CNN is reporting that “The House's failure to pass a $700 billion bailout package Monday not only held back billions for Wall Street, but also was a major blow to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign."
No kidding.
If you recall, John McCain announced last week that he was suspending his campaign to go to Washington DC to help negotiate a solution to the economic crisis. The only truth in that statement was that he went to Washington DC.
He didn’t really suspend his campaign. His ads continued to show in print, on television, and on the Internet for his campaign. He also sat out most of the delicate negotiations on the sidelines in his campaign office, although he did meet with the president along with others, including Barack Obama who was also invited to the meting and who didn’t have to suspend his campaign to attend.
McCain also wanted the debate postponed, but we all know it didn’t happen the way John wanted.
Despite McCain’s efforts, whatever those really were, 133 House Republicans voted against the bailout. The stock market reaction was swift, with an immediately dive, later finishing at the end of the trading day with the largest point drop in history of 777 points.
But McCain’s response to the matter was to blame Barack Obama for the failure, saying that Obama just wanted to "phone it in" .
According to the same CNN article , “Terry Jeffries, a Republican strategist and CNN contributor, also said McCain may have hurt himself among conservatives by losing sight of his party's free-market principles…."I think that John McCain failed to lead," Jeffries said. "He should be right there pushing the principles, and the conservatives in the House are doing that right now."
John McCain gambled not only with his campaign, but also with the fragile economy on which the American people depend. If he wanted to gamble with his campaign, that’s fine with me. But his actions only appeared to interject a political tone into an economic issue, and McCain’s efforts seemed to have a negative effect and may have actually hindered the resolution.
I can’t pass judgment on the “bail out” bill itself. I know that something must be done to bring confidence back to the country’s banking system. I hope that our elected officials begin to put their own politics aside and try to work out a solution quickly. But I hope that John McCain steers clear of any of the negotiations, since it’s clear his kind of help is not what the country needs.
Barack Obama We Can’t Afford to Gamble
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