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McCain Leaps Into a Thicket

If it was so important for him to go there and take part in shaping the plan, why did he just sit there? Was his presence needed at all?

News Analysis – NYTimes.com

At the bipartisan White House meeting that Mr. McCain had called for a day earlier, he sat silently for more than 40 minutes, more observer than leader, and then offered only a vague sense of where he stood, said people in the meeting.

He’s not on the finance committee and said just a few days ago that he hadn’t even read Paulson’s plan (all 3 pages of it). But suddenly, after Obama calls him privately to say that they should issue a joint statement about the pending proposal, McCain publicly decides to go into emergency panic mode, drop everything he’s doing and run to Washington, DC. Well, kind of. He still managed a few network TV interviews and didn’t actually go to DC until the following day. (Just ask Letterman.) Personally, I’d prefer my president to be able to multi-task.

Oh, and then there’s this:

“What I’ve found, and I think it was confirmed today, is that when you inject presidential politics into delicate negotiations, it’s not necessarily as helpful as it needs to be,” Mr. Obama told reporters Thursday evening. “Just because there is a lot of glare of the spotlight, there’s the potential for posturing or suspicions.”

“When you’re not worrying about who’s getting credit, or who’s getting blamed, then things tend to move forward a little more constructively,” he said.

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