Will he or won't he? As I write, John 'Hamlet on the Potomac' McCain is still dithering over whether or not to honor his commitment to debate Senator Obama tonight, rudely leaving many McCain supporters as well as his adversaries, in the lurch. Voters are supposed to believe that he can't take a few hours to fly to Mississippi and proceed with the debate as he agreed because his physical presence in D.C. is so urgently needed.

Hard to say what McCain will do at this point. MS Governor Barbour reportedly expects him to show. GOP strategist Ed Rollins doesn't think so. Who could blame Obama -- and level-headed voters -- for saying "Oh, whatever."

No telling how McCain's latest stunt will play with voters on Nov. 4. As our staff report indicated yesterday, most voters want the debate to proceed, albeit with some discusssion about the economic crisis. Yet, on election day McCain's debate vacillations could be old news.

Meanwhile Katie Couric's interview with Governor Palin yesterday did nothing to dismiss the argument that McCain picked a lightweight or that her selection was "gimmicky," as GOP strategist Mike Murphy termed it. McCain may survive waffling about the first debate. But my guess is that one more such stunt would be "strike three" with many, if not most undecideds.