Zero and 26. Those two numbers tell the tale when it comes to the toxic effects of President Bush on the candidacies of John McCain and his Republican colleagues. Zero is the number of public appearances Bush has made on behalf of GOP candidates this election cycle. 26 is the number of seconds George W. Bush and John McCain have been seen together in public since McCain earned the President's endorsement in March. And as the New York Times and The Hill reported Saturday, Bush will be neither seen nor heard between now and Election Day.
Bush's upcoming disappearing act was hinted at during his McCain endorsement event at the White House back in March. McCain, who during a 2000 South Carolina debate told Bush "Don't give me that s**t...and take your hands off me," feigned a desire to have the President with him on the trail. Proclaiming himself "honored and humbled" to have the support of a man for whom "I have great admiration, respect and affection," McCain announced:

"I hope that he will campaign for me as much as is keeping with his busy schedule. I'll be pleased to have him with me both from raising money and the much needed finances for the campaign, and addressing the challenging issues that face this country. I'm pleased to have him as is -- as it fits into his busy schedule."

Of course, when 85% of Americans think the country is on the wrong track and view their President in a less positive light than the Ebola virus, no time is the right time for John McCain to be seen with George W. Bush.
On a single occasion after a closed-door Arizona fundraiser in May, the two men emerged together but were, as even Fox News put it, "gone in 60 seconds":

It was the first time McCain and Bush have been seen publicly together since the presumptive GOP nominee visited the White House on March 5, but if you turned away you might have missed it as the two were on the tarmac together for only 26 seconds and within camera shot for a total of 47 seconds.

But when a groundhog-like McCain saw the shadow of the press corps, George W. Bush was sent packing for six more months.
Now as the campaign heads into its final days, President Bush will be consigned to an undisclosed location with Dick Cheney. As the Times kindly put it, the same President Bush who four years ago boasted of the "political capital" he intended to spend will be "intentionally lying low." The Hill summed up Bush's campaign '08 disappearing act this way:

Bush has no public events scheduled this weekend or on Monday, and his only public election activity appears to be touting U.S. democracy in his weekly radio address.

So radioactive has Bush become that even his surprise cheerleading visit last week to the headquarters of the Republican National Committee was kept under wraps. As GOP strategist Scott Reed put it, "Now, the best thing is silence."
UPDATE: Sadly for McCain, Vice President Dick Cheney did not get the going to ground to memo. Speaking in Laramie Wyoming, Cheney announced "he's earned our support."