The Note: Bailing Out?

Sept. 23, 2008— -- Maybe this is the day Gov. Sarah Palin has been waiting for (does New York City -- not to mention the United Nations -- count as a visit to a foreign country?).

Maybe Sen. Joe Biden just committed the type of gaffe we thought he'd be reeling off at the pace of about one a week (and did his statement of clarification make things even a little bit better?).

Maybe (surely) George Will is not happy that Sen. John McCain has targeted his friend.

Maybe the person who has the best read on what will come out of Friday's debate is Alan Keyes (has anyone else debated both McCain and Sen. Barack Obama?).

Maybe the real story of race in the race has yet to be told.

And maybe we should feel bad for the bailout bill.

After all, it was born morbidly obese in a town that likes to pretend it's all about being lean. Its parents never really wanted one like it -- and we know they'll be out of the picture in a few months anyway.

The men who would be president sure aren't eager to adopt it. Oddly, their critiques sound similar -- reflecting a shared fate: Both McCain and Obama will have to take a stand on a very big issue that could be either economic salvation or a spectacularly expensive failure -- and could wind up being cast as either decisive leadership or a gigantic Wall Street handout.

"Either choice involves political risk," The Wall Street Journal's Laura Meckler, Elizabeth Holmes and Nick Timiraos report. "Opposing the plan could look irresponsible in the face of financial meltdown. But supporting a bailout for Wall Street firms while voters are suffering their own economic hardships could be hazardous, too."

"The similarity in the rhetoric between the candidates matched the similar outlooks of voters in their separate crowds Monday -- an unusual twist, as the two men tend to attract voters with different political perspectives," they continue. "Obama and McCain supporters alike said they saw the bailout as a necessary but upsetting move -- and said it had better include proper protections."

The teams in Arlington and Chicago are game-planning the sequence that will come about as one of the particular pleasures of having candidates who are sitting senators. (Will it be another one of those fun scenes on the Senate floor, the two rivals eyeing each other's thumbs on the eve of their first debate?)

It's McCain who at this moment appears more likely to oppose the bill, a maybe-too-tempting chance to signal a break with the Bush administration in an area where he's still building a political identity.

"Senator John McCain struck a sharply more critical tone about the proposed federal bailout of the financial sector on Monday, calling for greater oversight of how the Treasury secretary administers the program because 'when we're talking about a trillion dollars of taxpayer money, "trust me" just isn't good enough,' " Michael Cooper and Patrick Healy report in The New York Times.

"For Mr. McCain, who has sometimes struggled to connect with voters on the economy, the crisis offered a chance to strike a populist tone and buck an unpopular administration," they write.

But populism comes with a price: "Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high. It is not Barack Obama," George Will writes in a column that blasts McCain for playing to the cheap seats.

"It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?"

McCain's play: "John McCain cast Barack Obama as indecisive in the face of the financial crisis, accusing him of resorting to partisan attacks rather than proposing concrete ideas for stabilizing the economy," Peter Nicholas and Bob Drogin report in the Los Angeles Times.

Headline in the Philadelphia Inquirer: "McCain says Obama MIA on rescue plan."

Obama's play: "Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama moved to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility in a roiling economy, vowing Monday to slash federal spending on contractors by 10 percent and saving $40 billion," per the AP's Mike Glover. "Obama has focused tightly on the economy in recent days, urging Democrats and Republicans to join forces to approve a bailout of the troubled financial industry that not only saves the industry but protects taxpayers."

From the Green Bay Press Gazette: "Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama slammed rival John McCain for being a latecomer to reform before laying out his vision for streamlining government and managing the economy." Said Obama: "We cannot give a blank check to Washington with no oversight."

Want to complicate things on the bailout? The candidates aren't the only ones seeking daylight: "Members of President George W. Bush's own party are voicing their opposition to his financial rescue plan even as Democratic leaders narrow their differences with the administration," Bloomberg's James Rowley and Alison Vekshin report.

If it's doesn't turn out to be a close vote (and don't bet on that yet), it will surely be an interesting one, with the left and the right rallying against a measure that hasn't even been finalized.

"Rank-and-file Members on both ends of the political spectrum -- fearing a voter backlash -- are resisting the deal between Congressional leaders and the White House for a $700 billion Wall Street bailout package," per Roll Call's Steven T. Dennis and Emily Pierce.

"Nationalizing every bad mortgage in America is not the answer," Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said in a letter to his colleagues. "Cash for trash," said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif.

"Some members of Congress worry they're about to sign off on a $700 billion disaster," ABC's Jake Tapper reported on "Good Morning America" Tuesday. "Right now, two sticking points remain in negotiations with the Bush administration: Congress wants to add bankruptcy reform to the bill on behalf of homeowners, so judges can re-negotiate mortgages and avoid foreclosures. The bigger issue: Congress wants modest limits on compensation for executives of these bailed-out firms."

The fight is joined: "Members of Congress were pressed hard Monday by financial industry lobbyists and consumer advocates alike seeking favorable language in the massive bailout bill expected to come for a vote this week," Tom Hamburger and William Heisel write in the Los Angeles Times. "Through conference calls, e-mail and personal emissaries, lenders and other business groups sought to block language that would allow struggling homeowners to have mortgage debt forgiven in bankruptcy cases."

"Democratic leaders said they were near agreement with the Bush administration yesterday on key provisions of a massive plan to revive the U.S. financial system, but the two sides remained at odds over other issues and were struggling to gain the support of rank-and-file lawmakers on both sides of the aisle," Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane report in The Washington Post.

"The Bush administration is resisting changes to the measure being sought by Democratic leaders and many Republicans, including one that would grant the government authority to cut executive pay at firms that participate in the bailout and another that would guarantee that taxpayers share in the profits if those firms recover financially," they write. "Meanwhile, rank-and-file lawmakers -- returning to Washington after a weekend in their districts -- voiced outrage that taxpayers were being asked to pay for the excesses of Wall Street and that Congress was being prodded to rubber-stamp the biggest federal intervention in the private market since the Great Depression."

On the right, some cover from Newt: "If this were a Democratic proposal, Republicans would remember that the Democrats wrote a grotesque housing bailout bill this summer that paid off their left-wing allies with taxpayer money, which despite its price tag of $300 billion has apparently failed as of last week, and could expect even more damage in this bill," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., blogs for National Review.

Gingrich, on NPR's "All Things Considered" Monday: "I think what they're doing is just wrong. And I think that it's likely to fail and it's likely to make the situation worse over time."

Try explaining this one back home: "After 7 1/2 years of drift, President Bush has finally returned to his compassionate conservative roots with a heartfelt plea to Congress to help a needy and deserving group: those Wall Street CEOs who, for all their hard work, have been unable to lift themselves up by their wingtips," Dana Milbank writes in his Washington Post column.