Bailout Reactions from Obama and McCain Camps
The Guardian contrasts public reactions from the two presidential candidates. The McCain campaign responded the way a lot of politicians responded today—by assigning blame (and taking no responsibility). The response from economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin:
From the minute John McCain suspended his campaign and arrived in Washington to address this crisis, he was attacked by the Democratic leadership: Senators Obama and Reid, Speaker Pelosi and others. Their partisan attacks were an effort to gain political advantage during a national economic crisis. By doing so, they put at risk the homes, livelihoods and savings of millions of American families. Barack Obama failed to lead, phoned it in, attacked John McCain, and refused to even say if he supported the final bill. Just before the vote, when the outcome was still in doubt, Speaker Pelosi gave a strongly worded partisan speech and poisoned the outcome. This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country.
It’s worth noting that, just a few hours earlier, McCain surrogates went on television to give him credit for passing the bill (when passage seemed like a sure thing).
But not everyone is taking credit or pointing fingers. Obama responded by essentially urging people to remain calm. From a rally in Colorado:
It is important for the American public and for the markets to say calm because things are never smooth in congress and to understand that it will get done. That we are going to make sure an emergency package is put together because it is required for us to stabilize the markets and to make sure that when a small business-person wakes up tomorrow morning, he will be able to make payroll. … I am confident we are going to get there but it’s going to be sort of rocky. It’s sort of like flying into Denver. You know you’re going to land but it’s not always fun going over those mountains.
These are the only public reactions I have seen from either campaign, and I’ll gladly update the post with any additional comments. It’s worth noting that McCain hasn’t issued a response personally, and the statement above was attributed to his campaign.
I’ll refrain from commenting too much so their responses can speak for themselves. But I do think their respective reactions say a lot about their leadership styles during a crisis.
UPDATE: An official press release from McCain takes a much more statesman-like approach.
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6 Responses to “Bailout Reactions from Obama and McCain Camps”
I'm not sure this is the full story for McCain's campaign, however, Elyas. I just saw another bit from him taking a more statesmanlike approach saying how now was not the time to assign blame but to get things done. The question becomes then: how do you reconcile McCain's wish to not focus on blame today with a screed from his economic advisor assigning blame. Is this the classic “underlings attack while the candidate appears above the fray” tactic? Is it wildly swinging from one extreme to another? I can't say. But at least McCain did have a calm response as well.
“Is this the classic “underlings attack while the candidate appears above the fray” tactic? Is it wildly swinging from one extreme to another? I can't say. But at least McCain did have a calm response as well.”
First, of all I don't see the Obama camp being hysterical while Obama stays above the fray. It serves no constructive purpose for McCain's game plan to be the underlings say XYZ, but say “I'm above the fray.” And that's assuming he is staying above the fray, I'm not convinced he is considering all his previous actions. Though I suppose he could be following Obama's lead and take a more mature approach…. I wonder how long that unnatural reaction will last for McCain…
I believe there is enough accumulated record by now to look at the two candidates and decide which is more composed, thoughtful and consistent in his approach. Politics has become too much about tearing down obstacles in the pursuit of power, and not enough about genuine concern and advocacy for solutions. We've seen too much of the former and far too little of the latter… which is why I'll be voting for Obama.
Huh? Pacatrue, in the very speech you refer to, McCain himself blamed Obama.
SEE?
“Senator Obama and his allies in Congress infused unnecessary partisanship into the process” – McCain
Thanks for more of the speech, GreenDreams. No conspiracy on my part. I just saw an ABC news clip that didn't play that part. It was odd for McCain to blame Obama and then say that now is not the time to lay blame. No wonder he didn't take any questions.
Indeed, and I can't see how any rational person could tie partisanship to what happened yesterday.