McCAIN == FAIL

Remember when Bi-Partisan Maverick McCain was going to D.C. to "reach across the aisle" to get an agreement about how to solve The Crunch? Well, not so much, really. Not only did he not bother to read the original plan, he also ended up backing the rezctionary proposal put forward by the House Republicans. As the NY Times put it:

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.

DOES THAT SOUND LIKE LEADERSHIP TO YOU?

The AP put it a little more bluntly:

A bad day for the GOP on politics, bailout plan
Sep 26 04:45 AM US/Eastern
By CHARLES BABINGTON
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Even for a party whose president suffers dismal approval ratings, whose legislative wing lost control of Congress and whose presidential nominee trails in the polls, it was a remarkably bad day for Republicans.

A White House summit meeting on Thursday meant to shore up John McCain's shaky campaign "devolved into a contentious shouting match." And that's how McCain's own campaign described it.

McCain, eager to shore up his image as a leader who rises above partisanship, was undercut by a fierce political squabble within his own party's ranks.

At one point in the White House meeting, according to two officials, McCain voiced support for Ryan's criticisms of the administration's proposal. Frank, a gruff Massachusetts liberal, angrily demanded to know what plan McCain favored.

At one point, several minutes into the session, Obama said it was time to hear from McCain. According to a Republican who was there, "all he said was, 'I support the principles that House Republicans are fighting for.'"