Drum majors do less strutting than John McCain did during the Washington negotiations over the infamous Wall Street bailout. And drum majors at least lead the band down the field; McCain, on the other hand, was strutting up a storm, but no one was following him.
Trying to appear “in charge,” the GOP nominee for president impetuously rushed to Washington, claiming to be SuperSenator, zooming in to rescue the rescue. Problem was, he is not on any of the committees that were involved in the negotiations, he knew nothing about the issues, he had not even read the bailout proposal, and he had no actual role to play.
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Nonetheless, he created his own high drama by getting George W to host a dog and pony show at the White House. With McCain at the table, the show was supposed to feature an agreement between Republicans and Democrats on the bailout deal, making him look like a key player. Only, for the whole 40-minute session, McCain sat silent.
This is because, much to his surprise, there was no agreement. His fellow Republicans in Congress were bitterly divided on the bailout, and his White House political show turned into a shouting match. Afraid of offending either side of his party, McCain “The Leader” refused to take a position, meekly observing rather than leading.
This did not, however, keep him from strutting around afterward. Straining for credit, he declared: “I think that we made progress. How much I had to do with it, I’ll let you and others be the judge.”
Um… how about zero, Senator?
Yet, after others had patched the deal back together, McCain was in full strut again. On the day of the congressional vote, he bragged that he had helped heal the divide in his party so the bailout bill would pass.
It was a great soundbite – except that only a few hours later, the bill was defeated, and only a third of his fellow Republicans had followed his plea to vote for it.
“Blame game on the campaign trail,” Austin American Statesman, September 30, 2008
“McCain’s Peril in Wading In,” www.nytimes.com , September 26, 2008
“Tentative Accord Crumbles at a White House Meeting,” www.nytimes.com, September 26, 2008
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