I should be more clear.

McCain is a senior Senator with relevent connections through his committee work. And his longevity in the Senate and bipartisan track record put him into a unique position as far as trying to hammer out a deal.

Having said that, I'm not sure what his contributions are to this point. I think before we make assumptions about the effectiveness of his involvement we have to see how this shakes out.

By the way, were you aware that McCain was blowing the whistle on the GSEs (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac) a few years back? Won't hear that from the Democrats but it's a fact. Check the link and note that it's an official government link.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=109-s20060525-16&bill=s109-190#sMonofilemx003Ammx002Fmmx002Fmmx002Fmhomemx002Fmgovtrackmx002Fmdatamx002Fmusmx002Fm109mx002Fmcrmx002Fms20060525-16.xmlElementm0m0m0m

In fact, he co-sponsored a bill to rein in the GSEs but it died:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-190

I think he deserves some credit for sounding an alarm no one else wanted to hear 3 years ago.


>>Mixed thoughts. McCain is a veteran of the Senate and involved in committee work with a direct bearing on the crisis and I think he needs to be there. I think it's fair to say that if negotiations are on-going Friday evening then he can't commit to the debate because we're paying him to be a Senator.
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>Um, which of McCain's committees is involved in this? According to his Senate website, he's on three: Armed Services; Indian Affairs; and Commerce, Science and Transportation. Clearly not relevant to the first two.
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>The hearing on Wednesday was before the Senate Banking committee. I checked a couple of news stories and see no indication that Commerce, etc., is involved in these discussions.
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>Tamar