McCain Tones Down Bush Criticism

McCain Camp Removed Bush Criticism From Wall Street Statement

In private late Tuesday evening, the McCain campaign circulated a draft statement on the Wall Street crisis that attacked the Bush administration for a slow and "inconsistent" response, and charged that executives at several financial firms had made "misleading and false" statements.

But the criticism never appeared. After being circulated not only among McCain aides but also major campaign donors who have worked in the investment industry, the language was softened.

The official McCain statement released Wednesday morning made no mention of the Bush administration, instead accusing management and speculators of "creat[ing] this mess."

The earlier draft, obtained by the Huffington Post, was circulated among top advisers such as Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Matt McDonald, as well as some major donors, including Greg Wendt of the Capital Group. It expressed "concern[s] that the Administration has been inconsistent with the way they have dealt with each crisis. Taxpayer money was used for Bear Stearns, it was not used for Lehman Brothers and now it is used again for AIG. The American people need to know the thinking and the standards behind using taxpayer's money to support these private sector institutions."

Read the whole story here.