Please, God, DO let McCain take credit for passing this monstrosity of a bailout package.

McCain is no longer compos mentis, and should be quietly escorted away from the public eye.

Seriously, it will turn very ugly if he's not given some long required aid now. The man is simply no longer lucid or capable of management, planning or introspection.

This isn't at all an original suspicion or prediction but here I go: McCain is going to claim credit for averting a financial meltdown of the U.S. economy. Nothing short of grabbing credit for passage of a final plan would justify his campaign suspension. Obama will try to dilute his message but a compliant press will run with the McCain spin and it'll be Vietnam hero worship redux. The cavalry rides to the rescue. John knocks heads. John reaches across the aisle in a way Obama could only dream of, calling in chits Obama hasn't accumulated. All is forgiven, the Palin idiocy, the AIG flip flop, the I'm for/I'm against regulation confusion, all cleared like so much dead brush. John is back on his game. Details at 7 & 11, stay tuned.

A little off subject, but what happened to the Rick Davis / Freddie Mac story that was breaking yesterday? I saw this story on Reuters and now it's not there. I just searched some main news sites and I can't even find the story in archives. I know the news cycle was broken with McCain's stunt yesterday, but this was huge. What gives?

I don't know, but I think if what Bob Shieffer is reporting is true that Henry Paulson requested John McCain's presence in the bailout discussions, McCain did the right thing to oblige him. Liberals of course are free to disagree with an elected official's answering the call to duty.

Schieffer: Paulson Pleaded for McCain to Save Bailout

After the first couple sentences, I was sure you were going to compare this stunt to when McCain and Bush took credit for the 21st Century GI bill, which both had opposed until then. But you chose the flip-flop instead of the flop-flip.

This sounds like the beginnings of another McCain Surge(http://www.johnmccain.com/FIE/surge.htm). This time it will be implemented by Hank Paulson.

I'm told that so long as about 5% see through McCain's m.o. of lone (crazy, incoherent, clueless temperamental) ranger, Obama will win.

I think 5% are seeing through this now, seeing the cost of such empty bravado in real ways.

Seriously, we all know this guy. The one who swoops in at the last minute and takes credit for other people's work.

That guy is just not presidential. Great leaders give away the credit that's rightfully theirs, they don't steal other people's. Seriously, does anyone remember Abraham Lincoln saying "The Battle of Gettysburg looked totally lost, but then I went in and inspired the troops, and we totally won."

McCain obviously can take credit for having sped up the process in Washington.
Knowing McCain is coming will make everyone on Capitol Hill double their efforts because they know if they don't get this done before he arrives the whole project will fall prey to election politics.

McCain is a grandstander -- always has been, always will be. I thought of this incident immediately yesterday when he announced his desire to charge down to DC (well, after he took care of a little business) to "help". How even his fellow republicans can take him seriously is beyond me. His ideas, vague as they are, add nothing to the negotiations -- indeed, it's not like these ideas and more aren't already part of the ongoing discussions.

I was glad to see in the papers I get (3) this morning and online that lame as it was, Bush's speech was the headline (from two of my local rags, I was expecting headlines about "hero McCain") -- McCain's stunt didn't make it above the fold. Thank goodness someone has some sense.

You guys have McCain's role in this all wrong.

He wasn't brought in to this to help negotiate the deal. The leadership of the two parties has done that already. He's been brought in convince recalcitrant Republicans to vote for it.

McCain did that Palin finger-in-the-wind thing, saw that the bailout is not polling well, will vote against it. All mavericky goodness.

Steve Duncan:
"compliant press will run with the McCain spin and it'll be Vietnam hero worship redux. "
This would have been true until 6 weeks ago. But McCain has pissed off the press so badly since then, I don't think it will work any more

Nothing will inspire the congressional negotiators more to complete their mission quickly than hearing the words "My friends, I'm John McCain and I'm here to help."

It's actually Chris Dodd's negotiation, with Barney Frank in a supporting role because House Republicans are only a macrofactor -- that is, they're against the premise (nationalization, not to put too fine a point on it). Their opposition won't matter in the short run no matter what happens, because what will count in November is whether there is a deal (long or short term -- all $700 billion, $1.2 trillion, or some smaller downpayment?), and whether McCain votes for it.

So, a prediction: Dodd will identify some significant sticking point X (to be resolved by the Democratic position Y) and brief Obama on it. They will run a play.

This odd meeting will happen, there will be some brief gabbing, and then Obama will ask Paulson -- what about X? Paulson will give the administration's answer, Dodd will say that's not acceptable, McCain will call for compromise, but not know what it's about -- then Obama will tell Paulson that Y is the only option. That's the moment. Nobody elected Paulson, there is a limit to how much he can make happen.

So Obama asks McCain for a commitment: will you vote for the deal, if X is resolved with Y?

McCain says no, he's arguing with Paulson. McCain says yes, then it's Obama who made the deal....

and he will owe Chris Dodd.

"A curse word associated with chickens"??

Correct. It is VERY possible McCain will vote against it. It is a flip flop from yesterday when he said if we don't do this now we will slip into depression...but he's nothing if not flexible. (on the issues, I mean)

The Paulson thing bugs me mightily. It makes it look as though this wasn't a Republican ploy.

Meanwhile, the bailout will go through and be heralded as "a deal we can all be proud of." No one will remember where McCain stood on the issue before today. Bush/McCain constituents will get their golden parachutes.

But, I keep thinking about this $700billion thing. What is the compromise really going to get us, the American people? Accountability? What's that? Regulations? Too late, the money's gone.

This smacks more and more of the kid who asks his dad for $100 in hopes that he'll at least give him $50. The astronomical number $700billion is purely designed to desensitize us to what will finally be agreed upon. We'll say "at least it wasn't $700billion! $645billion is a compromise we can be proud of!"

Chicken*@#$. It took me a minute, too.

Ambinder says he's rolling in last minute to vote the thing down.

This is just the weirdest.

OK, I can't guess it either. What's the "curse word associated with chickens"??

Henry Paulson requested John McCain's presence in the bailout discussions

Considering Paulson's tin-eared fumbling on this issue so far, it's no wonder he would call another idiot for backup.
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The bill will be called the McCain Rescue Initiative(MRI).

Remember back in April when Charlie Gibson threw out the question about lowering capital gains taxes generating more revenue and everybody got all crazy about how Obama screwed up the answer? Well read it again and tell me what you think:
GIBSON: But history shows that when you drop the capital gains tax, the revenues go up.

OBAMA: Well, that might happen, or it might not. It depends on what's happening on Wall Street and how business is going. I think the biggest problem that we've got on Wall Street right now is the fact that we got have a housing crisis that this president has not been attentive to and that it took John McCain three tries before he got it right.

Regardless of the outcome of this bailout bill, McCain is certain to do the following:

If he votes "yea," he will later say he was against it all along.

If he votes "nay," he will later say we was for it all along.

Ah, thanks Jibeau! Normally my vocabulary of curse words is much more readily available to me, but I just wasn't seeing that one. I was thinking perhaps it was "c*cksucker", but that seemed like a stretch.

@ Dennis: fine for McCain to answer Paulson's call to participate in discussions, but why cancel the Friday night event? Oxford is a short plane ride away from DC.

Huh. I was thinking they meant chicken fucker.

I think McCain is saying that he's going back to DC and not attending the debate until a deal is finalized, so that he can undermine the deal, vote against it, and then say that he won't attend the debate because no bill was passed.
Then he'll return to campaigning, which shouldn't be too hard since he really hasn't stopped.

Jörgen in Germany, I beg to differ. I think all this talk of the press having lost patience with McCain is way off the mark. Ratings and access are the media's lifeblood. McCain has proven prickly and outright belligerent when he feels the press slights him, to the point of banning people from meetings, his plane, etc. The press also loves a close horserace and baring McCain for the lunatic he truly is tanks their coverage of a close election. Additionally there is the ever present need on the part of the press to equalize every reported plus or minus (especially the minuses) between the candidates. You can't get Candy Crowley to go on camera and report McCain is batshit insane unless you give her a few lines alleging Obama is equally nuts. Since Obama isn't equally nuts you're not going to hear McCain is nuts.

McCain is going to have to do more than grab this headline to move the numbers in his favor. Obama has positioned himself as the guy who can walk and chew gum at the same time. McCain has positioned himself as the guy who has to choose between the two.

Dennis wrote: McCain did the right thing to oblige him. Liberals of course are free to disagree with an elected official's answering the call to duty.

Oh, that's rich. So McCain is "urgently called" to Washington by Paulson, eh? No doubt because of his expertise in the field of default credit swaps. Actually, if you look at the article, Schieffer explains Paulson wants him there to give reluctant Republicans some cover to vote for this thing. So that's the "duty" that calls him to our capital in this hour? Dragooning GOP members into voting for Bush's $700 billion, no-strings-attached bailout for Paulson's golfing buddies? I'd have to say that in this case, I'd listen to Gingrich (hey, a stopped watch is still right twice a day...)

I'd really love to see the phone records between the McCain campaign and the White House yesterday, as all this was hatched out; the call from Paulson for McCain to save the day, the announcement to suspend the campaign and fly in to sit everybody down and telll them to cut out the bullshit, Bush's speech last night...

Not really an October surprise, but obviously rigged solely for its political effect.

Excuse me all to hell but Fuck Paulson. The Sunday NYT had a piece on page 8 of the business section documenting what all the CEO's lost in the recent turmoil. Mr Paulson former CEO of Goldman Sacks had his net stock value reduced from 809.5 million to 523.5 million. Mind you this does not include any options , personal cash ,property etc - just the stock he owns. What team do you think he is on and where do you think his loyalties lie These are the people who have been calling the shots This is the ruling class of America. . Henry Paulson who was asking for three trillion dollars of _*OUR*_ money. That poor fellow is down to his last 500 million and doesn't know where his next meal is coming from. These are the people McCain wants to give a tax cut to. They all breathe the rarefied air of the boardroom the same air as Cindy and John McCain - trust me they are not like you and me. I would love to ask any one of them " When was the last time you bought your own groceries? put gas in your own car? I guarantee you would be met with silence.

Time for some transplanted Kremlinology: Watch for McCain's positioning and body language in the photo-ops coming out of today's White House meeting and any congressional announcements in the next few days. How chummy will he look with Bush and the lead congressional negotiators? Will he visibly stand off from them? Where will Obama stand?

Physical proximity to the deal-makers could be more important than anything the candidates say about the deal.

If this deal is struck without viable input from John McCain, and he shows up on the Senate floor, trying to take credit for it, then the other Senators---Republican and Democrat alike---should walk out of the chamber, gather on the steps of the Capitol, and collectively denounce John McCain as a two-bit fraud.

After all, with all the enemies he's made on the Hill, it would be very interesting to see a group of GOPers come out and declare their support for Obama---in the name of the GOP. THAT would be "the straw that breaks the camel's back" of the McCain campaign

This stinks just like the Terry Schiavo debacle. Smug congressional know-it-alls second guess people who have been working on the issue for months or years. Then, defining political grandstanding someone cancels an important engagement and heroicly flys back to DC to take charge, with lots of cameras around.

If it talks like a duck and walks like a duck, it's a duck.

75 minutes after I posted this link in your comments, but what the heck, you can be Darwin to my Wallace . . .

Jonas wrote: Oh, that's rich. So McCain is "urgently called" to Washington by Paulson, eh? No doubt because of his expertise in the field of default credit swaps.

Since you seem to want to appear so much more knowledgeable than McCain, the actual financial instrument is a credit default swap, or CDS

John McCain would be a rash and irresponsible president. But he must be defended in saying "f$%# you" to John Cornyn.

Cornyn must get that a lot. If there is a bigger a-hole than John Cornyn in the senate, please enlighten me.