Shelby: No agreement
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Republican Sen. Richard Shelby emerged from President Bush's economic bailout meeting Thursday afternoon saying, "We will not have a deal."
Shelby, a senator from Alabama, said he had a five-page paper from 44 leading economists that says "we are rushing to a deal."
One of Shelby's top aides told CNN earlier Thursday that the senator from Alabama had planned to make the statement. Shelby does not like the plan and wanted a public platform to voice his views, the aide said.
Biden: McCain 'posturing' and coming up short on bailout
WILKES-BARRE, Pennsylvania (CNN) – As Barack Obama and John McCain were getting ready to sit down with President Bush and congressional leaders at the White House to discuss the proposed $700 billion bailout package, Obama's running mate was accusing McCain of "posturing" and coming up short on the terms he's put forward.
Biden praised Obama for reaching across the aisle and calling John McCain on Wednesday morning to present a unified front as the government puts together a bailout package. Hours later, McCain announced he was suspending his campaign to return to Washington to help lawmakers reach a deal.
Watch: Oil man talks about bailout
"Unlike all the rest of the people talking," said Biden, "[Obama's] demonstrated that he's changed the tone. He will prepare to change the tone in Washington. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we mean by leadership, not posturing."
The Delaware senator said McCain's proposals for the bailout don't sufficiently address middle class concerns, notably the housing crisis.
"He laid out what he thought the package should include," said Biden. "I looked it over and what's notable is what's not in the package. The silence on issues relating to the middle class is deafening in the package John has put forward. There is no help in his package for families struggling to stay in their homes."
Historic White House meeting convenes
John McCain and Barack Obama are currently meeting with President Bush on the economic bailout. Also seated next to the president are, from left, House Minority Leader John Boehner, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. (AP Photo)
Bill Clinton lavishes praise on McCain
(CNN) - Bill Clinton has long pointed out he has enjoyed a good relationship with John McCain, but for a moment the former president almost sounded like a surrogate for the Republican presidential nominee Thursday morning.
Appearing on ABC's Good Morning America, Clinton said McCain's move to suspend his campaign and request a delay in the first presidential debate was a move done in "good faith," rather than as a stunt to halt falling poll numbers as several Democrats have alleged.
"I presume he did that in good faith since I know he wanted - I remember he asked for more debates to go all around the country and so I don't think we ought to overly parse that," Clinton said, sounding a familiar McCain Campaign talking point.
A few hours later Clinton lavished praise on McCain as he introduced him at the Clinton Global Initiative forum, saying Republican presidential nominee had taken the lead in his party when it comes to climate change.
"When most people in his party were thinking that global warming was overstated and maybe even a myth - he decided to look into it," he said.
The former president also described the two trips that McCain took with his wife Hillary Clinton, “the junior senator from New York," to look into the issue.
But Clinton has also been effusive in his praise for Obama in recent days, telling CBS earlier this week the Illinois senator is better-suited than McCain to bring the country out of the economic crisis.
Clinton's praise of McCain also came days after he told CNN's Larry King Live he was looking forward to campaigning on behalf of Barack Obama, but was not planning on "dumping" on McCain.
Cafferty: Is McCain playing politics with the financial crisis?
Senators Barack Obama and John McCain are in Washington to meet with President Bush and other lawmakers... After the president summoned them there to help hash out a bipartisan resolution to the big 700 billion dollar financial bailout plan. It's another grand but empty political gesture. But you can't let a good photo-op go to waste.
Hours earlier, Congressional leaders reached an agreement on a bipartisan counter-proposal to the Bush plan... Without the help of either candidate or the president. The lawmakers are hopeful they'll have a vote within days and a bill on the president's desk soon after.
Yesterday John McCain, in a grand gesture, announced he was suspending his campaign and rushing to Washington to save the day. A lot of people saw that as the naked political stunt that it was.
To read more and contribute to the Cafferty File discussion click here
CNN poll of polls: Obama up 4 points
(CNN) – As the fate of the first head-to-head debate between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain remains uncertain, CNN’s latest poll of polls shows the Democratic nominee with a 4 point advantage over his Republican rival. Obama has the support of 47 percent of voters to McCain's 43 percent, with and 10 percent unsure about their choice for president. In CNN’s previous poll of polls, released Wednesday night, Obama was ahead by 5 points – 49 percent versus 44 percent.
“Since the start of the financial crisis, Sen. Obama has held a small but clear edge in the horserace,” said CNN Senior Political Researcher Alan Silverleib. “Sen. McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign in the midst of this crisis can be seen as an attempt to regain the upper hand on the economy — an issue which so far continues to work to Obama’s advantage. The overwhelming majority of Americans are more concerned with the state of the economy than with any other issue.”
Thursday’s national general election poll of polls is comprised of the following four surveys: Marist (September 22-23), Fox News/Opinion Dynamics (September 22-23), Gallup (September 22-24), and Diageo/Hotline (September 22-24). CNN’s poll of polls does not have a sampling error.
Fact check: Was Obama against the troop 'surge' in Iraq?
The Statement:
In his campaign speeches throughout the presidential campaign, including an appearance before the Disabled American Veterans convention, Republican nominee Sen. John McCain has attacked Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama's stance on the "surge" of troops in Iraq. "First, he opposed the surge - then he
confidently predicted that it would fail ... ," McCain said in his August 11 speech. "Thanks to the courage and sacrifice of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines and to brave Iraqi fighters, the surge has succeeded. And yet Senator Obama still can't quite bring himself to admit his own failure in
judgment."
Learn the facts
Fact check: McCain's drilling plan to take seven years?
The Statement
In a television ad titled "New Energy" that was released in July but continues to run in swing states and on national cable networks, Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama's campaign says Republican rival Sen. John McCain and President Bush "support a drilling plan that won't produce a drop of oil for seven years."
Learn the facts
Has McCain read the bailout bill?
(CNN) - As John McCain returned to Capitol Hill Thursday to support the passage of a package to address the nation’s financial crisis, Democrats spent the morning gleefully directing reporters to a statement from the Republican nominee Tuesday – three days after the bailout bill was introduced – that he had not read the text of the administration’s proposal.
"I have not had a chance to see it in writing. I have to examine it,” he told a Cleveland television station.
Watch: McCain's bailout proposal
The McCain campaign said Thursday the Arizona senator had immediately been briefed on the elements of the plan – but could not say whether or not he had since read the three-page proposal, pointing instead to his meetings with congressional leaders and briefings with top officials. They also said the question was less relevant because final text was likely to be different than the original proposal.
Watch: What are the candidates saying about the bailout plan?
McCain back on the Hill
John McCain is greeted by Joe Lieberman as he arrives on Capitol Hill hoping to help shepherd through the economic bailout bill. He is meeting with GOP congressional leaders and plans to have lunch with Senate Republicans. (AP Photo)
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