Monday Brief

The Final Domino
This morning Wachovia was swallowed up by Citibank in a deal that appears to be quite similar to the one last week in which WaMu was eaten by JPMC. As far as the major banks to undergo being absorbed, this is the final domino which was necessitated by a risky real-estate portfolio. The rest of the major national banks are OK and things are, by and large over as far as that's concerned. However, there are many more smaller and regional banks that may have their card pulled in the days and weeks to come. This is all I know.

Kristol Trips
William Kristol is halfway right in his suggestion that McCain may ride this crisis to victory in November. By all accounts I've read so far, the deal that has emerged to be voted on this week by Congress is a better deal than Paulson's original proposal. So McCain's initiative to stop campaign business as usual (AND debate) was definitely a sign of leadership. At the very top Kristol nails it:

He has a chance. But only if he overrules those of his aides who are trapped by conventional wisdom, huddled in a defensive crouch and overcome by ideological timidity.

The conventional wisdom is that it was a mistake for McCain to go back to Washington last week to engage in the attempt to craft the financial rescue legislation, and that McCain has to move on to a new topic as quickly as possible. As one McCain adviser told The Washington Post, “you’ve got to get it [the financial crisis] over with and start having a normal campaign.”

Wrong.

Exactly. But then later he suggests that Palin go on the attack against Obama just for being a liberal and even bring Jeremiah Wright back into the picture. The only people that energizes are people who wouldn't even be close to voting for Obama. Plus it makes Palin into another ideological attack dog. If Palin has no more talent than that, well then that's what she should do, but it sounds very thin to my ears. I can't tell what independents are looking to hear, but it can't be more of that.