Bailout failure fans attacks on leadership

Both candidates urge return to work

DES MOINES, IOWA -- The shock of the House of Representatives' failure to pass a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street was felt on the campaign trail Monday as the presidential candidates sparred in battleground states over each other's capacity for leadership.

At a rally in Ohio, Republican John McCain accused rival Barack Obama of failing to show any leadership during the congressional negotiations over the bailout, which fell short in the House on Monday. Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for the bill's defeat.

"This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country," McCain senior policy adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin said in a statement.

The statement also reflected the view of House Republicans, who blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for giving what they said was a partisan speech that alienated potential Republican votes.

Speaking later in Iowa, McCain was more temperate but just as insistent.

"Now it is time for all members of Congress to go back to the drawing board," McCain told reporters. "I call on Congress to get back -- obviously -- immediately to address this crisis. Our leaders are expected to leave partisanship at the door and come to the table to solve our problems. Senator Obama and his allies in Congress infused unnecessary partisanship into the process. Now is not the time to fix the blame; it is time to fix the problem."

The Obama campaign responded quickly.

"This is a moment of national crisis, and today's inaction in Congress as well as the angry and hyper-partisan statement released by the McCain campaign are exactly why the American people are disgusted with Washington," Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said. "Now is the time for Democrats and Republicans to join together and act in a way that prevents an economic catastrophe."

The House's action creates a special problem for McCain, who stressed his leadership on what is now a failure. McCain had suspended his campaign last week to go to Washington to help with the negotiations and even threatened to skip a presidential debate.

Though the Arizona Republican has not claimed direct credit for helping in the talks, he did decide to attend Friday's first presidential debate after he said his actions had created a framework for negotiations among the different congressional camps.

As he did throughout the weekend, McCain on Monday defended his actions. Even though there have been questions from both sides of the aisle about his effectiveness, McCain insisted he had shown leadership.

"Some people have criticized my decision, but I will never, ever be a president who sits on the sidelines when this country faces a crisis," McCain said. "Some of you may have noticed, but it's not my style to simply phone it in."

At a rally Monday, McCain directly criticized Obama.

"Senator Obama took a very different approach to the crisis our country faced. At first he didn't want to get involved," McCain said. "Then he was 'monitoring the situation.' That's not leadership; that's watching from the sidelines. And watching from the sidelines is exactly what got us into this mess."

Campaigning in Westminster, Colo., Obama took a less combative position, telling the crowd he was confident that an emergency rescue package would pass.

"There are going to be some bumps and trials and tribulations and ups and downs before we get this regulation package done," Obama said. "It's important for the American public and for the markets to stay calm, because things are never smooth in Congress and to understand that it will get done, that we are going to make sure an emergency package is going to get put together because it is required for us to stabilize the markets."

He called on Democrats and Republicans to "step up to the plate, get it done."