Steve Schmidt: Obama is acting "in a political predatory fashion" by "swooping in" and buying ads.

[jefferson_dem]

Adviser accuses Obama of "swooping"
from The Swamp by Jill Zuckman

by Jill Zuckman

Steve Schmidt told the pool tonight that Sen. Obama is acting "in a political predatory fashion" by "swooping in" and buying up advertising time that Sen. McCain has released in order to focus on the economic crisis. He said McCain is working the phones tonight, trying to round up the votes to get the legislation passed and talked extensively about the perils that face the nation if a deal is not reached.

He also said that McCain is still hoping to be at the debate and looking forward to debating Obama. "He's been excited and looking forward to these debates. He had actually hoped this would be the 11th debate of the campaign, not the first. He's very disappointed in Sen. Obama about that because this could have been the 11th debate. Sen. Obama said he would debate anywhere, anyplace, anytime. He refused to do that," Schmidt said.

Here is what he said:

Schmidt: "Sen. McCain returned to Capitol Hill today to help broker a compromise consistent with his principles that the taxpayers are protected and they get money back from this deal. He is working to make sure there is transparency that there is oversight. He is working to accumulate the number of votes to avoid an economic calamity that every financial expert affiliated with both parties and leading investors like warren buffet say is looming on the immediate horizon."

?What is the holdup right now

Schmidt: "The problem right now is that any rescue package has to pass by a majority vote and there is not yet a majority of democrats and republicans who are willing to vote yes for anything. So he is working to put together a deal consistent with his principles. Those principles are also shared in some measure by sen obama. But in order to pass a rescue package to avoid an economic calamity, there has to be the requisite number of votes to pass it. Those votes at this hour do not yet exist. He's working very very hard to try to get majority votes."

?Is it close enough to attend debate

Schmidt: "Sen McCain, as you know, challenged Sen. Obama to ten town hall meetings and Sen. Obama refused. He is really looking forward to the debate. We're at an extraordinary moment at an absolutely unprecedented situation where the American economy, if it were a ship, I s heading directly towards an iceberg with little time to turn away. It is not an overstatement to speak about the worry of financial experts from secy summers and rubin and Paulson and fed reserve chairman bernanke, financial leaders like warren buffet, who are very concerned about what happens to the American economy in terms of Detroit being able to make automobiles because there will be no credit available for people to purchase cars or homes or student loans. There will be insufficient credit for businesses that operate on credit, which is almost every business in America, which could affect everything from payrolls, to being able to purchase product. This is a very serious situation that will impact directly on the heart of Main Street and he's working very very hard with the short hours that are left. People are concerned about bank failures imminently, people are concerned about liquidity. This is not a far off situation in the view of leading financial experts - it is imminent. And he is working hard to do that."

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http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/09/john_mccain_barack_obama_debat.html