McCain's Bad Week

The Politico:

Martin and Thrush on McCain's bad week:

Wall Street’s breakdown and bailout are likely to improve Barack Obama’s odds of reaching the White House — a point not lost on John McCain, whose stumbles this week seemed to lend credence to the view that economics is not his strong suit.

He said the fundamentals of the economy were “strong,” then he said the economy was “in crisis.”

He called for a 9/11 Commission-style investigation into the financial crisis, then never brought it up again.

He said he opposed the $85 billion bailout of insurance giant AIG, then he said he supported it.

He said SEC Chairman Chris Cox had “betrayed the public’s trust” and should be fired, then called him a “good man” who only had to resign to be held accountable as the head of the commission.

And McCain’s campaign blasted Obama for not taking a firm stance on the AIG rescue, but McCain himself has declined to take a definitive position on the Bush administration’s $500 billion to $1 trillion plan to buy up the bad debt of other financial institutions.

McCain aides, recognizing the political difficulties of the moment, are trying to turn the debate over an economic crisis into a fight over Obama’s character and leadership. In a blistering speech Friday in Green Bay, Wis., McCain tried to put the blame for the financial meltdown on Obama and resurrect a larger debate over taxes and the candidates’ competing economic plans.

Obama, by contrast, has sought to play the steady, if cautious, statesman — studiously avoiding a position on the AIG bailout, aligning himself with economic advisers such as former Clinton Treasury Secretary and economic soother Robert Rubin, and talking about the need to put politics aside and address the problem at hand in a fashion his advisers hoped seemed presidential.