I’m beginning to worry that the McCain camp might be spinning their own candidate. A certain amount of bravado is to be expected from campaign aides, but now that credit crisis has hit full on, they’ve entered a level of fantasy that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before in a Presidential campaign. Could it be that they’re partly doing it to buck up the candidate — to make him think that he really is the man of the hour?

I’m not sure how else to explain the alternate-universe quality of reports like this one:

The senator’s top aides said planning for the announcement began late Tuesday night, as McCain began to receive word that Bush’s rescue plan was faltering in Congress, and as Democrats began to demand leadership from McCain.

“We got a good sense last night, even more so this morning,” one top aide said. “Got in a position where Democrats were warily circling McCain — not going to commit to a deal unless McCain does. It was just a time for leadership. So he just stepped up.”

Hello? Is this a credit crisis or a cowboy movie? “…warily circling McCain”? Please. The man is known for his lack of expertise on economic matters; he’s even admitted it himself. This is just group hallucination, and any reporter who pressed them on what exactly they meant would frankly be doing them a favor — sure, it hurts to be brought back to Earth, but it’ll only hurt more the longer the fall.

Not only is Obama going to win this, he has to win this. We can’t afford a President who is both math-averse and delusional. Again.