Youch. David Letterman shredded John McCain tonight after McCain canceled an appearance in order to “race back to Washington” to save the economy with his bare hands. But, it turns out McCain is even lying to Dave. See 6:46.

This is brutal stuff. This footage could dominate the news tomorrow (it’s been up on Drudge all night) and it might even make its way into an Obama ad. Think about it: John McCain warning of imminent economic meltdown. (6 hours later) John McCain getting his nose powdered.

It will be interesting to see if McCain’s campaign suspension will make him seem to voters like he’s displaying leadership and strength. I am fully with Ned on this one: it’s purely a political stunt, a way to stop his bleeding in the polls. Let’s not forget that a week ago, the day Lehman Brothers collapsed, John McCain said again that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.” It’s no surprise that Obama is up 14 points over McCain on who voters trust to handle the economy. Maybe this will help McCain to shore up some voters’ concerns about his ability to deal with the economy, but I doubt it.