Things That You Might Need To Know

[billroper]

According to CBS newsman Bob Schieffer, McCain is going to Washington DC to try to get Republicans on board to a solution for the subprime mortgage debacle at the request of the Secretary of the Treasury.

As we dig into the background a bit further, we find that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told McCain yesterday -- after McCain said that he and Obama should get back to Washington and help sort this out -- that McCain should stay away.

Of course, the day before that Reid said that McCain needed to take a position on the bailout and that McCain was supporting it.

To which McCain responded, "I did not say that."

Now, maybe I'm a bit prejudiced about this and maybe I'm a bit cynical about this, but it looks to me like the Democratic objective here was to hang this bailout on McCain without Obama having to take a position either pro or con, thus allowing Obama to campaign against it as "McCain's bailout plan" after the dust settles. McCain, being somewhat smarter than a load of rocks, isn't falling for that particular trick. If this is supposed to be a bi-partisan bailout plan -- and the Democrats have said that they won't pass it without some sufficient number of Republican votes -- then either both candidates are going to have to publicly sign on to it or neither one has to sign on to it.

So, yes, McCain is doing a bit of posturing, but it's absolutely necessary posturing, because Obama has to either be on the same hook that the Democratic Congressional leadership wants to put McCain on or explain to the folks negotiating the bailout plan what his better idea is for solving the problem.

And trust me. If Obama's got a better idea, Congress will be all over it.

Comments

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

Okay. What I'm reading when I check your links is that Reid said McCain was going to support the bailout plan. Then he told McCain it would not be helpful for him to come back to Washington (not the same as telling him to stay away, but hey, if rephrasing helps...).

This to me makes excellent sense. If he goes back to Washington he's one senator, one vote. If he continues to campaign he's a presidential candidate, the man who may be overseeing the consequences of the plan. Whose support for the plan would be more influential?

You haven't included any links to confirm that Obama is not taking a position either pro or con--on the contrary, you've linked to him stating his position very clearly ("he would only support a bailout of the financial markets if it provides the necessary oversight and protects taxpayers")--but you have confirmed that McCain isn't, which means Reid was either misinformed or lying. So one point against Reid, but your idea of the Democratic objective seems to be a bit skew-whiff, and it's McCain who seems to be playing the waiting game while Obama's ready to sort out details.

That's how I read what you've shown me, anyway.

[billroper]

Obama's statements about the bailout (and McCain's as well, to be clear about it) are the sort of general statements that allow the candidate to disavow any specific solution as failing to meet his stringent criteria. "My opponent supported this bill knowing full well that it lacks the safeguards to provide that..."

If Obama wants to sort out the details of a plan that he's willing to support then he needs to be part of the meetings that are devising the plan -- as does McCain. Negotiations of this kind can't be accomplished by remote control.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Neither of them will be part of the meetings, as neither is a member of the relevant committee(s). If McCain wants to go back and vote, great, the senate will be glad to see him in person (and Obama too, to be fair). But McCain the deregulator as the white knight who should supervise the bailout? It's not working for me.

And in any case, he's got a jet--trying to postpone the debate is completely unnecessary and thus, I suspect, related to something else. Whether it's because he doesn't feel prepared, or because he's trying to put everything off a couple of weeks so he can squeeze out the VP debate and protect Palin from scrutiny is unclear, but it's not related to the bailout.

[stevemb.livejournal.com]

Whether it's because he doesn't feel prepared, or because he's trying to put everything off a couple of weeks so he can squeeze out the VP debate and protect Palin from scrutiny is unclear

And also, I note, not mutually exclusive.

[kevinnickerson.livejournal.com]

Bill, you've missed a tidbit. Obama has said that, if it's obvious that his vote won't matter one way or the other, he'll skip voting. A perfect way to side step.