McCain on Wall Street: Swing and a Miss

By C. Edmund Wright

John McCain was interviewed this morning on CNBC's Sqawk Box program about the Wall Street crisis by the lone conservative anchor, Joe Kernan. Kernan, doing everything he could to point McCain in the right direction, fought an uphill battle as McCain was blaming most of the problem on CEO's who had "broken the public trust" and on "unfettered capitalism" in the spirit of "Teddy Roosevelt."

McCain managed to blame both parties equally in the mess, refusing to acknowledge that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Lehman Brothers are all much more aligned with Democrats in congress than with Republicans. The Arizona Senator mentioned that he was willing to "reach across the aisle" to help solve these problems and "restore Americans' faith in government."

It might be instructive to realize that reaching across the aisle has put money in McCain's pocket, as he was recipient of more donantions from Lehman employees than any other Republican, though six Democrats were ahead of him including both on their Presidential ticket. If this is what McCain means about bi-partisanship and shaking up Washington, he will quickly remind his base why they did not like him until the Saddleback performance and the choice of Sarah Palin.