

Let’s review the timeline for today. As you can see from this photo, McCain is in NYC, not DC. CNN’s chyron is wrong. McCain is giving a campaign speech in NYC, not working on the bailout.

UPDATE: McCain started speaking at 9:16 a.m. At 8:45 a.m., Ben Smith tell us John McCain will be addressing the Clinton Global Initiative. Following his speech, McCain will apparently finally head to D.C. McCain didn’t really suspend his campaign yesterday. He just said he did.

At 10:00 a.m., Congressional leaders are meeting to work on the bailout deal:

Congressional Democrats and Republicans on key committees are nearing agreement on a Wall Street bailout package and will sit down Thursday morning to craft a final bipartisan plan, according to a Democratic source. The aide said that “not too many” issues remain unresolved for the 10 a.m. meeting

Because John McCain is campaigning in NYC, he won’t be there. But, most of the Congressional leaders really don’t want him there anyway.

At 4:00 p.m., (ABC News reported via email) George Bush, whose approval rating on the economy is at 16% with a 76% disapproval, will be hosting the White House photo-op (that’s what Barney Frank is calling it). John McCain will be there for that session.

Let’s be clear: McCain will miss the meeting about substance. But, McCain will be there for the grandstanding. You know the Palin/McCain campaign is secretly hoping there is no deal. For them, no deal means no debates.