Obama spokesman Bill Burton blasted McCain for touting his role in a deal on the $700 billion deal that failed on the House floor today. Obama camp: McCain ‘bragged’ about deal

Barack Obama spokesman Bill Burton blasted John McCain for touting his role in a deal on the $700 billion deal that failed on the House floor today.

On MSNBC Burton said that while McCain “bragged about bringing House Republicans together” he “never showed up on Capitol Hill and then right at the heart of the negotiations he wasn’t there.”


“We need someone who won’t just point fingers and use phony gimmicks,” Burton said.

McCain’s campaign in turn blamed Obama for the failed vote.

“This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country,” McCain senior policy adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin said following the vote.

“Barack Obama failed to lead, phoned it in, attacked John McCain, and refused to even say if he supported the final bill.”

The Obama campaign did not immediately respond to the attack, though during a campaign stop in Colorado the Illinois senator said he is “confident” a deal will eventually get done.

Prior to the vote, the McCain campaign had been claiming credit for a deal reached Saturday.

“Without Senator McCain, House Republicans would not have appointed a negotiator, which would not have moved this bill forward,” McCain communications director Jill Hazelbaker said Monday.

“So it's really Senator McCain who — who got all parties around the table to hammer out a deal that hopefully is in the best interests of the American taxpayer.”

During a campaign stop in Ohio, McCain said the Illinois senator was “watching from the sidelines” during negotiations.

This article tagged under: 2010

Politics