Yesterday, we had one candidate talk like a president. The other acted like a president.
In the morning, Barack Obama contacted his Republican rival’s campaign and proposed the two candidates issue a “joint statement outlining their shared principles and conditions for the Treasury proposal.” Â John McCain responded by saying they should also both suspend their campaigns return to Washington and get something done.
The Democrat offered words. Â The Republican proposed action. Â Each candidate seems to have the same recurring theme to his career.
In his eloquent initial response to McCain’s proposal, Obama may have offered his best line of the campaign, ““Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time,†but like most of his great achievements in life, it was pure rhetoric.  McCain said they would have to deal with this one most pressing issue.  Once again, he tackles a tough issue head-on.
While initially rebuffing McCain’s proposal to return to Washington to hammer out a Wall Street bailout, Obama finally capitulated and agreed to President Bush’s invitation to come to the White House with the Republican nominee and congressional leaders to work out a deal.
What seemed to some a reckless move at first turned out to be one of the boldest moves of the campaign. And it paid off.  Obama may deliver better speeches, but his rival is driving the action now. Â
On Wednesday, John McCain looked like a leader. Â Only he didn’t appear so at first, like a general who makes what appears to be a foolhardy move, but when the enemy takes the bait, proves to be a brilliant tactic.
Not only was this good politics for John McCain, but it was good politics for the nation. Â Getting all major parties together means we should come up with the “least worst” solution to this mess. Â No wonder John McCain is looking pretty presidential right now.
THURSDAY MORNING UPDATE: Â Below the jump, I reference other bloggers and pundits who have weighed in on this matter:Newt Gingrich:
[McCain] put everything on the line to try to put together a bipartisan sizable economic package to replace the failed Paulson bailout package. . . . This is the greatest single act of responsibility ever taken by a presidential candidate and rivals President Eisenhower saying, ‘I will go to Korea.’
. . the politics of McCain’s move . . . may work to his advantage. 1) He needed to change the story line and flush out the “fundamentals of the economy strong” mis-step from last week, and this does it; 2) it’s not going to strike most people as wrong or unreasonable for a senator to go to Washington and participate in a senate debate over this historic bailout package; 3) as long as it isn’t perceived as gimmicky, people will like the anti-politics-as-usual feel of McCain “suspending” his campaign; 4) they can still have the debate next week. Earlier this evening, as I was wondering how this would play out, I thought either Obama was going to drag McCain to Oxford and that’d be the sign Obama won this mini-duel, or McCain would drag Obama to Washington and it’d be a sign McCain won it. Now, with an assist from President Bush, McCain has Obama following him to Washington.
The financial crisis continues and Congress is deadlocked.
John McCain leads by suspending campaign, postponing the debate, and urging the president to call a key leaders summit, to include himself and Barack Obama.
Obama refuses McCain’s call, demands the debate go forward, and sputters about being available if he’s needed.
President Bush convenes the meeting that John McCain suggested.
. . . .
Today was Obama’s Katrina moment and an example of great leadership by John McCain. This contrast was telling and will matter.
What was striking about Obama’s comment was his remark that if “the Congressional leadership†needed him, he’d be available. It’s an odd way to put it — he is the leader of his party now and he seemed utterly disinterested in doing anything that involved active problem-solving/deal-making. He does after all have a current job — in the Senate.
Have you slept yet? I have, but not too long. I am sure we are not the only ones tonight. Thanks for blogging.
I agree with McCain’s actions…he should NOT participate from a distance. In Washington Senator McCain will be part of the conversation/policy development and when he becomes president will NOT have to figure out what was done while he was out shaking hands and making speeches.
Jeb
Obama also offered a number of “great” one-liners that will likely appear in McCain campaign ads.
– There’s a time for politics, and a time for coming together to solve national problems. (And this is a time for politics.)
– This is exactly the time (for a foreign policy debate).
– If I can help in any way (the grownups actually dealing with the crisis) give me a call. I have a pretty, pretty airplane.
– The clock is ticking. This is a crisis. We must hurry to put out a joint press statement.
– I won’t be joining McCain in Washington, and by the way, suspending the campaigns (which I won’t be doing) was my idea first!!
Hugh Hewitt had a bunch of excerpts from Obama’s press conference:
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/MediaPlayer/AudioPlayer.aspx?ContentGuid=c346a0f2-cd86-4cd1-b96e-8cd41c65271b
It could be a McCain campaign commercial without any added comment (except McCain’s approval).
Jennifer Rubin is right on the money, Senator Obama may be running for President but he has a job right now – being a senator. Which means at crucial times like this – be there to do your job. Of course that means he can’t simply vote present – he has to take a stand – something he hates to do.
As with the Surge, McCain is putting country first, I’m hoping the country is paying attention and votes for the man who cares more about us than about himself.
Oh NO he didn’t…Oh YES he did…..
Obama had a lot of sound bites in his speech about the presidential debates…..He would ‘wait’ for a call…….Obama…the line is busy……he’s talking to Raines, Johnson, Wright, Ayers, Russia, Cuba, Iran, ….Streisand, The View, Katie Couric…….Rezco…..Sharpton….Lindsey Lohan…..
He also said, “I have a BIG PLANE, McCain has a BIG PLANE, and they both have big slogans painted on the side. They can get us to Mississippi when they need to.”
Don’t guys do this in the locker room? Is there new ‘guy speak’ these days that I am not familiar with? He is actually commenting on the size of their planes??? Good to know he has a BIG, PRETTY, FAST ‘plane’….now he needs to get in it and go to Washington to do the work taxpayers PAY him to do……….Talk is cheap…..especially memorized soundbites….
A new concept for him since he has only been there 143 days and hasn’t voted most of that time…..he may not know exactly what he is supposed to do….oh, ‘they’ will ‘call him’ with that info.
I agree with former presidential advisor David Gergen.
Neither John McCain nor Barack Obama is a member of the Senate Banking Committee that is working with the House Financial Services Committee on an economic rescue bill. The last thing the committees need is presidential politics getting in the way of the committees’ work.
As Gergen opined, the most important task for McCain is to round Republican votes in the House to pass some rescue bill. Depending on what comes out of the committees, the same role might be true for Obama.
Jack: Can you explain to us why Harry Reid has placed so much importance on John McCain , if, as you say, he has no important role to play?
“While Senator McCain has suspended campaigning in order to return to Washington and lend his assistance to the negotiations now underway on Capitol Hill, Senator Reid has put out a statement informing McCain that his presence would ‘not be helpful.’ In fact, this is quite a reversal from yesterday, when Senator Reid told reporters ‘We need the Republican nominee for president to let us know where he stands and what we should do.’
“Unfortunately, Senator Reid is putting partisan politics ahead of the business of the American people. But there should be no mistake: 24 hours ago Reid and his Democratic colleagues on the Hill couldn’t have been more desperate for Senator McCain’s help in resolving this crisis. Now they’ve got it.†–McCain-Palin spokesman Brian Rogers
The Same Democrats Decrying Today’s Action By John McCain Are The Same Democrats Who Were Demanding John McCain’s Involvement Yesterday
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV): “We Need The Republican Nominee For President To Let Us Know Where He Stands On What We Should Do.â€
REID: “We need, now, the Republicans to start producing some votes for us. We need the Republican nominee for president to let us know where he stands and what we should do.†(Sen. Harry Reid, Media Availability, Washington, D.C., 9/23/08)
? Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3f0BwyZKMw
Roll Call: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Told The White House That Senator John McCain Was Crucial To Any Bailout Deal.
“Fearing a political backlash against Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has told the White House that it must serve up support from Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) if it hopes to ensure bipartisan backing for a massive economic bailout package by week’s end.†(Erin P. Billings and John Stanton, “Reid Seeks McCain Pledge,†Roll Call, 9/24/08)
Roll Call: “McCain Holds The Key To … A Bipartisan Vote, According To Reid …†“McCain holds the key to such a bipartisan vote, according to Reid, because Republicans are likely to defer to his position on a bill that holds political peril. McCain on Tuesday night joined Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) in lending qualified support for the $700 billion package, but it remains unclear whether his backing is strong enough and timely enough to persuade the Congressional rank and file.†(Erin P. Billings and John Stanton, “Reid Seeks McCain Pledge,†Roll Call, 9/24/08)
Senator Reid Told Secretary Paulson That Senator McCain Was Necessary For Any Agreement. â€
According to a Democratic aide familiar with the discussions, Reid told Paulson this week that ‘if McCain didn’t come out for this thing and come out for it quickly, it was going to begin bleeding Republican votes.’ Democrats ‘have a very real concern that opposition [from McCain] is going to drive away potential Republican votes,’ this aide said.†(Erin P. Billings and John Stanton, “Reid Seeks McCain Pledge,†Roll Call, 9/24/08)
ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos: White House Has Been Told By Democrats “That There Is No Deal If McCain Doesn’t Go Along.â€
“A Democratic leadership source says that White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten has been told that Democratic votes will not be there if McCain votes no – that there is no deal if McCain doesn’t go along.†(George Stephanopoulos, “McCain; Holds Key To Administration’s Bailout Passage On Capitol Hill,†ABC News, 9/23/08)
Obama got cornered plain and simple. If he refused to suspend his campaign, he looks like hes more concerned with his career than the American people and the economy (he is), if he suspended his campaign, McCain comes out the leader and Obama looks the follower (he is). the whole “debates are more important now than ever” is the only face-saving route he had, and I think people know he was just trying to save face. Fact is, from Georgia to the current financial crisis, Obama has been following McCain the entire campaign. He looks very much the rookie.