Candidates Return to Capital to Back Bailout

The presidential candidates took a break from stumping today to visit Washington, DC, and support the Senate's financial bailout plan, the New York Times reports. Barack Obama repeated his pro-bailout argument on the Senate floor, saying that "the worldwide economy could be plunged into a very, very deep hole." He admitted earlier today that the plan was "not perfect," but necessary to "prevent a crisis."

John McCain sounded a similar alarm while stumping in Missouri, calling the credit crunch "the greatest financial crisis of our lifetimes" and likening the bailout to post-Sept. 11 legislation. "There will be a time to fix the blame for all that has happened," he said, "especially in the case of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the abuses and political deal making that corrupted them.”
(More Election 2008 stories.)