I’d missed this, but it seems that Harry Reid decided to land on John McCain on Friday:
A few days ago, I called on Sen. McCain to take a stand — let us know where he stands on the issue — in this bailout, But all he has done is stand in front of the cameras. We still don’t know where he stands on the issue.
Ouch! Not very Senatorial. But the best way to reduce McCain’s bargaining power. Score one for Reid.
And, once again demonstrating McCain’s fabled capacity to unite members across the aisle, his Republican colleague Rob Corker of Tennessee also dumped on McCain, saying his presence “adds a tension and distraction that candidly is not healthy at this moment in time.”
Double ouch.
And I’m glad to see “McCain acted like a jerk and almost fouled things up” is now the accepted narrative.
The AP story has another interesting nugget: Pelosi wanted a transaction tax to finance the bailout, but Republicans objected, so she settled for the nonsense about having the President maybe propose something five years from now. Too bad about that. But it’s also leverage: Pelosi can tell Boehner “Deliver X Republican votes or the transaction tax goes back in.” It’s not as if Bush would dare veto the bill.
Pelosi’s father was Mayor of Baltimore when I was growing up. She’s got hardball in her DNA. Suddenly I’m a little bit cheerful.