John McCain rode into Washington, D.C. on his white horse yesterday, after suspending (not really) his presidential campaign, and proceeded to sabotage negotiations which had produced a tentative agreement on a plan to rescue the crumbling financial markets.

In an attempt to revive his sagging poll numbers by exerting leadership and looking presidential, McCain attended a meeting at the White House, along with Congressional leaders from both parties. His contribution, according to those in attendance, was virtually nothing.

From Talking Points Memo:
“During the late afternoon meeting at the White House McCain sat silently at the table until nearly the end, according to a Hill source who was briefed on the meeting. At that point, I’m told, McCain vaguely brought up the proposal being pushed by the Republican Study Committee, the group of House conservatives that is bucking the GOP leadership. But McCain didn’t offer any specifics and didn’t necessarily advocate for the plan, according to the Hill source.

Responding to McCain, Treasury Secretary Paulson said that the RSC proposal was unworkable, my source says, at which point McCain didn’t really advocate for it or state his own position. The meeting adjourned soon after, amid confusion over where negotiations could go next.”

The House Republicans, by the way, are pushing a plan which includes more deregulation and more corporate tax breaks. Great idea, let’s put out the fire by pouring gasoline on it.

But some Republicans in the House may have other plans, from  Politico:
“According to one GOP lawmaker, some House Republicans are saying privately that they’d rather “let the markets crash” than sign on to a massive bailout.”

Nice job Republicans, let’s sacrifice the economic stability of the country to try and score some political points. For some reason I have this image of Emperor Nero in my head.

Here’s my take on what happened. McCain saw that progress toward an agreement was being made without him. So he went to Washington and joined with House Republicans to create a deadlock where none existed in order to appear to be the one who brings the Republicans on board, thus showing his leadership and presidential qualities.

What Senator McCain has actually shown is that he is so desperate to become president that he is willing to risk our economic future and the possible collapse of the financial markets for his own personal gain. This is putting country first? I don’t think so.