Harry Reid then: "McCain's support is key". Now: "Don't need McCain"
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) should have been careful what he wished for.
Just yesterday, Reid was insisting that Senator John McCain would be a critical link in garnering support of Republicans for the bill to "help" the bailout package. He basically said that if McCain didn't lend his support to bring Republicans around to the Democrat side, the lack of Republican votes would be McCain's fault. (See excerpts from first article, below)
Today, McCain suspended his campaign, postponed the Friday Presidential debate, and announced he was going back to Washington DC to help with the financial crisis.
Reid's response: A sudden and complete reversal. No, that wouldn't be helpful, he said quickly, it's just a campaign photo-op. He also implied that McCain's presence would merely be a distraction. (See excerpts from second article, below)
The speed and completeness of Reid's flip-flop exceeded anything John Kerry ever managed in his finest days.
Reid also excoriated McCain for skipping the Friday debate, saying that now is the time we REALLY need a debate about financial matters like this. Reid was careful not mention that the Friday debate wasn't on financial matters at all, but on foreign policy.
Against stiff competition from others in his party, Reid thus becomes the first person ever to win both the George Orwell Doublethink award and the Doublespeak award simultaneously, in one 24-hour period. And with a straight face throughout his performance.
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http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/12288...todayinfinance
Reid Seeks McCain Pledge
Senate majority leader tells White House it must serve up support from the Republican nominee if it hopes to win bipartisan bailout backing.
Roll Call Staff - Roll Call
September 24, 2008
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.
Reid made his position clear to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Monday night, as well as to his Democratic caucus, which shares many of the GOP's concerns that the $700 billion bailout has been drafted too hastily and is a risky remedy for an economy on the brink of crisis. Reid, according to Democratic Senate sources, also wants assurances from Senate Republican leaders that an evenly divided, bipartisan group of Senators will pass any legislative fix so his party isn't left with the burden of doing an unpopular White House's bidding — again.
"If the administration wants us, we are going to have to go hand in hand or at the end of the day, it's not going to happen," Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said.
Democratic leaders have privately been eyeing a strategy — to be worked out with the White House and GOP Senate leaders — that would call for an equal number of Senators in each party supporting the final bailout plan. Talks have included splits of 30 Democrats and 30 Republicans or higher to ensure neither party is labeled with being responsible for the costly package.
"Harry Reid would like Republican Senate support, whatever remedy we come up with," Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said. "Right now, there's significant opposition on the Republican side. Democrats have serious concerns about Paulson's proposal, but we are willing to work with the Treasury Department and the Fed to come up with the right solution."
Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) agreed, saying, "we need help from both parties" if a bill is to be completed in the coming days. Casey, who sits on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, said the administration needs to do more to get Republicans invested in a solution.
"I think if you look at the Republican side, at the McCain campaign and the leadership, I'm not convinced they are working to get their side to the table," Casey said. "But the week is young."
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. 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.
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http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpu...to-mccain.html
Reid to McCain: Don't Come Back to Capitol
September 24, 2008 5:14 PM
A Democrat tells ABC News that, in a phone call late this afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that it would NOT be helpful for him to come back to Washington, D.C., to work on the Wall Street bailout bill.
McCain this afternoon suspended his campaign and said he would skip the first presidential debate in order to return to Capitol Hill to work on the log-jammed Bush administration legislation, which, as of Wednesday afternoon, was in peril.
McCain had phoned Reid to ask about the prospects of him, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and others to sit down and work together on hammering out a bipartisan proposal.
"Sorry," Reid said to him, a Democrat close to Reid says.
Reid then read McCain the statement he had just put out: "This is a critical time for our country," says the Reid statement. "While I appreciate that both candidates have signaled their willingness to help, Congress and the administration have a process in place to reach a solution to this unprecedented financial crisis. I understand that the candidates are putting together a joint statement at Sen. Obama’s suggestion. But it would not be helpful at this time to have them come back during these negotiations and risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation’s economy. If that changes, we will call upon them. We need leadership; not a campaign photo op. If there were ever a time for both candidates to hold a debate before the American people about this serious challenge, it is now.”
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Originally Posted by Little-Acorn
