Dodd Talks About Wall Street Reform Bill

McCain Goes to Lunch in Washington

Superman didn't do much more than that:

WaPo: But for most of the afternoon, McCain has not visibly been part of the action on the issue. He was not present when House and Senate negotiators emerged from a two-hour meeting to declare success. That announcement was made by Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Robert F. Bennett (Utah) and Frank.

McCain, by contrast, spent some time in his office with several Republican colleagues, briefly stopped at Boehner's office, then left for lunch at the Capitol's Mansfield Room before returning to his office in the Russell Senate Office Building.

Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus (Ala.) said he had spoken to McCain yesterday, had breakfast with two McCain advisers this morning and spoke to McCain again immediately after today's meeting. But, Bachus said, "John's not trying to call the shots for the House caucus, I can tell you that. He's just opposed to the plan in its present form."

McCain still hasn't decided about the debate. He's resting after smiling broadly all day.

NPR: According to the campaign, McCain is remaining in DC tonight. No decision has been made about future travel, and no decision has been made about the debate. The campaign says McCain remains "actively engaged" in brokering a deal that addresses the crisis and protects the American taxpayer. The campaign says it is optimistic McCain "will bring House Republicans on board without driving other parties away, resulting in a successful deal for the American taxpayer."

Update from Obama camp:

TO: Interested Parties
FR: Bill Burton, National Press Secretary
RE: Suspending disbelief, not the McCain campaign
DA: Thursday, September 25, 2008

John McCain sought to change the subject from his out-of-touch response to the economic crisis with a big announcement that he was "suspending" his campaign. But the only thing McCain really wants suspended is the American people's disbelief. In fact, he's been in full campaign mode the entire time.

Instead of heading to Washington right away, Senator McCain stuck around in New York to do TV interviews, spend the night, and give a scheduled speech. Though the McCain campaign announced yesterday that they were also "suspending" their attack ads, they continued to run Thursday.

When McCain finally arrived in Washington, almost twenty-four hours after his announcement – and after Congressional leadership announced a deal in principle – he huddled with his lobbyist campaign advisors while his running mate held a political rally and his political spokesmen and surrogates were out in full force, continuing to attack Barack Obama.

So make no mistake: John McCain did not "suspend" his campaign. He just turned a national crisis into an occasion to promote his campaign. It's become just another political stunt, aimed more at shoring up the Senator's political fortunes than the nation's economy. And it does nothing to help advance this critical legislation to protect the American people during this time of economic crisis.

Sen. Christopher Dodd Endorses Obama

By ANDREW MIGA
Associated Press Writer

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Sen. Christopher Dodd endorsed one-time presidential rival Barack Obama on Tuesday and said it is time for Democrats to join forces to defeat the Republicans in the fall campaign.

"I don't want a campaign that is divisive here, and there's a danger in that," Dodd said, although he denied he was nudging Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to end her candidacy.

Dodd said Obama was "ready to be president and I am ready to support him in this campaign."

The two men appeared together at a news conference. Dodd is the first of the Democratic campaign dropouts to endorse another candidate.

He said Obama "has been poked and prodded, analyzed and criticized, called too green, too trusting and for all of that has already won" more than half the states and millions of votes.

"It's now the hour to come together. ... This is the moment for Democrats and independents and others to come together, to get behind this candidacy," he said.

Dodd said he spoke with Clinton on Monday evening to tell her of his decision.

Dodd said he wasn't worried that the candidates would go too far in their pursuit of victory, but that their aides and supporters might.

"We've witnessed a little bit of that" in recent days, he said. more.

from nyt

here's an intersting story today on clinton's bakery binge sapping up her finances.
clinton's bakery expenses: nearly $6,000. obama's bakery expenses: about $1,800. perhaps obama staffers had a taste for something else?
oh my, her staffers stayed at the bellagio in las vegas. how much is that a night? $1,000 or something insane. so much for fiscal responsibility.

Poll Obama vs. McCain
Obama newspaper endorsements
Obama artwork
Yes We Can Lyrics
Upcoming primary and caucus schedule Delegate tracker
Everything barack obama
Imagine President Obama
Blueprint for change

what are presidential qualities?
Roosevelt was called inexperienced Historians for Obama