McCain, Obama Cautiously Back Rescue Deal

By Michael D. Shear and Perry Bacon Jr. / The Washington Post

WASHINGTON – Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama on Sunday expressed cautious support for a $700 billion bailout of the nation’s biggest financial institutions, though both reserved the right to change their minds after they have reviewed details of the hastily arranged deal.

The candidates made their comments as both prepared to return to the campaign trail after an odd week in which electioneering was interrupted by the economic crisis, McCain’s brief pledge to suspend his campaign, and the first debate between the two candidates.

Both camps now turn their attention to Thursday’s debate between the vice presidential candidates, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del.

McCain’s campaign announced that Palin will step off the trail Tuesday and Wednesday as she prepares for her first major unscripted event of the campaign, which follows an interview last week with CBS News’s Katie Couric.

On the economic bailout, McCain said in an interview on ABC’s "This Week" that he will "swallow hard and go forward" with the plan, adding that it is time to "get this deal off the table, let’s get this to the president."

McCain, who rushed back to Washington last week to help Congress reach a deal, said Sunday that "the option of doing nothing is simply not an acceptable option."

Obama called the need for a bailout "the culmination of a sorry period in our history, in which reckless speculation and greed on Wall Street and lax oversight from Washington led to a meltdown of our financial markets."

Obama said that as president he would order a review of the bailout plan to make sure it meets the principles he sought, including strict oversight and limits on executive pay. But he said a failure to approve it would have "devastating consequences" for the U.S. economy.

"When taxpayers are asked to take such an extraordinary step because of the irresponsibility of a relative few, it is not a cause for celebration," Obama said. "But this step is necessary."

The campaigns continued to squabble over the extraordinary scene of last week’s White House meeting on the economy and the sometimes angry negotiations over the bailout package, which culminated in a deal early Sunday morning.

McCain explained on ABC that he "came back because I didn’t want to phone it in. I won’t claim a bit of credit if that makes them feel better."

But Democrats noted that McCain spent very little time on Capitol Hill talking directly with lawmakers, instead preferring to work the phones from his Crystal City, Va., headquarters.

Campaigning in Detroit, Obama continued to attack McCain, saying the Republican’s backing of deregulation laws helped cause the economic crisis.

"You can’t make up for 26 years in 26 days," Obama told a crowd of more than 15,000 at a rally in downtown Detroit. "For most of the 26 years, he’s been against the common-sense rules and regulations that could have stopped this problem."

Throughout Friday’s debate, McCain suggested that Obama didn’t "understand" a number of issues, a charge Obama tossed back at his opponent Sunday.

" No, I understand – you want more of the same," he said . "A fifth-grader could understand it’s more of the same."

A McCain spokesman responded that Obama had "ignored his record of opposing middle-class tax relief" during the rally.

"Barack Obama voted 94 times in just three years for higher taxes," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds.

John McCain said "the option of doing nothing is simply not an acceptable option."

Barack Obama called the need for a bailout "the culmination of a sorry period in our history."