McCain-Obama and The Bailout

I'm still not convinced the bailout was the right course of action to take, but for now that seems to be a moot point since it's a done deal. What I would like to point out, though, is how the media reported the role the two major party presidential candidates played in the process.

Sen. John McCain made a huge grandstanding effort to try and appear to be the candidate who would sweep into Washington to save the day ... but did he? Here is what the Post had to say:

Sen. Barack Obama's outspoken support for the package proved critical. The influence of the Democratic presidential nominee, who spent the week dialing no voters, was cited by five vote-switching freshmen as a key motivator. Obama was particularly successful in persuading members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which was deeply divided Monday. Yesterday, 13 black caucus members switched to vote for the measure.

"What helped me is Barack Obama, who called and said 'We really do have to do this,' " said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), adding that Obama promised to do more to help homeowners at risk of foreclosure if elected president.

On the Republican side, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) pulled in votes from allies such as Judy Biggert (Ill.) and Pat Tiberi (Ohio). The Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), also worked the phones, but none of the GOP vote switchers interviewed yesterday cited him as a major factor.

There you have it! No one cited Sen. John McCain as a major factor in their decision.

Now, depending on how all this works out Sen. Obama's role could come back to bite him in the butt ... but that's still to be seen. What we do know from this is the candidate with the most influence in getting what they want done in Congress appears to be Sen. Barack Obama.

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