Another thing that John McCain and George Bush have in common: they both have the whole "lame duck" thing down pat.
According to the McCain campaign's preferred narrative of last week's unusual events, the GOP nominee swooped into Washington to rescue the rescue plan. And he did that, supposedly, by bringing rebellious House conservatives to the table and getting their concerns addressed.....Since the legislation failed and the markets are anything but reassured, should we assume the opposite -- that McCain will be assigned some of the blame for not bringing along those House Republicans?
Of course he should! If John McCain can't deliver even the rank and file of his own party to vote for a critical economic rescue bill that McCain himself supports, then how is he going to govern in Washington? The Democrats won't want to deal with him after his slimeball campaign, and clearly his own party isn't willing to back him up either.
Notice that Bush also failed in delivering the GOP votes needed for this bill. One thing is for sure: we don't need to replace the current lame duck for another.