McCain: I Won't Back Stimulus as Is

Joe says Obama never called back; politicos talk bailouts on TV

(NEWSER) - Joe Lieberman told Meet the Press today that he regrets "some things I said in the heat of the campaign that I wish I'd said more clearly," and hopes Barack Obama will put, er, "country first" by leading in a bipartisan fashion. Lieberman said he called Obama during the campaign, but, oddly, never heard back from him, Politico reports. In other talk shows:

• On Fox News Sunday, Obama adviser David Axelrod urged the next Congress to create a new multi-billion-dollar bailout plan to create jobs, The Hill reports. “We don’t have time to waste here,” Axelrod said.

Obama aide defends Geithner; Graham: country 'screwed' if this is bipartisanship

(NEWSER) - Calling Tim Geithner’s economic rescue plan “a very thoughtful strategy,” David Axelrod said the economic stimulus will be felt soon and defended the treasury secretary today on NBC’s Meet the Press. President Obama’s senior adviser said Wall Street’s expectations were unrealistic and that the White House would listen to “kitchen-table chatter” over Beltway blather “to stay on a truer course.” Elsewhere, the spirit of bipartisanship cratered on the Sunday circuit: More»

Group of frontrunners will emerge, Former House Speaker predicts

(NEWSER) - Newt Gingrich predicts that Sarah Palin will not be the Republicans’ 2012 presidential nominee, the Hill reports. “I think that she is going to be a significant player,” the former speaker of the House told Face the Nation. “But she’s going to be one of 20 or 30 significant players.” In other talk shows:

• Arnold Schwarzenegger will do all he can to help President Barack Obama, but not as a Cabinet member, the Hill reports. “I am the first one to go and do everything that I can, as governor, and as a state, to support his administration,” he told This Week.
• Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty told Fox News Sunday that the GOP needs to adapt as voters move away from the right. “We have to be a conservative party. But we have to apply those principles in the context of a changing country,” he said.

Va. governor Kaine says Mac can't win without his state

(NEWSER) - A confident John McCain “guaranteed” today that election night will be a nail-biter, but that he will win. “We're going to do well in this campaign, my friend,” McCain told Tom Brokaw on NBC’s Meet the Press. The prediction comes as polls show the GOP hopeful closing the gap with Barack Obama, Politico reports. The Republican also said he was “disappointed” by Colin Powell’s Obama endorsement and defended Sarah Palin’s $150,000 shopping bill. More»

Noonan: She's a little transparent but still very effective

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin starred in her own political "infomercial" last night and once again revived John McCain's flagging campaign, writes Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal. Palin looked "not petrified but peppy," her style far more suited to a debate than a cerebral interview. Biden seemed to be waiting for her to make a fool of herself. She didn’t. Instead, she talked straight to the people in a baldly populist, if transparent, pitch to “soccer moms” and “Joe Six-Pack.” More»