Nation-Building >> John McCain's bailout two-step | return to front page

John McCain's campaign is increasingly incoherent. First, McCain claimed credit for the success of the bailout plan this morning, well before the actual vote:

Shortly before the vote, McCain had bragged about his involvement and mocked Sen. Barack Obama for staying on the sidelines.

“I've never been afraid of stepping in to solve problems for the American people, and I'm not going to stop now,” McCain told a rally in Columbus, Ohio.

Of course, the bailout plan failed in Congress - but it should be noted that more than twice as many Democrats voted for the plan as Republicans (140 and 65, respectively). McCain's reaction? To blame Barack Obama:

“This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country,” said a statement from Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain’s top economic adviser, who had represented McCain on Capitol Hill over the several days.

McCain suspended his campaign Thursday morning to return to Washington to try and get a deal done. Soon after his arrival, though, an agreement that appeared to be coming together fell apart–a situation that Democrats pinned on McCain. Over the next few days, McCain’s campaign took credit for bringing House Republicans, who were reluctant to support the bailout, to the negotiating table. Late Saturday night, the House GOP leadership signed off on a deal. But the majority of the caucus still opposed it when the vote was called Monday.

McCain blamed the Democrats.
[...]
He went on to charge that Obama had “phoned it in,” a phrase that holds some irony given that McCain did most of his work by phone.

I find this pathetic. I am sure that the American people, especially the independents McCain must woo to win, will also find it pathetic - assuming they are suitably informed.

Labels: bailout, McCain