ABC's "Note" reported McCain camp attacks on Obama for written remarks assuming bailout passage, without noting that McCain himself touted his role in failed bill

Summary: ABCNews.com's Terry Davis and Rigel Anderson reported that "[Sen. John] McCain's top policy adviser hammered [Sen. Barack] Obama for a set of prepared remarks which incorrectly assumed that the bailout would pass," but they did not note that both McCain and another key McCain campaign adviser prematurely touted McCain's role in achieving passage of the bill.

In a September 29 article on ABCNews.com's The Note about the failed financial bailout bill, reporters Terry Davis and Rigel Anderson reported that "[Sen. John] McCain's top policy adviser hammered [Sen. Barack] Obama for a set of prepared remarks which incorrectly assumed that the bailout would pass," and quoted McCain adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin saying that "Senator Barack Obama today released written remarks that suggested the bill had been passed without obviously doing the due diligence to make sure that it did." Davis and Anderson did not note, however, that both McCain and a key McCain campaign adviser prematurely touted McCain's role in achieving passage of the bill. By contrast, in a September 29 article headlined "McCain takes credit for bill before it loses," Politico's Mike Allen wrote: "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his top aides took credit for building a winning bailout coalition -- hours before the vote failed and stocks tanked. Shortly before the vote, McCain had bragged about his involvement and mocked Sen. Barack Obama for staying on the sidelines."

At a September 29 rally in Columbus, Ohio (accessed via the Nexis database), McCain asserted:

I went to Washington last week to make sure that the taxpayers of Ohio and across this great country were not left footing the bill for mistakes made on Wall Street and in Washington.

Some people have criticized my decision, but I will never, ever be a president who sits on the sidelines when this country faces a crisis. Some of you may have noticed, but it's not my style to simply "phone it in."

I am a Teddy Roosevelt Republican. I believe our leaders belong "in the Arena" when our country faces a challenge. I've never been afraid of stepping in to solve problems for the American people, and I'm not going to stop now.

Senator Obama took a very different approach to the crisis our country faced. At first he didn't want to get involved.

Moreover, as ABC's Jake Tapper noted in a September 29 post, McCain adviser Steve Schmidt made similar comments about McCain's role in helping "pass" the bill during the September 28 edition of NBC's Meet the Press. During a discussion of the proposed bailout, Schmidt asserted: "What Senator McCain was able to do was to help bring all of the parties to the table, including the House Republicans, whose votes were needed to pass this." On September 29, 133 House Republicans went on to vote against the bill, with 65 supporting it.

Of Obama's prepared remarks, Davis and Anderson reported: "In the Westminster, Colo., speech text distributed by Obama's campaign on Monday morning, the Democratic presidential nominee was to say, 'And today, Democrats and Republicans in Washington have agreed on an emergency rescue plan.' " They did not mention that Obama never delivered those remarks.

From the ABCNews.com article:

As the Dow fell 777 points, McCain's top policy adviser hammered Obama for a set of prepared remarks which incorrectly assumed that the bailout would pass.

"Senator Barack Obama today released written remarks that suggested the bill had been passed without obviously doing the due diligence to make sure that it did," said McCain adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin on a conference call with reporters.

In the Westminster, Colo., speech text distributed by Obama's campaign on Monday morning, the Democratic presidential nominee was to say, "And today, Democrats and Republicans in Washington have agreed on an emergency rescue plan."

—T.A.