Then Obama should do SOMETHING to help it pass. I can’t believe he’s squandering this opportunity to demonstrate his much vaunted but apparently alleged ability to reach across the aisle and reach bipartisan accord if not outright support for important measures. He should be calling all GOP incumbents in tough races and telling them he will provide cover for them if they vote for the bailout, standing up in front of their constituents and telling them their candidates acted bravely in the best interest of the country.
Of course, this is assuming Obama really does support the bill and isn’t just paying it lip service which for a democrat is just “being realistic,” but for a republican is dirty, dirty lying.
Except, of course, that the GOP goal was to make the Dems EAT THE BILL, so they could run against them on it. It was the Repubicans that attempted to play Lucy. Unfortunately for them McCain put himself into the game as Charlie Brown.
Any attempt like that on Obama’s part would immediately be used against him. That said, it looks like he’s heading into the fray.
Exactly right. It’s infinitely easier to oppose a motion than to support one, and in this case, the motion really did suck, though opposing it may have been a bad move, objectively speaking, too. So on the one hand McCain kind of blew it for the GOP attack dogs by trying to kick the ball himself, but on the other hand, if he hadn’t supported some kind of positive and easy-to-characterize action, he would have been very vulnerable himself to Dem attacks of doing nothing.
The Democrats oh-so-cleverly avoided the pitfall of unanimously supporting the bailout, and stepped on the mine of a trillion dollar loss on Wall Street due to their inaction. But since plenty of Republicans were also opposed, it’s a shared political failure, and not even the usual GOP Big Lie strategy can wipe this fact out.
If there was in fact any real concern for the actual course of the country on Capitol Hill, a) the original proposal wouldn’t have been stupid, and b) even with a stupid proposal, it would have been recognized that failure to do something would for a change be worse than misguided positive action, and so it would have passed. So I blame everyone.
I’m complaining that Obama isn’t exactly demonstrating leadership abilities currently. Maybe it’d help if he thinks of congress as a community, one that needs organizing…
Yes, it’s all Obama’s fault that the measure didn’t pass. How did the government ever run before he came along? Nevermind that. He’s here now. I guess we better elect him or everything will grind to a halt.
Settle down, Telefrog. That’s not what I said at all. In the future, please raise your hand and wait to be called on.
Leading equals leadership. If he truly supported this bill, he’d not only help counting noses in his own (disorganized) party, but would also be reaching across the aisle. Or is he planning on riding roughshod over the opposition during his presidency, like so much W? Signing statements, that sort of thing?
But I think we all agree that actions speak louder than words, and he seems to be shouting at the top of his lungs that he doesn’t support the bill. He’s just lying with his mouth. I mean, he’s being realistic.
As you saw with McCain, you can do as much damage by riding in as you can by staying away.
Another important part of leadership is delegation. You don’t want to step on those beneath you until they fail. Another lesson McCain is now learning the hard way.
