transparentgrid.com

Note that last night I suggested that Obama reach out to McCain to approach the financial situation jointly.  It appears that this morning the Obama campaign did exactly that:

At 8:30 this morning, Senator Obama called Senator McCain to ask him if he would join in issuing a joint statement outlining their shared principles and conditions for the Treasury proposal and urging Congress and the White House to act in a bipartisan manner to pass such a proposal. At 2:30 this afternoon, Senator McCain returned Senator Obama’s call and agreed to join him in issuing such a statement. The two campaigns are currently working together on the details.

Now it appears that rather than taking such a measured and statesman-like approach, the McCain campaign has pulled a fast one. McCain has announced he is suspending his campaign and returning to D.C. to focus on the “crisis.” Furthermore, he is calling for a postponement of Friday’s debate.

My initial response: what the hell are they thinking?

First of all the true crisis was last week before the $77 billion bailout plan was announced when the markets were gyrating wildly. Once the plan was put forward by Paulsen, the markets calmed down. Last night’s announcement by Warren Buffet that he Berkshire Hathaway is investing $5 billion in Goldman Sachs further calmed the markets that a thougtful resolution would be reached. McCain’s desperate attempt here to grab the political spotlight at the expense of a the measured tones we have seen in Congress the last couple days undermines the relative tranquility that has been acheived.

Second, the situation will not be helped by McCain’s presence, or Obama’s. Senators Chris Dodd and Richard Shelby have done a great job in highlighting the unease over the proposed bill. McCain, who is not even on the Senate Finance Committee, will only serve to make the situation even more political than it already is.

I have to agree with Josh Marshall’s assessment:

Desperate and Reckless: Ramp up Georgia Crisis for votes; Call off half the GOP convention; pick a demonstrably unqualified freshman governor to salvage his campaign; calls for firing head of the SEC; now ask to have presidential debates delayed or canceled so he can politicize the bailout debate …

Update: Harry Reid agrees with my assessment on the presence of the candidates:

“This is a critical time for our country. While I appreciate that both candidates have signaled their willingness to help, Congress and the Administration have a process in place to reach a solution to this unprecedented financial crisis.
“I understand that the candidates are putting together a joint statement at Senator Obama’s suggestion. But it would not be helpful at this time to have them come back during these negotiations and risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation’s economy. If that changes, we will call upon them. We need leadership; not a campaign photo op.

“If there were ever a time for both candidates to hold a debate before the American people about this serious challenge, it is now.”

Tags: mccain, obama, presidential debate

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 at 11:36 am and is filed under Election 2008. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.