[image: The New Republic] <http://www.tnr.com/>
The bail-out negotiations had been surprisingly bipartisan. Then McCain
tried to get involved.
*E.J. Dionne, Jr., The New Republic *Published: September 26, 2008
WASHINGTON -- John McCain's sudden intervention in Washington's
deliberations over the Wall Street bailout could not have been more out of
sync with what was actually happening.
He lamented that "partisan divisions in Washington have prevented us from
addressing our national challenges." But for days, bipartisanship has been
the rule on both sides of this argument.
Republicans and Democrats alike were highly critical of President Bush's
proposal to inject $700 billion into the financial system. Yet leaders of
both parties were trying hard to negotiate an agreement with Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson. That's why they were close to an agreement in
principle even before the two presidential candidates arrived for the
Thursday White House meeting that McCain thought was so important.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner normally fight
about everything. But on Wednesday they issued a joint statement noting that
"working in a bipartisan manner, we have made progress," even if Boehner was
having trouble delivering his party's votes.
And if McCain had been following the negotiations closely, he would have
known that at times this week, Senate Democrats worried that Rep. Barney
Frank, D-Mass., the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, was
too eager for a deal.
Frank did not need McCain to make him bipartisan, and he grumbled that
Thursday afternoon's White House gathering was a mere "photo op." After the
meeting, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., called it
"political theater" that may have stalled the final agreement.
Bush himself was uncharacteristically forthcoming with concessions. In his
address to the nation, he said he wanted to "ensure that taxpayers are
protected." That meant he had acceded to Democratic demands that the
government get shares in the companies it rescues. He endorsed oversight
mechanisms his administration's original proposal lacked. He accepted an
idea his negotiators had resisted fiercely: limiting what the financial
titans who got us into this mess could pocket from this enormous package.
If you doubt that McCain's moves were about rescuing his candidacy rather
than our economy, consider how his proposal to suspend the presidential
campaign came about.
McCain had just gotten off a phone call with Obama on Wednesday in which
they discussed a joint statement of principles and McCain broached the idea
of suspending the campaign. Obama said he'd think about it, but McCain
didn't give him time. To Obama's surprise, McCain appeared on television
shortly after the conversation to announce his unilateral pause in
campaigning and a call for postponing Friday's debate. This is
bipartisanship?
As for getting the presidential candidates to Thursday's White House
meeting, Bush's lieutenants had been in discussions with McCain's people
during the day on Wednesday. Obama didn't get his invitation from the
president until around 7:30 p.m., just an hour and a half before Bush's
speech. This was an active intervention by Bush on behalf of McCain to box
Obama into the photo op. Again, was this bipartisan?
The simple truth is that Washington is petrified about this crisis and will
pass something. There are dark fears floating through the city that foreign
investors, particularly the Chinese, might begin to pull their billions out
of our system.
Scarier than the bad mortgages are those unregulated credit default swaps
that the financier George Soros has been warning about. There are $45 (BEG
ITAL)trillion(END ITAL) of those esoteric instruments sloshing around the
global financial system. They were invented as a hedge against defaults on
debts, but even the financial smart guys don't fully understand their impact
or how to price their real value.
Fear is a terrible motivator for careful legislating, but it's a heck of a
way to bring about a lot of bipartisanship. McCain jumped into this game in
the fourth quarter. Many of the players on the field, caked in mud and
exhausted but determined as they approach the goal line, wonder why this new
would-be quarterback has suddenly appeared in their midst.
McCain could yet play a constructive role by rounding up votes from restive
Republicans, particularly in the House. Oddly, the biggest obstacle to a
bill may not be Democrats, but Republicans who refuse to go along with their
own president. And -- yes, there is an election coming -- Democrats will be
wary of going forward unless a substantial number of Republicans join them.
But McCain's boisterous intervention -- and particularly his grandstanding
on the debate -- was less a presidential act than the tactical ploy of a man
worried that his chances of becoming president might be slipping away.
*E.J. Dionne, Jr. is the author of the recently published *Souled Out:
Reclaiming Faith and Politics After the Religious Right*. He is a Washington
Post columnist, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a
professor at Georgetown University.*
--
"Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over
their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change."
- Malcolm X, Malcolm X Speaks, 1965
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