rescue package, page-2

"Democrats I say should stop holding up the situation". Something needs to get done and even if it does not work at least it was tried.


Republicans (Bush's own team) were more of an issue - "Democrats were quick to note that while a majority of House Democrats backed the bill, only a third of House Republicans did. And while Sen. Obama has been largely hands off as Congress wrestled with the package over the past week, Sen. McCain has tried to be more directly involved in the negotiations, and connected himself with the results.

Sen. McCain worked the phones all weekend, which his aides say helped bring the more than 60 House Republican votes in favor of the bill. Yet four of the 11 House members he talked to Saturday didn't vote in favor of the bill, including two fellow Arizonans, John Shadegg and Jeff Flake, along with longtime campaign supporters Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida.

At a campaign rally in Ohio Monday morning, the Arizona lawmaker claimed credit for what, at the time, seemed like the successful completion of the bill. "I put my campaign on hold for a couple of days last week," he said, "to fight for a rescue plan that puts you and your economic security and your family and working Americans first."