Both McCain and Obama will travel to Washington for the surprise bailout vote in the Senate after Monday’s explosive  failure in the House. Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell announced late on Tuesday a joint and bipartisan decision had been made to go through with some sort of bailout vote without passage in the House.

In a surprising development, Senate leaders Tuesday night announced a Wednesday evening vote on the $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan rejected Monday in the House of Representatives. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced the agreement in a joint appearance on the Senate floor just after 7 p.m. Agreements are in place for a voting procedure and the vote itself is expected sometime after sundown, to respect the Jewish holiday, both leaders’ offices said.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (Ill.) will return to Washington for the vote.

The agreement came together after a daylong effort that involved as many as nine conversations between Reid and McConnell and their lieutenants, as well as calls back and forth from Capitol Hill to the White House. The stock market plunged 777 points after Monday’s 205-228 vote in the House, sending leaders from both parties scrambling on Tuesday to head off any more political and financial fallout. The bill is believed to enjoy a wide margin of support in the Senate, usually the more difficult of Congress’s two chambers for controversial legislation.

“It has been determined, in our judgment, this is the best thing to move forward,” Reid said. “This is good for the country.”

McConnell called the announcement “one of the finer moments in the Senate.”

“We have come together on a bipartisan [basis] and structured a way forward on an important rescue package for our country,” he said. ”This is an important accomplishment and a way forward to get a result that we need to achieve for the American people.”

Reid’s office said the final agreement came together very quickly late Tuesday.

Immediate questions: Will McCain be able to vote for the bailout ‘as is’? Does he and other Republicans wary of the measure try to work out last-minute negotiations on different Senate legislation? Will Obama make a determined effort to go across the aisle and make sure the bailout easily passes the Senate on Wednesday?

Perhaps topping the presumptuousness many see in the actions and words of the Obama campaign, Sarah Palin has coined a new catchphrase to describe herself and her impact on Washington as McCain’s running mate: “The new energy.”

CBS released more of the awkward interview between Katie Couric and the McCain-Palin ticket, now showing new clips of Couric and Palin one-on-one.In the excerpt, Palin is asked about her recent comment about Joe Biden and his long history on Capitol Hill, telling campaign crowds that she was a fresh face but that Biden had been a Senator since she “was, like, in second grade.” That quip had gotten some flack from Democrats and the Obama campaign as a mean and unnecessary dig at Biden’s age (the Obama campaign decrying ageism?)

Couric asked Palin point blank about the comment in the interview. Palin brushed off the controversy as irrelevant because her remark on Biden was “nothing negative at all.” But what raised eyebrows was how Palin described herself in fairly uplifting and glowing tones as “the new energy, the new face, the new ideas” ready to take on the Washington establishment.

Can’t you just see the huge banner (or should it be a seal…) for Palin to use on the campaign trail for the next month? “Sarah Palin: The New Energy.”

And is it our imagination or is the Tina Fey impersonation of Palin looking more and more dead-on every day? Watch the walk-and-talk with Couric below and you’ll just be amazed…

Katie Couric: You made a funny comment, you’ve said you have been listening to Joe Biden’s speeches since you were in second grade, something like that.

Sarah Palin: It’s been since like ‘72, yah.

Couric: You have a 72-year-old running mate - is that kind of a risky thing to say, insinuating that Joe Biden’s been around a while?

Palin: Oh no, it’s nothing negative at all. He’s got a lot of experience and just stating the fact there, that we’ve been hearing his speeches for all these years. So he’s got a tremendous amount of experience and, you know, I’m the new energy, the new face, the new ideas and he’s got the experience based on many many years in the Senate. And voters are gonna have a choice there of what it is that they want in these next four years.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Using primary clips of Hillary Clinton to attack Obama is one thing. Slapping up video of Bill Clinton seemingly blaming Democrats for the fall of Fannie and Freddie - and thus the ensuing mortgage/credit crisis - in a new TV spot is just priceless.

The new spot, called “Rein” and said to be airing “nationally,” only mentions Obama once to criticize him for remaining “silent” during McCain’s push to regulate Fannie and Freddie. It’s more of a broad Dem hit piece, using paper clippings and the aforementioned ex-President to  hit Democrats for being complicit in the current financial crisis.

It just also happens to ignore GOP efforts to fight regulation on Wall Street and any government oversight of the very markets that have failed this month. But the Clinton insert is all that folks are talking about with this ad…

Script and video below.

ANNCR: John McCain fought to rein in Fannie and Freddie.

The Post says: McCain “pushed for stronger regulation”…”while Mr. Obama was notably silent.”

But, Democrats blocked the reforms.

Loans soared.

Then, the bubble burst.

And, taxpayers are on the hook for billions.

Bill Clinton knows who is responsible.

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: “I think the responsibility that the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was President to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”

ANNCR: You’re right, Mr. President. It didn’t have to happen.

JOHN MCCAIN: I’m John McCain and I approve this message.

Two new polls are out today that cover public sentiment about both the Fed bailout package and the overall financial crisis spreading beyond Wall Street and beginning to panic Main Street. The results show that Americans are becoming more concerned with the particulars of a government bailout the longer they have to understand it, with a Pew Research poll showing over a  10-point decline in the number of people supporting government intervention in the crisis.

The Pew poll goes further in finding that a majority are both “angry” and “scared” about the bailout, with most pointing to no specific issue, just a general feeling that the plan will both let Wall Street off the hook for their errors and not do enough to solve the existing economic concerns for everyday Americans - job losses, foreclosures, etc.  These results back up the idea that voters are confused about the bailout plan and see it as the only effort made by the government to deal with the multiple crises hitting the economy.

The public’s top worry about the current situation is that “those who are responsible for causing the crisis will be let off the hook.� Nearly three-quarters of Americans (72%) say they are very concerned about this, including 77% of Democrats, 69% of Republicans and 69% of independents. More than six-in-ten (63%) say they are very concerned that “the government’s actions won’t fix the things that caused this problem in the first place.� This, too, is of greater worry to Democrats and independents than to Republicans.

A 54% majority of the public says they are very concerned that the government’s action “won’t do enough to help homeowners in danger of losing their homes.� The partisan gap is greatest on this aspect of the bill, with 66% of Democrats and just 37% of Republicans seeing this as a major concern. Perhaps surprisingly, Republicans do not express particular worry about excessive government involvement in the nation’s financial markets. Overall, 44% of Americans are very concerned that “the government is becoming too involved in financial markets.� This includes roughly equal numbers of Republicans (45%), Democrats (40%) and independents (47%).

The Pew numbers also show Obama holding steady with a big lead among voters on the question of which candidate can better handle the current fiscal crisis. Obama leads McCain in that category 46% to 33%.

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds similar results among Americans on their feelings about the bailout. The WaPo/ABC poll has virtually an even split among those favoring and opposing the bailout measure, with concerns coming from both sides about whether or not the bailout will do enough to tame the crisis or if it helps everyday Americans with pre-existing economic concerns - some of the same worries found in the Pew poll.

This poll also asks Americans to assign blame for the market disaster that led to the bailout package. 44% blame Republicans specifically, with 21% blaming Democrats and a bit less assigning bipartisan blame for the crisis. Going further, almost 25% of Americans blame President Bush for the current economic woes.

Overall, voters split about evenly on the failed bill — 45 percent supported it, 47 percent opposed it. Among the reasons for the tepid public reception is that there is a roughly even divide about whether government efforts will prevent the financial situation from deteriorating further still.

And on the particulars, about as many voters said the plan rejected by Congress did “too much” to help major financial institutions that got into trouble as said that the bill did “too little.” Nearly half said the failed plan did not do enough to help the broader economy, and more, 61 percent said there was insufficient assistance for the general public.

Asked to assess responsibility for the legislation’s failure, 44 percent said Republicans were the reason, 21 percent said the Democrats and 17 percent said both sides were responsible.

On the broader economic problems facing the country, voters spread the blame.

In an open-ended question, a quarter of all voters said George W. Bush is responsible for the economy’s relatively poor performance, more than any other single cause. About a quarter name Congress (8 percent), the federal government (8 percent) and Democrats and Republicans (5 percent each) together. Eighteen percent said Wall Street financial institutions and banks shoulder responsibility, 7 percent blame “everyone” and 5 percent highlighted the role of individuals who borrowed too much.

Safe to say that none of this is good news for McCain or the Republicans. Voters just aren’t buying their efforts to assign blame to Democrats overall or Obama specifically. We should wait and see polls conducted after the bailout failure to dole out real judgment, but McCain just isn’t changing the minds he needs to in order to retool his economic image.

• The all-too-familiar game of finger pointing has begun among Democrats and Republicans in the wake of yesterday’s failed bailout bill in the House. Whether it’s Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner or John McCain, the blame is being spread around. But a more likely reason for the stunning death of the $700 billion compromise is voter anger and grass roots pressure forcing many lawmakers to make a last-minute switch on a bill they already had serious reservations about. Angry voters swamped Congress with complaints about a “free pass” for greedy investors and apparently swayed enough panicked incumbents to kill the legislation. Democrats in the House also felt pressure to vote ‘no’ either from the same angry conservative base or when liberals decided that there weren’t enough plums in the bailout for the working-class or to create more social programs to help low-income homeowners and job seekers. The anger and pressure on those in the House desperate to appease voters in a year with sub-20% Congressional approval ratings was simply too much. Could the major players like Pelosi or McCain have done more to coalesce their respective parties behind the bill and ignore the grass roots displeasure? Probably. But McCain’s political stunt last week or Pelosi’s anti-Bush floor rant were not the biggest reasons for yesterday’s flame-out.

• Did members of Congress miscalculate voter anger towards the bailout and only manage to hurt the country and their own reelection chances by opposing the bill en masse? Americans are split nearly 50-50 if you look at polls on support for the bailout, and the numbers are even higher when they are asked if they want Congress to do something to prop up the collapsing financial markets. Did those in the House that voted ‘no’ simply take the easiest route and listen to a vocal conservative minority while ignoring the feelings of most of their constituents? Odds are that voters who see more partisan gridlock in Congress while their retirement accounts disappear and their banks get eaten up will start to badger politicians the other way on the bailout.

• It’s getting harder and harder to decide where McCain actually stands on the bailout package still before the House and whether or not he even wants this specific legislation passed. The last week has seen mixed messages from McCain and his campaign, from the campaign “suspension” stunt so McCain could attend talks in Washington to his comments from yesterday where he railed against the idea of a bailout but decided that he would “swallow hard” and vote for it anyway if it came to the Senate unchanged. Now the GOP nominee may be understanding the gravity of the situation and the fact that more voters blame him specifically for the failure than they do House Democrats or Barack Obama. McCain has decided to help in the spin game on the bailout, actually dropping the “bailout” term and calling it a “rescue”effort this morning.  McCain seemed to embrace the Obama position on the bill, expressing reservations but saying that the it was “vital” to pass the legislation as a “rescue of Main Street America.”

• What was the role of Newt Gingrich (of all people…) in killing the bailout legislation in the House yesterday? Newt is still an out-and-out rock star among conservatives and the House GOP, so his early skepticism about the bailout reinforced doubts about the Fed plan from many Republicans and conservatives. Newt had been bashing the bailout up until the vote commenced, whereupon he released a  statement on his web site that said House GOPers should vote for it despite risks. But that turnaround came too late for many members who had already made up their mind after being in contact with Gingrich earlier in the week for discussions on the bailout. Yes, Newt apparently had been conducting dozens of calls with House Republicans and leaders keeping tabs on the bill and voicing his concerns with what many conservatives called “quasi-socialism.” The hottest rumor surrounding all of this is that Newt is trying to retain as much control of the conservative movement and to create new allies in the House and elsewhere to possibly launch a presidential bid for 2012 if McCain loses (as Newt thinks he will).

• More consolidation on the positions of the two presidential candidates on the financial crisis currently griping Wall Street and the campaign. Obama announced a new proposal that he said should be inserted into the bailout bill to engender broader support, calling for raising the FDIC insured limit on bank deposits to $250,000 from its current $100,000. Obama said raising the limit would “restore confidence” in banks and reassure families that their deposits are secure and that they shouldn’t start withdrawing their money, which would obviously cause an even greater crisis. This is a move that had been endorsed by msot economists and is seen as something that could be inserted into the bailout bill in order to make it more appealing to conservative House members concerned about shutting out ordinary Americans from any Fed assistance. Obama’s announcement was followed up later by a comment from McCain in a CNN interview that he also thinks the FDIC limits should be raised to an unspecified amount. It’s better late than never, but this little development today is yet another instance where it seems that Obama is leading McCain along during this crisis. It at least fosters a viewpoint that McCain can’t handle the economy and is forced to play catch-0up so he won’t be left out of any possible solution. Copy the work to get the credit…

• There are now daily concerns being voiced publicly and privately by Republicans about the ability of Sarah Palin to both serve as an able vice-president and to prove a strong and effective running mate for McCain in the final weeks of the campaign. Thursday’s debate is seen as the final chance for Palin to put the string of embarrassing and rather telling interviews behind her and convince voters that she is not a political and public risk and that she understands the issues enough for the VP role. While GOP strategists and conservative media types are worried that Palin will continue to blow big questions on the actual issues (foreign policy, economy, etc…), there is word that the McCain campaign will use the debate to re-launch Palin to play on voter emotions, portraying herself as a sympathetic character who has been bullied by Dems and the press and who better understands everyday Americans than Joe Biden or Barack Obama. The McCain camp is counting on a brusque and heavy-handed performance by Biden on Thursday to allow Palin to play up her innocence and ability to connect with voters.

Seeking to capitalize on voter fears over the struggling economy and sagging numbers for John McCain on Issue #1 this election, the Obama campaign has launched a new two-minute TV ad presenting vaguely promising plans from Obama to fix the economy and slamming McCain (no mention of Palin…) as “more of the same,” and someone who would only perpetuate “failed policies.”

The ad is called “Same Path” and is supposed to air in “key states.”

There is no official script for the ad, but you can read the campaign press release attached to the ad and watch the video below.

Today, the Obama-Biden campaign released a new two minute TV ad, Same Path, which includes Senator Obama telling America he knows we can steer ourselves out of this crisis, but not by driving down the very same path and how that’s what this election’s all about.

In the ad, Obama details how his plan to jump-start our economy, create millions of jobs, and bring back our Main Streets all across America differs with John McCain’s plan to continue the same failed policies. Obama specifically lays out how his tax plan which offers three times as much tax relief to the middle class and cuts taxes for small and startup businesses differs from McCain’s which will continue giving hundreds of billions in new tax breaks to big corporations and oil companies and extends the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest.

The ballyhooed dual sit-down with CBS’ Katie Couric interviewing both John McCain and Sarah Palin produced some questionable comments from the pair. It involved complaints from the GOP ticket on Palin’s treatment in the media and whether or not a mumbled question from a voter at a campaign event is “gotcha journalism.”

Most of the interview was fairly tame, although McCain perpetuated his somewhat pained visage and angry comments on the media and how they have treated his campaign and running mate. So goes the happy warrior?

The eye-opening back-and-forth came when Couric asked both McCain and Palin about her  intriguing response to that voter’s Pakistan question, where Palin responded with what was virtually Barack Obama’s position on cross-border raids by the U.S. It was asked off-the-cuff by a voter, but McCain-Palin turned it into a troubling representation of media bias and “gotcha journalism,” with McCain awkwardly injecting himself and his answers into a Couric query initially aimed strictly at Palin.

Find excerpts and video below.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Katie Couric: Over the weekend, Gov. Palin, you said the U.S. should absolutely launch cross-border attacks from Afghanistan into Pakistan to, quote, “stop the terrorists from coming any further in.” Now, that’s almost the exact position that Barack Obama has taken and that you, Sen. McCain, have criticized as something you do not say out loud.  So, Gov. Palin, are you two on the same page on this?

Sarah Palin: We had a great discussion with President Zardari as we talked about what it is that America can and should be doing together to make sure that the terrorists do not cross borders and do not ultimately put themselves in a position of attacking America again or her allies.  And we will do what we have to do to secure the United States of America and her allies.

Couric: Is that something you shouldn’t say out loud, Sen. McCain?

John McCain: Of course not.  But, look, I understand this day and age “gotcha” journalism.  Is that a pizza place?  In a conversation with someone who you didn’t hear … the question very well, you don’t know the context of the conversation. Grab a phrase.  Gov. Palin and I agree that you don’t announce that you’re going to attack another country.
Couric: Are you sorry you said it …

McCain: …And the fact …

Couric: Governor?

McCain: Wait a minute.  Before you say, “is she sorry she said it,” this was a “gotcha” sound bite that, look …

Couric: It wasn’t a “gotcha.”  She was talking to a voter.

McCain: No, she was in a conversation with a group of people and talking back and forth.  And …I’ll let Gov. Palin speak for herself.

Palin: Well, it … in fact, you’re absolutely right on.  In the context, this was a voter, a constituent, hollering out a question from across an area asking, “What are you gonna do about Pakistan?  You better have an answer to Pakistan.”  I said we’re gonna do what we have to do to protect the United States of America.

Couric: But you were pretty specific about what you wanted to do, cross-border …

Palin: Well, as Sen. McCain is suggesting here, also, never would our administration get out there and show our cards to terrorists, in this case, to enemies and let them know what the game plan was, not when that could ultimately adversely affect a plan to keep America secure.

Couric: What did you learn from that experience?

The world finally got a response from John McCain late this afternoon to the monumental failure of the Fed bailout bill in the House thanks to Congressional Republicans and moderate Democrats worried about quasi-socialism. McCain had stayed silent for hours after the plan that he had taken a large amount of credit for negotiating last week blew up in Congress today.

McCain’s speech was short but vital to his campaign, for it set the tone of his economic ability and showed what his campaign’s plan is to explain away such a failure in the face of dire warnings from the Fed and members of Congress about what would happen to the economy and financial markets were the bailout to die permanently. This is the time when McCain could put the high-profile wobbles behind him and change the minds of voters teetering on the verge of real fear for their lifestyles and financial futures.

McCain made a point of being optimistic about tweaking the bailout legislation to make it more palatable to GOP opponents - McCain included, having said he was concerned about the bill but would “swallow hard” and vote for it.

But was that steady reassurance clouded by what the Obama campaign has called a “hyper-partisan” attack on Obama and House Dems for themselves playing politics with such important legislation? McCain accused Obama and his “Congressional allies” of putting “short-term political goals” ahead of  “what’s best for the American people.”

Remember that it was McCain who made a huge spectacle of suspending his campaign last week and holding his participation on the Mississippi debate hostage in what was essentially a move for political gain, a trick to bolster his economic image and seize the momentum and dialogue from Obama. It didn’t work, but no question that he was playing for “short-term political goals.” To accuse Obama of the same is flatly hypocritical - plain and simple.

Script and video of McCain’s remarks are below.

“I speak to you at an hour of crisis for our nation’s economy.

“I believe the crisis facing our economy could have a grave impact on every American worker, small business owner, and family if our leaders fail to act.

“I share the anger and frustration that many Americans feel toward reckless and corrupt mismanagement on Wall Street and in Washington.

“I returned to Washington last week to work on a bipartisan rescue plan. It was the only plan at that time on the table but lacked enough support to pass. It also lacked sufficient accountability and transparency to justify expenditure of the taxpayers’ money.

“At the time, the concerns of all members were not being heard. My colleagues were worried about the size of the plan and the risk it posed to taxpayers. I shared those concerns and I laid out principles that I thought must be adhered to. Those principles included responsible oversight, effective transparency, added protections for the taxpayers, and a cap on excessive salaries for executives.

“I also believe that the legislation should have no earmarks. I worked hard to play a constructive role in bringing everyone to the table. The plan is now significantly improved. We strengthened taxpayers’ protections and oversight, and the taxpayers were on the hook for less money up front. Don’t get me wrong - it isn’t perfect. And the fact that taxpayers could have to spend a single dollar to create stability in our economy is a decision that I do not take lightly.

“I was hopeful that the improved rescue plan would have had the votes needed to pass because addressing a credit crisis is of vital importance to families, small businesses, and every working American who must be assured that their assets are safe and protected and that our economy will continue to function.

“Today, I’ve spoken to the Federal Chairman Bernanke, Secretary Paulson, Congressional leaders and now it’s time for all members of Congress to go back to the drawing board.
“I call on Congress to get back obviously immediately to address this crisis. Our leaders are expected to leave partisanship at the door and come to the table to solve our problems. Senator Obama and his allies in Congress infused unnecessary partisanship into the process. Now is not the time to fix the blame. It’s time to fix the problem.

“I would hope that all our leaders, all of them, can put aside short-term political goals and do what’s in the best interest of the American people. Thank you.”

Shocking news from the House floor this afternoon as the massive $700 billion bailout compromise, said to be destined for approval after a week of intense negotiations, failed in the midst of partisan rancor and finger-pointing among lawmakers never really on board with such a huge risk to the government and taxpayers. No re-vote was announced by Speaker Pelosi for later today, although another effort at passing some sort of bailout bill will be taken up again this week in the House.

Acrimony abounds today on Capitol Hill as blame is assigned for a potentially catastrophic failure. House Republicans, queasy about voting for the bailout but supposedly convinced by the White House and McCain’s visit to D.C. last week, revolted just as the vote went down. The GOP blamed Speaker Pelosi’s harsh anti-Bush floor speech for causing them to “reconsider” just before the final vote.

“I do believe that we could have gotten there today had it not been for this partisan speech that the speaker gave on the floor of the House,� House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said, adding that Pelosi “poisoned� the GOP conference.

Deputy Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) held up a copy of Pelosi’s floor speech at a press conference and said she had “failed to listen and to lead� on the issue.

The Speaker had blasted the Bush administration in her speech and Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) asserted that some GOP lawmakers, who had reluctantly agreed to support the bill, might have changed their minds following Pelosi’s remarks.

Not all Republicans accepted this view, possibly embarrassed by what could be seen as punishment for all Americans over one partisan speech. House GOP leader Boehner was visibly distressed at his failure to corral House Republicans into supporting the bill. He urged them to rethink their vote when the bailout comes back on the floor.

Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican minority leader, said there was too much at stake not to support it. He urged members to reflect on the damage that a defeat of the measure could mean “to your friends, your neighbors, your constituents� as they might watch their retirement savings “shrivel up to zero.�

The official word from both parties in the House is that negotiations to bring either the same bailout bill or legislation with further tweaks will begin immediately.

Reaction from the campaign trail is decidedly mixed. Obama spoke directly on the crisis and the bailout failure, urging Americans and the press to “stay calm” despite the alarming failure. He was in Denver at a campaign event.

Barack Obama told a crowd in Westminster, Colo., not to panic at the House of Representatives’ failure to pass the Bush administration’s $700 billion bailout bill.

“It’s important for the American public and for the markets to stay calm,â€� Obama said, “because things are never smooth in Congress, and to understand that it will get done.â€�

He called on members from both parties to get back to the negotiating table: “Democrats and Republicans in Washington have a responsibility to make sure that an emergency rescue package is put forward that can at least stop the immediate problems that we have so we can begin to plan for the future.�

But, invoking a Rocky Mountain metaphor, he warned it won’t be easy.

“It’s gong to be a little rocky. It’s sort of like flying into Denver. You know you’re going to land, but it’s not always fun going over those mountains.”

Obama said he began his campaign event late because he said he was on the phone with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi following the bill’s failure. 

Speaking at the campaign event, Obama said, “The message I have for Congress is get this done.  Democrats and Republicans need to step up to the plate.”

There was no specific criticism of McCain on the bailout despite the GOP nominee’s tough talk earlier today where he claimed credit for what seemed to be the imminent passage of the legislation. He had touted his campaign suspension and decision to fly to Washington for talks with the administration, Obama and House leaders. But any “deal” or personal breakthrough he had with the House GOP clearly failed in the wake of his trip, directly leading to today’s failed vote.

McCain himself has yet to speak on the failed vote. The campaign did release a statement from economic adviser Dough Holtz-Eakin on the developments, blaming Obama and the Democrats for “partisan attacks” and “putting politics ahead of country.”

“From the minute John McCain suspended his campaign and arrived in Washington to address this crisis, he was attacked by the Democratic leadership: Senators Obama and Reid, Speaker Pelosi and others. Their partisan attacks were an effort to gain political advantage during a national economic crisis. By doing so, they put at risk the homes, livelihoods and savings of millions of American families.

“Barack Obama failed to lead, phoned it in, attacked John McCain, and refused to even say if he supported the final bill.

“Just before the vote, when the outcome was still in doubt, Speaker Pelosi gave a strongly worded partisan speech and poisoned the outcome.

“This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country.�

• The bailout takes center stage today as the House is debating the measure at this very moment and discussions over how much the Fed assistance will really tamp down the crisis goes on amidst yet another desperate bank buyout - this one of Wachovia. But at least the Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill hammered out some sort of compromise plan that gets the Bush administration’s $700 billion approved while inserting taxpayer “protections” that both parties wanted. The candidates have also joined the supporters of the bill in pledging to work to get it passed in the Senate later this week. McCain’s initial concern with such a massive plan had eased by this morning, when he said that everyone must “swallow hard” and get the bailout passed. Obama had similar reservations but decided to mostly tout his role in the intense negotiations between Capitol Hill and the Fed. “For two weeks I was on the phone everyday with (Treasury) Secretary (Henry) Paulson and the congressional leaders making sure that the principles that have been ultimately adopted were incorporated in the bill.“

• No-brainers from the two campaigns today as confirmation comes down that both McCain and Obama will head back to Washington when the Fed bailout plan comes up for a Senate vote later this week. One intriguing nugget from the McCain announcement is that Jill Hazelbaker added something to McCain’s original line on the bailout from yesterday and this morning, saying that the GOP nominee “expects” to vote ‘yes’ on the plan, but would take a “hard look” if the final version up for a Senate vote differed significantly from the initial compromise. So McCain is still walking right down the line on a plan that he clearly wants no part of, but has to accept for political reasons.

• Major news on the Clinton front as Bill Clinton is confirmed to campaign for Obama - solo, that is - in Florida later this week. He will head to south Florida and Orlando on Wednesday before exiting the trail that same day. We told you that Obama and Clinton had talked about some sort of solo campaign gig at their big lunch in New York on 9/11; apparently it took their respective camps this long to finalize agreeable details. But it’s always a mixed bag when Bill gets involved with Obama, so you would expect a cryptic message from POTUS 42. He was on “Meet the Press” yesterday and failed to describe Obama as a “great man” when pressed by Brokaw to do so in response to repeated quips from Bill on the trail that McCain is a “great man.” He begged of on the query, saying that he had only met Obama for the first time at that lunch. So will the media storyline during what should be a huge boost for Obama  - that Florida trip - instead be all about the convoluted relationship between the Dem nominee and the former party standard bearer? Take a guess…

• McCain is working hard to win Ohio even as the recent polls from the battleground state show Obama regaining his lost points and mojo from over the summer.The McCain-Palin team is in Columbus today for one of their uber-rallies and McCain himself granted a rare interview with the Columbus Dispatch newspaper. Apparently battleground media gets a grudging pass from the press war being fought by Team McCain. Nothing special from the interview outside of more lukewarm language in support of the bailout (”…it has to work”) and some minimal chatter about how he would improve Ohio’s flagging economy - how does he ignore that? You get a sense that McCain and his staff are really struggling to work up a viable argument for the economy. Tax and spending is all they’re currently hitting Obama with, ignoring jobs and everyday worries. Do you remember that fleeting attempt to push McCain-Palin as a conservative populist ticket? That almost worked; why not try again?

• Desperation and panic are all that can describe the mad dash to make Sarah Palin debate-ready by Thursday night. Her initial burst of positive energy for McCain and a bulletproof storyline have withered in the face of voter obsession with the economy and her horrific major network interviews making more of a splash than the less-than-media-savvy McCain campaign had thought. Not everyone looks at Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric as the evil enemy. But the campaign senses a real opportunity as Palin gets set to take on Joe Biden in what will surely a be an entertaining and politically important event. Debate prep is already underway for Palin, but there have been considerable tweaks after her disappointing performances in what are essentially debate-style interviews. Questions asked of her Thursday are bound to be similar to those she muffed on ABC and CBS -only more of them and in front of a much larger audience. The old Bush team that had been taking care of Palin’s education on the issues has been dumped, replaced by the cream of the campaign - Rick Davis, part-time counseling by Steve Schmidt and one-on-one help from McCain’s debate coach. These three are taking over the duties and are ready for what is said to a marathon session of prep sometime this week in Arizona. Palin will also be subject to at least one more mock-debate with her new handlers (no word on who is playing Biden) after McCain insiders anonymously reported that she couldn’t even finish her initial mock-ups in the last two weeks.