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GAMESMANSHIP….OK, let me get this straight. (I think I’m going to be using that phrase a lot over the next few days.) Mr. Bipartisan Statesman rushed off to Washington because it was urgent to knock some heads and agree on some principles that would help get the bailout plan moving. So Barack Obama proposed a list of principles that includes oversight, taxpayer protection, CEO pay restrictions, help for homeowners, and no earmarks. These are all things McCain says he supports. President Bush says he supports them as well. But McCain refused to sign on:

So the question is: Why wouldn’t McCain agree to a fairly innocuous, Mom and apple pie set of conditions for a bill?

Democrats fear this morning that McCain is setting up a scenario in which he will vote against the bill, rally conservatives to his side and, most importantly, distance himself from both President Bush and Congress before the election.

That’s Taegan Goddard. But why would Democrats be so suspicious that they’re about to be double crossed? John McCain is too honorable a man to do that, isn’t he?

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