Bailout Fails

The bailout bill fails to clear the House. There were 205 votes in favor of the bill and 228 opposed to it. The bill was rejected by 95 Democrats and 133 Republicans.

Marc Ambinder makes a couple of interesting points.

(The McCain) campaign believes he ought to have gotten credit -- some credit -- for its passage.

Said Steve Schmidt, McCain's chief strategist, on Meet the Press:

"What Senator McCain was able to do was to help bring all of the parties to the table, including the House Republicans, whose votes were needed to pass this"

So if McCain wanted credit for passage, should he share some of the blame for its defeat?

Two thirds of (the House) Republicans voted for its defeat...after a weekend of telephone call diplomacy from McCain.

Nancy Pelosi got most of her Democrats on board....

And the second point:

House Republicans are blaming Speaker Nancy Pelosi for quashing bipartisanship sentiment right before the bailout bill vote -- and therefore deserves the knock for its failure.

"We could have gotten here today had it not been for a partisan speech on the floor of the House," Pelosi said.

That Republicans got to the microphones first is a tactical victory for them...

(Basically: Republicans were frightened out of their bipartisan clothing by a floor speech? Does that make sense?)

It's hard to predict what will happen next, but you have to wonder if McCain will regret "suspending" his campaign?



Image Source: Miami Herald