress is hammering out its deal now. Why does the campaign need to stop again?
UPDATE: Apparently the campaign hasn’t stopped. Senior McCain economic talking head still surrogating on Fox and Palin is campaigning at Ground Zero today.