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.