McCain Trying to Steal Credit

Is he behaving honorably? In a bipartisan manner? I'd say he's acting more like a coward, not tipping his hand, trying to figure which way the wind will blow, to use Sarah Palin's attack on Obama, to come out as top dog.

NYT: At the bipartisan White House meeting that Mr. McCain had called for a day earlier, he sat silently for more than 40 minutes, more observer than leader, and then offered only a vague sense of where he stood, according to people in the meeting.

In subsequent television interviews, Mr. McCain suggested that he saw the bipartisan plan that came apart at the White House meeting as the proper basis for an eventual agreement, but he did not tip his hand as to whether he would give any support to the alternative put on the table by angry House Republicans, with whom he had met before going to the White House.

He said he was hopeful that a deal could be struck quickly, and that he could then show up for his scheduled debate on Friday night against his Democratic rival in the presidential race, Senator Barack Obama. But there was no evidence that he was playing a major role in the frantic efforts on Thursday night on Capitol Hill to put a deal back together again.

On the second floor of the Capitol on Thursday night, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and one of Mr. McCain’s closest confidants, complained to a throng of reporters that Democrats were using Mr. McCain as a scapegoat for the failure of the rescue package. But Mr. Graham was met with a barrage of questions on why Mr. McCain never explicitly said that he favored the bailout proposal. read the rest.

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.