It's been six hours, and I've been watching for the MSM to bring up two things. But I haven't heard a peep on one, and I've only heard the barest hints of the other.
Today gave us a wonderful opportunity to frame two things: the bailout itself, and the Republican opposition. As much as I like the "whiny emo Republicans" frame - rejecting the bill because of Pelosi's "partisan" speech - it's just not the way to take this debate.
So what's the frame? Follow me past the fold.
FRAME #1 - Why this is all the Republicans' fault:
The bailout bill that hit the House today is a modified version of the Paulson plan. This is something the Bush administration admits it's had in the can for months. Now nobody liked the original plan, but Democrats fought to make it more reasonable. But the bottom line here is very simple.
THIS IS A REPUBLICAN BILL, AND REPUBLICANS REFUSED TO VOTE FOR IT.
The bill comes from a Republican administration. Democrats worked in bipartisan fashion, meeting with George Bush and John McCain to hammer out a deal on this. Of course, GWB and JSM had very little to say on the subject, but that doesn't negate the fact that this is FUNDAMENTALLY A REPUBLICAN PLAN.
So what's the deal here? The Republicans are refusing to vote for their own bill? How can Democrats get blamed for what's clearly a failure WITHIN the Republican party? No bill is getting past congress without Democratic support - Democrats have bicameral control. And more than 60% of Democrats were down there today, voting for a REPUBLICAN bill, providing all sorts of bipartisan support.
Let me ask this one more time. How can Democrats possibly take the blame for George Bush and John McCain's failure to lead THEIR OWN PARTY?
(And, of course, if John McCain can't even lead his own party with the help of a sitting president, how can we expect him to lead this country?)
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FRAME #2 - Why the bailout is important:
This has been covered here on DKos repeatedly, so I won't spend too much time rehashing old arguments. But the fact of the matter is, almost no one has explained that the real reason for the bailout is to alleviate a precipitous credit crunch, that affects every sector of the economy. (For a good and thorough discussion of this topic, check out RenaRF's diary from earlier in the day, "I'll Speak Very Slowly")
Personally, I'd love to see Obama out there tomorrow explaining this to the American people. The bailout isn't going to pass until America understands why it's important. This isn't about saving a bunch of Wall St. elites, it's about keeping everyday Americans, small businesses, and even large businesses solvent. John McCain, whose ignorance of the economy seems to grow each day, isn't likely to spell this out (and I certainly hope he doesn't try, because it might actually do him some good if he did). But Barack Obama can come out and bust this wide open by telling people how this crisis affects THEM, how their own pocketbook is taking the hit for this abstract and abstruse "crisis" in the financial sector.
As Democrats, this is our issue, and we should OWN it. We're playing the bipartisan side. We're watching Republicans turn to us because their economic policies have led to disaster. We should take the message to the American people. Not as victors in an ideological struggle, but as teachers explaining why a student's answer was wrong. This is about being right, not being righteous, and we can storm this election en masse if we can get out the message.