Commentary: Sam Explains 'Political Maneuvering' on Capitol Hill
Donaldson on why both parties are dragging their feet on the bailout bill.
Sept. 25, 2008 — -- The following is a commentary by ABC News' Sam Donaldson. Click here to view a video version of his latest essay.
President Bush says without immediate congressional action, America could slip into a financial panic. John McCain says time is short and doing nothing is not an option. Barack Obama says action must be taken to restore confidence in our economy.
Now you would think with those three gentlemen warning of the potential for a financial Armageddon action on Capitol Hill would be swift and easy.
You would be wrong. Nothing important happens without intense, political maneuvering -- such that's going on at the moment and this is both good and bad.
Good because legislators do not vote in a vacuum, they vote with one big ear to the ground of their constituents who, according to government 101 -- and I believe it -- ultimately run the country. At the moment, the good folks in the country oppose this bailout and are letting the good folks on Capitol Hill who want to get re-elected know it. The selling job to the country must go hand in hand with congressional action.
The political maneuvering is bad in that it gets in the way of getting something done. Both parties, and parts of both parties, are working to make sure they get the credit if things turn out all right, but above all, to make sure they can pin the blame on someone else if things don't turn out all right.
The Democrats won't vote for this bill unless the Republicans do -- and many of the Republicans need deep cover to vote for the bill that their party's weakened president can no longer provide. Maybe McCain can, if he will.
My guess is that in the end, meaning by this weekend, there will be a bill. Certainly before Congress adjourns something will be done because very few politicians running for re-election will take a chance that between adjournment and Election Day everything will be all right if they do nothing.
If the bottom should drop out of the country's financial system and panic ensues, how would you explain to your constituents that you stood on principle -- that you said no to this big, terrible un-American bailout?
You could try it, but after Nov. 4, I guarantee you would be looking for other work.
Sam Donaldson, a 41-year ABC News veteran, served two appointments as chief White House correspondent for ABC News, from 1977-1989 and from January 1998 to August 1999, covering Presidents Carter, Reagan and Clinton. Donaldson also co-anchored, with Diane Sawyer, "PrimeTime Live," from August 1989 until it merged with "20/20" in 1999. He co-anchored the ABC News Sunday morning broadcast, "This Week With Sam Donaldson & Cokie Roberts," from December 1996 to September 2002. Currently, Donaldson appears on ABC News Now, the ABC News digital network, in a daily show called "Politics Live."