It was the "suspension" not the stock market slide that lost McCain the race.

Cillizza looks at some internals of the latest Quinnipiac battlegrounds poll that seem to indicate it was the "suspension" and not the stock market or Bush that has led to McCain's downfall.

Asked whether they thought McCain had "shown effective leadership in dealing with the financial crisis," voters roundly panned the Arizona senator.

In each state, less than one in four voters agreed with that statement while a majority of voters said McCain had not demonstrated leadership during the recent crisis.

This finding is important because it likely means he has a huge credibility hurdle in introducing new economic plans (like today?,) and thus has almost no way back in on the number one issue.

(It also means his hole is of his own making.)