The Democrats keep repeating the mantra that the financial crisis is the fault of the Bush Administration and Republicans. When is McCain going to hit back and lay this mess at the feet of those who created it and refused to do anything to control it? Bill O'Reilly ripped into Barney Frank, head of the House Financial Services Committee, last night for blaming everyone but himself and accepting no personal responsibility for this mess. In 2003, Frank said, "These two entities – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – are not facing any kind of financial crisis." According to a New York Times article, Frank added, "The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."

How many people are aware that John McCain supported a proposal for oversight of FMAE and FMAC in 2005 while Democrats refused to support it and wanted approval for more suspect mortgages? McCain and Palin should hit the Democrats over the head with this until they knock them silly! See: http://beltwaysnark.com/2008/09/16/john-mccain-supported-a-proposal-for-...

The bill was shot down by DEMOCRATS! Shove this right down their throats, talk about the push by Democrats during the Clinton administration to expand mortgage loans among low- and moderate-income people who were not qualified to receive these loans. Repeat as many times as necessary that the very groundwork for today’s problems are rooted in Jimmy Carter's 1977 Community Reinvestment Act , and that in 2003 President Bush proposed the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis and was blocked by Democrats on party lines. Keep slamming Obama who has gotten more than $125,000 in campaign contributions from employees and political action committees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, second only to Chris Dodd, the Senate Banking Committee chairman, who received more than $165,000. Barack Obama and his allies took the money and, for years, did nothing to resolve the credit crisis.

John McCain needs to push back against the way the media has painted this as the fault of Republicans, including McCain himself. If he continues to roll over and say nothing about this, McCain will go down with the ship.

Come on John! Fight with me, stand up, fight with me! Fight!

The McCain campaign has released the following statements regarding the work that's been done in Washington to help try to get the financial crisis resolved and his plans for the debate in Oxford, Mississippi.

Statement By McCain Campaign On Negotiations

John McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign was made in the hopes that politics could be set aside to address our economic crisis.

In response, Americans saw a familiar spectacle in Washington. At a moment of crisis that threatened the economic security of American families, Washington played the blame game rather than work together to find a solution that would avert a collapse of financial markets without squandering hundreds of billions of taxpayers’ money to bailout bankers and brokers who bet their fortunes on unsafe lending practices.

Both parties in both houses of Congress and the administration needed to come together to find a solution that would deserve the trust of the American people. And while there were attempts to do that, much of yesterday was spent fighting over who would get the credit for a deal and who would get the blame for failure. There was no deal or offer yesterday that had a majority of support in Congress. There was no deal yesterday that included adequate protections for the taxpayers. It is not enough to cut deals behind closed doors and then try to force it on the rest of Congress ? especially when it amounts to thousands of dollars for every American family.

The difference between Barack Obama and John McCain was apparent during the White House meeting yesterday where Barack Obama’s priority was political posturing in his opening monologue defending the package as it stands. John McCain listened to all sides so he could help focus the debate on finding a bipartisan resolution that is in the interest of taxpayers and homeowners. The Democratic interests stood together in opposition to an agreement that would accommodate additional taxpayer protections.

Senator McCain has spent the morning talking to members of the Administration, members of the Senate, and members of the House. He is optimistic that there has been significant progress toward a bipartisan agreement now that there is a framework for all parties to be represented in negotiations, including Representative Blunt as a designated negotiator for House Republicans. The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the Senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners.

More: Politico - CNN

In an incredibly surprising announcement, John McCain has decided to suspend his presidential campaign for the time being, "set politics aside", and head back to Washington, D.C. to work on the financial crisis legislation before Congress.  In announcing this major move, he has also challenged his opponent, Barack Obama, to do the same at this time.

In his statement, McCain said that affective tomorrow morning, his campaign will officially be suspended and has requested that Friday night's debate set for Oxford, Mississippi be temporarily postponed.

This puts Barack Obama in a pretty interesting spot, obviously.  Does Obama now follow John McCain's lead and also suspend his campaign to go back to Congress to work on getting the financial package passed or does he decide to go on and procede with the politics as usual, continuing the presidential run?

Nobody ever said John McCain wasn't a 'maverick'.

*****

Updates:

Announcement Transcript (Drudge Report)

McCain suspends campaign for 'historic' crisis (CNN)

McCain seeks to delay debate to focus on economy (Yahoo)

McCain seeks debate delay to focus on financial crisis (USA Today)

Pew Research Center has a brand new poll out that reflects some very favorable numbers for the Republicans going into the peak of the election season.

The poll shows that 'independent voters' now have an equally favorable opinion of both parties - 50% to 49% - a 1-point edge actually going to the Republicans.  As recently as August, the Democrats had held an 18-point advantage over the Republicans in this very demographic; a huge gap that had previously held for over a year.

More from Politico on the results:

And half of registered voters overall now have a favorable opinion of the Republican Party, the highest GOP ranking in three years. Slightly more voters, 55 percent, continue to have a favorable view of the Democratic Party.

The GOP convention and the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate have also generated considerable enthusiasm among the party rank-and-file. Pew found that three in four Republicans express satisfaction with their presidential choice. In June, only half said the same.

The findings come as the Gallup Poll recently found that the Democratic generic lead among voters, when asked which party they prefer to control Congress, has withered to only 3 points, 48 to 45 percent. Democrats had a double-digit generic congressional advantage on the eve of the midterm elections.

The portion of the public that strongly supports the Republican ticket has grown from 17 percent in August to 25 percent today. Over the same period, Republicans expressing “strong support” for McCain jumped 16 points. Independents expressing “strong support” for McCain rose 9 points. Meanwhile, Democratic “strong support” for Obama rose 7 points, while his backing from independents dropped one point. 

The Pew Research polling indicates that the selection of Sarah Palin to the GOP ticket, may have helped John McCain shore up a much larger share of the religious/values voter segment...

Palin’s impact may have also helped McCain firm up the religious vote.

Pew finds that three in four weekly churchgoing Evangelical Protestants back McCain, a slight gain of 3 points since August. McCain has gained more among religious Catholics, however.

Weekly attending Catholics now favor McCain 52 to 36 percent. In August, those same voters only narrowly favored McCain, 45 to 42 percent.

Regarding the female voter, in general, the poll suggests that there has been no huge avalanche of support running over to the McCain side following the Palin selection.  But, there have been gains, again, when considering the female independent voter.  As I've previously stated, the Palin selection wasn't about just trying to 'cherry pick' from the female voting demographic, in general, or the "Hillary Voter", specifically, as many in the media have been trying to label the purpose of her candidacy.  Again, "it is way bigger than that".  This selection goes to making a very long-term ideological statement that resonates with the conservative republican base as well as with independent-minded voters, whose support each election year is up for grabs.  And the new polling seems to indicate that:

Pew found no lopsided shift of women to the Republican candidate, like Gallup, despite some premature reports that Palin’s place on the GOP ticket had caused a rush of female support to McCain.

McCain has gained with independent women, and now trails Obama 40 to 42 percent. In August, McCain trailed 37 to 48 percent with this bloc of women. But those GOP gains are echoed, as Gallup also demonstrated, with independent men. McCain leads with independent men 48 to 35 percent; last month these men only slightly preferred McCain 45 to 42 percent.

As we move closer and closer to November 4th, the momentum clearly seems to be in the favor of McCain-Palin, especially in the key race to shore up support from independents.  There's certainly a lot to be enthusiastic about if you're backing the GOP.

Here's what I have learned from the American media:

1. Barack Obama should be the first black person elected to the presidency - that's good. It's destiny.

2. Barack Obama has plenty of experience to be president. His "community organizing" and less than 1 term in the Senate has thoroughly prepared him to be president despite his lack of foreign policy experience.

3. John McCain is going to die in the next 4 years. Count on it.

4. If John McCain is elected president, Sarah Palin is going to assume the office in the next 4 years. That's a catastrophe.

5. Sarah Palin is totally unqualified to be president. She has only 13 years in elected office as Town Council Member, Mayor, and Governor of Alaska.

6. Sarah Palin has too many scandals in her life. She has 5!!! (oh my god!) children. She did not get an abortion but had a baby with Downs Syndrome. Her unmarried daughter is pregnant. Her husband had a DUI 22 years ago. How can we possibly elect a person with so many skeletons in her closet?

7. Barack Obama is friends with a terrorist, a Catholic priest who preaches against America and a con artist. His minister for more than 10 years is a racist. So what? That should not be counted against him. After all, he left the church after defending his preacher many, many times. And the terrorist bomber actually did the bombings when Obama was a kid. Ignore those closeted skeletons.

8. Joe Biden is a foreign policy expert. He was for a nuclear freeze during the Cold War, voted against the war to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein, voted for the second Gulf War, voted against the surge, and said that we should split up Iraq into 3 parts. What a genius!

9. Barack Obama's claim to fame is that he was against the Iraq War even though he had no vote. He says that because McCain supported the war he should be disqualified from holding office. Biden voted for the war and is Obama's running mate. No problem.

Here is what I have actually learned. The American so-called "mainstream media" is nothing but a corrupt, immoral, agenda-driven, liberal propaganda tool for the Democrat Party. Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Hitler would admire the work of this group of gutter snipes.

Those who are familiar with Sarah Palin know all too well that the very last thing you should do to her is underestimate her.  It has been noted that throughout her career within the realm of Alaska state politics, Palin has left a long trail within her wake, consisting of those who have discounted her toughness and resolve.

Tonight we get our chance to see what Gov. Palin is made of, and I do not think she will disappoint the masses of conservatives that have been energized with her addition to the GOP ticket.  Palin is a woman that seems to have the exact same makeup about her that many have seen in President Bush throughout his entire political career; the kind of traits that have led many to underestimate, dismiss, never see her coming... at their own peril.

Not only do I see Sarah Palin being fully capable of not only countering and  answering her critics that have come out of some of the most puzzling places over the last couple of days, but I see her fully able to go on the offensive.  Because there is, oh, so much to speak out about Wednesday evening!

I've been totally shocked at some of the criticisms that have been waged against her in such a short time that she's been introduced to America.  We have seen everything from statements made that she has no business taking on such duties that would come from being vice-president while she has an infant son with special needs to the latest criticisms, now, about having a husband that had a traffic stop some 24 years ago.

Of course, there is the most disgusting of issues on the table, as well, regarding a very personal family matter that has no business being a part of the public debate this election year.  Let it just be said, without offering  too much attention to such a matter, that it is awfully interesting how much attention the media has now decided is worth merit when it comes to such a private, family issue involving a minor teenage child of a political candidate.  We are witnessing a sea change in journalistic ethics this go around.  And America is worse for it.  

I have no doubts the biggest threat to the American Left is yet another strong, powerful woman being introduced to the nation with an (R) beside her name.  This isn't about the 'Hillary Factor'. It is way bigger than that.  This is about that "51% Minority" in America proving that the socialistic, nanny-state mentality that has been offered by the Democratic Party is not welcome - even by those who would possibly benefit the most, as calculated by their academia-driven theoretical models. 

Sarah Palin is, incarnate, the ideological battle which is being waged for the heart and soul of today's female voter.  And the mainstream media knows it.  Liberal political figures who have made a career out of pushing far-left, gender-driven policy are now sweating bullets, considering today's political reality wherein only 1 out of 5 likely voters stated that they would not vote for a candidate who did not share their views on abortion; this according to a Time magazine poll that came out early last month.   Even more troubling for Democrats is that 26% of Republicans see the abortion issue as critical to their voting choice to only 18% of Democrats.  It is due to this sort of reality, along with countless additional dynamics present in this election, that it is evident just how threatened the opposition feels when the Republican Party offers the American voter such a "Talking the talk and walking the walk" embodiment of this new voting option for today's American woman.

So, tonight is her chance to wage an offensive, not to go on the defense, about her important candidacy.  Appearing to come from a position where she simply defends herself, her candidacy, and her record of policy and accomplishment, she will seem to justify the onslaught of biased charges that have been waged against her.  It is Sarah Palin's very own critics that need to be squarely in her sights and not the other way around!

For every criticism that comes her way that claims that she should be at home taking care of her son, she can retort "Where is the criticism regarding Joe Biden's decision to leave his young son, while in intensive care, after a tragic automobile accident at the beginning of his career as a Senator to serve in Washington?"

For every whisper about personal family matters within her home, Palin can ask of the media, "Why has Senator Obama's background - conceived by an unwed, teenage mother and a father who had a wife in Kenya - not been noted to any degree as an issue, and rightfully so, throughout the past two years of his candidacy?"

If the media wishes to push a 24-year-old traffic stop incident, involving her husband, Gov. Palin has the ability to counter, "Twenty-four years ago is the exact time frame within Sen. Obama's life, in which he states there was a lot of experimentation with drug use; where has the media investigations led regarding that period of Senator Obama's life?"

This is not a time for Palin to be passive or meek.  This is a time to rally the great masses in our country that see exactly what is going on with the biased attacks against her.  America loves a fighter.  And we especially love a fighter when the necessity to strike back arises due to the bullying and pilling on by forces that, at first glance, seem much more powerful than the one attacked.

During his radio program this afternoon, Rush Limbaugh attributed a quote to Sarah Palin that needs to be on full display beginning tonight; Palin was quoted as saying, "Do you know the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull?  Lipstick!"

Well, Madame Governor... the time is now for you to put on that lipstick, strap on those heels... and that chinstrap!

*** 

More: Wizbang - Michelle Malkin - Power Line - Redstate - PoliPundit

The Basics

Significance: First woman vice-presidential candidate for her party.

Age: mid-40's.

Foreign Policy Experience: none.

Years holding a political office: 10+.

The Challenge:

The opposition party claims that her limited political experience makes her unqualified to be placed only "one heart beat" away from the Oval Office. She is seen as a "token" pick, selected for her gender not her political agenda or ability. It is asserted that she has been selected to bring youth, energy and glamor to her running mate's stodgy image and lackluster campaign.

Her Response:

On Her Qualifications: "There's not only what's on your resume that makes you qualified to run for or to hold office. It's how you approach problems and what your values are. I think if one is taking a look at my career they'll see that I level with people; that I approach problems analytically; that I am able to assess the various facts with reference to a problem, and that I can make the hard decisions."
On Her Experience: "My feeling, quite frankly, is that I have enough experience to see the problems, address them and make the tough decisions and level with people with reference to these problems."

On the Problems Facing America: "…what we are talking about are problems that are facing the entire nation. They're not just problems facing women. The issues in this campaign are the war-peace issues; the problems of deficits; the problems of trade deficits."

Her Identity

Who is this woman who was propelled to the national political stage as the first woman to be selected by her party to be a candidate for vice-president? Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska? Nope. Guess again. The correct answer is Geraldine Ferraro, Congresswoman for the 9th District, New York who was named as Walter Mondale's running mate in 1984.

Isn't it amazing that the Democrat Party, which was so proud of their woman VP candidate in 1984, with comparable if not less experience, is now so appalled that John McCain would select a female governor as his running mate? Equally amazing is the Democrats' lack of concern that their presidential nominee, Barack Obama, has less experience than either of the two women vice-presidential nominees. Here are some typical reactions to the pick of Governor Sarah Palin as Republican VP candidate:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: "John McCain and Sarah Palin will not bring the American people the New Direction they need." Right, Nancy. With the 18% approval rating for your congress, you are the "New Direction" we are looking for.

New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer: "...her lack of experience makes the thought of her assuming the presidency troubling." As opposed to Obama's "lack of experience" which does not make the thought of his assuming the presidency troubling for Chuck.

Barack Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton: "Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency." Never mind that she is governor of the largest state in the country. It's better to have a former "community organizer" with zero foreign policy experience be the president immediately.

Executive Director of MoveOn.org Eli Pariser: "It’s not only fair, but critical in this case, to ask if she’s up for the job of commander in chief. We just can’t afford a gamble like this with our future." Palin's a "gamble". Obama cannot even admit that the surge in Iraq has succeeded. No gamble there. It's a sure thing that he's not "up for the job of commander in chief."

What are Her Values?

Sarah Palin is the 11th governor of Alaska. During her first legislative session, Governor Palin implemented an overhaul of the state's ethics laws and a competitive process to construct a gas pipeline. She was recently named chair of the National Governors Association Natural Resources Committee. She is a lifetime member of the NRA and enjoys hunting and fishing.

Sarah Palin: "I'm pro-life. I'll do all I can to see every baby is created with a future and potential. The legislature should do all it can to protect human life.

Fiscally and socially, I am a conservative. My respect for the three different branches of government and the balance between them has been my guide.

I would push for a strong military and a sound energy policy. I believe that Alaska can help set an example on energy policy.

We have billions and billions of barrels of oil and trillions of feet of natural gas. We have so much potential from tapping our resources here in Alaska. And we can do this with minimum environmental impact. We have a very pro-development president in President Bush, and yet he failed to push for opening up parts of Alaska to drilling through Congress -- and a Republican-controlled Congress, I might add.

I thought when we hit $100 a barrel for oil it would have been a psychological barrier that would have caused Congress to reconsider, but they didn't. Now we are approaching $200 a barrel. It's nonsense not to tap a safe domestic source of oil. I think Americans need to hold Congress accountable on this one."

Governor Sarah Palin sounds to me like someone who can make a real change - not a promise of change - in Washington, DC.

John McCain will be airing an ad tonight during the Democratic Convention congratulating Barack Obama for his historic nomination for the Democratic Party.

Check out the ad here:

Talk about some good strategery!  Not only does McCain come off looking very classy and magnanimous,  but he also is able to go just that much further with his desire to share the day's spotlight. 

Not only will the media outlets be talking about the McCain VP speculation, they now have this tremendous gesture to discuss and mull over.

The Conservative Outpost Republican Veepstakes Survey final numbers are in and have now been tallied. Based on the 1703 respondents who took part in our survey, out of the field of potential VP candidates presented, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney came out well on top.

For the question "Who is your first choice?", Governor Romney garnered 40% of the vote, coming in ahead of his closest challenger, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who took a respectable 28% of the vote on that question.

Romney also came in a close 2nd to former Congressman Newt Gingrich as to the question "Who is your second choice?"  Gingrich took 22% to Romney's 19% of the vote on that question.

As for the "Least Favorite" selection, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani came out on top; or is that came out on bottom?  Giuliani ended up with the highest negatives in that category - 31% of our conservatives polled selected Giuliani, while 18% selected Governor Mike Huckabee, as "Least Favorite".

For a complete look at the tabulations, see the numbers below:

As to the question regarding how important the selection of running mate is to impact your vote, it is apparent that the running mate choice is an important factor of the decision-making process for the conservative respondent.  A full 38.75% said that the selection of running mate is "Very Likely" to impact their vote come this November. 

On the surface, 38.75% may not seem like a lot when you think in terms of 49.75% of respondents indicated that VP choice is either going to make "No Difference" or "Not Likely" to make a difference on voting impact.  But, in reality, with over half (50.25%) of the conservatives indicating running mate selection is either "Very Likely" to impact their vote or that they are "Not Sure" if it will make an impact at this point on their vote, support for the GOP nominee seems to indicate, at least, some degree of precariousness dependant on the selection of running mate added to the ticket.

See the numbers below: 

The survey also gave us an opportunity to gauge what sort of ideological demographic we encountered with our respondents to the poll.  We asked if respondents identified themselves as "Economic Conservatives", "Foreign Policy Conservatives", "Social/Religious Conservatives", "All of the Above", or "None of the Above". The indicated response from those polled is that the vast majority identify themselves as well-rounded conservatives by stating they were "All of the Above" Conservatives at a 64% rate.

We wish to thank everyone that took the time to respond to our vice presidential survey at Conservative Outpost.

By now, we've all heard about the Democratic leadership in the U.S. House taking off for vacation without taking action on our nation's dire energy problems.  Most notably, bringing up for vote the ending of the congressional ban on offshore drilling.

But, in the U.S. Senate, it's another story entirely. Over there it's the Democrats that refuse to leave. On the other side of the Capitol, they are engaging in political gamesmanship by refusing to adjourn the Senate for their annual August recess. Their fear is that President Bush will utilize the timeframe to make "recess appointments" while the Senate is away.

Considering how difficult it has been for President Bush to bring his various nominations through the process in this highly politically charged, partisan Congress, the president has been forced to make 165 recess appointments during his presidency through last fall.  A recess appointee is allowed to serve until the end of the congressional session, which in this case coincides with the end of the Bush presidency.

From the AP via Yahoo:

Senate Democrats, repeating a tactic they have used all year, staged a lightning-fast pro forma session Tuesday, a procedure that keeps the Senate from officially adjourning and stops President Bush from making "recess appointments" without Senate confirmation.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., took 28 seconds to gavel the Senate in and out of session. It's a process that will be repeated every three working days to keep the Senate from going into recess until lawmakers return in September.

Often it's senators from nearby Virginia or Maryland asked to do pro forma duty. Reed said he was helping out because he was staying at his Washington home with his 19-month-old child while his wife was traveling.

Seems these guys will use every rule in the playbook to keep the business of this nation from being successfully carried out.  I think it's slightly more than just "unfortunate", which White House Spokesman Tony Fratto uses to describe the situation.

Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said there was no particular nomination they were trying to stop. He said they just wanted to prevent "any mischief from happening."

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said there were 250 pending nominations — 151 non-career, 50 judicial, nine career civilian and 40 career military.

"It's really unfortunate that Congress left for yet another recess without dealing with pending nominations, especially for key officials dealing with energy issues, like our nominee for deputy secretary of Energy and three nominees to be commissioners of the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission)."

Indeed, this is more than "unfortunate".  This is an outright betrayal of the American people by the very chosen few they have sent to Washington to lead and conduct the business of our government.  But, instead these 'leaders' decide to use their time to play vacation games.