The House Republicans are now tanking the bailout deal in order to help John McCain. As one "senior Republican lawmaker" said, "Sen. John McCain wants to explore new ideas, like loaning money to financial institutions or insuring the companies, rather than buying their toxic debt." All fair enough, but this isn't the sort of thing he could've conveyed during yesterday's negotiations, rather than today in the late afternoon? Though I have to admit, there's a part of me that admires the brazen, selfish opportunism of this whole strategy. McCain's ability to run a campaign completely unhindered by the high-minded self-conception he's cultivated for decades is real evidence of the guy's mental toughness.
