A Failure Of Leadership (With An Able Assist)

by BarbinMD [courtesy of Daily Kos]

While the events surrounding yesterday's fiasco on the economic bailout bill was a clearly a massive failure of leadership on the part of John McCain, it's only fair to point out that he had an able assist from his own party.

The Republican National Committee's new advertisement critical of the the Wall Street "bailout" was produced and sent to television stations in key states before the package failed, officials at two stations said.

"Wall Street Squanders our money. And Washington is forced to bail them out with -- you guessed it -- our money. Can it get any worse?" asks the ad's narrator, as the words "BAILOUT WITH OUR MONEY" cross the screen. (The answer: Obama's plans would make it worse.)  [...]

The ad taps into deep resentment of the plan, but it comes at a time when the candidate it supports, John McCain, is urging its package, and asking that it not be referred to as a "bailout," but a "rescue."

What we've seen in the past 24 hours is Republicans scrambling like rats, leaving their presumptive captain to go down with the ship.