Driving to work (late) this morning, I was listening to The Diane Rehm Show on NPR (plug: I'll be on Friday morning), and I heard a comment that almost caused me to strike a pothole. The topic of the day was the financial crisis and the under-construction bailout, and Simon Johnson, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former IMF economic counselor, commenting on the $700 billion package being thrown together on Capitol Hill, said, We're more in the realm of "chaos theory than economic theory."

Wow. And whoa. This rush to save Wall Street's backside is not only unseemly but perhaps perilous. Yesterday, Peter Orszag, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, testifed that the bailout could worsen the ongoing economic crisis. And even if the Democrats succeed in crafting a package that includes necessary provisions regarding accountability and transparency, CEO compensation, bankruptcy reform, and mortgage protection for homeowners, there are still plenty of questions about the overall approach of this bailout: the feds using taxpayer dollars to buy lousy assets from poorly-run companies to keep these poorly-run companies afloat. There are alternatives. The federal government could lend money to needy financial institutions instead of buying their crappy assets. Or it could buy better assets and pump money into the financial system that way. My Bloggingheads.tv sparring partner Jim Pinkerton advocates restructuring the entire financial sector to make sure none of its major players get too big to fail. Economist James Galbraith (a regular Mother Jones contributor) proposes pouring half a trillion dollars into the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (to preserve depositors' confidence in banks and prevent a run), putting $200 billion in reserve so the Treasury, if necessary, can buy preferred stock in banks to recapitalize these institutions, and waiting to see what happens. That is, let the folks who screwed up do what they can with their bad paper. Galbraith notes that serious economic problems will remain, but the threat of systemic collapse would be abated.

The point is that the Paulson path is not the only one. In fact, it may be the wrong one. Certainly, a few days--or a week or two--of debate and discussion before committing $700 billion would not be unwarranted. "We need more than three days to sort this out," Simon Johnson said. And he's right. The Democrats in Congress ought not be force to quick, decisive and misguided action by the we-must-act-today pronouncements from George W. Bush and others in his administration. On Thursday, John McCain said "time is short" and that a deal must be completed before the financial markets open on Monday. Barack Obama should reply: not if it's a bad deal.

Obama certainly wants to--and needs to--come across responsibly. (Who wants to be blamed for the crash of an entire sector?) But this train is probably moving too fast for the public. Slowing it down to get the response right could be a twofer: good policy and good politics.

There's no crying in baseball. And there's no time-outs in presidential campaigns. Yet John McCain is asking for that. On Tuesday afternoon, he called for putting off the first scheduled presidential debate this Friday so he can suspend campaigning, head to Washington, and work on the financial bailout package.

This is a guy who's missed a ton of votes in the Senate throughout his presidential campaign and who just days ago called for shoving the current mess on to the lap of a commission. Actually, given that the world doesn't stop for crises--and that sometimes there's more than two or three items on a president's radar screen--this week would be a pretty good test for a candidate. He has to prep for a debate and participate in bailout deliberations.

In a brief--very brief--statement, McCain said the nation must "set politics aside." He invoked 9/11 and the coming together that occurred following that attack. "We must show that kind of patriotism now," he declared. But why is postponing the debate patriotic? And how long should the delay be? If Congress is going to get this package right, it could take weeks. Is McCain suggesting no debates transpire for that period of time?

And how about this for an idea? If McCain is too busy to show up on Friday night, perhaps he could send Sarah Palin. And Obama could dispatch Joe Biden. That would at least be a true test of their ability to fill in.

By the way, after McCain made his announcement, the Obama campaign sent out this note:

At 8:30 this morning, Senator Obama called Senator McCain to ask him if he would join in issuing a joint statement outlining their shared principles and conditions for the Treasury proposal and urging Congress and the White House to act in a bipartisan manner to pass such a proposal. At 2:30 this afternoon, Senator McCain returned Senator Obama's call and agreed to join him in issuing such a statement. The two campaigns are currently working together on the details.

That's a mature way to handle this situation. In a subsequent appearance before reporters, Obama said that when he and McCain talked at 2:30 on Wednesday afternoon, McCain told him he was considering whether they ought to delay the debate. Obama informed the reporters that he thought McCain was "mulling" it over. But after the call, McCain, without any further discussion with Obama, went public with his proposed time-out. How patriotic.

"I think we should continue to have the debate," Obama said. "....We've both got big planes...They can get us from Washington to Mississippi pretty quickly."

If the "fundamentals" of this economy are strong, why then is President Bush proposing a $500 billion bailout of financial firms?

Even though John McCain cannot answer that question, he still bangs his fist and decries Wall Street greed-meisters and Washington influence peddlers (the same sort of people who are working for his campaign). And, as I wrote elsewhere, he may be out-populisting Barack Obama.

The economic crisis under way surely is scaring voters and pissing off many of them. How dare these Wall Streeters and their lobbyist pals game the system and put our economy in peril? How many of them will be losing their second homes (with heated pools)? At this stage, McCain is expressing some of that anger, though he goes back and forth on the substance. (First, don't take over AIG; then, hooray for the take-over of AIG.) Obama has reacted more coolly. And he better watch out. Many voters freaked out by the economic meltdown do not want only calmly-delivered policy proposals. They want to see someone voice their own worries and feelings--as in outrage. In fact, I would bet that many of those still-undecided voters care more about how a candidate reacts than what a candidate proposes.

Democrats usually have the edge over Republicans when it comes to voters' perceptions of who would best deal with economic matters. But in a crisis, many voters are going to look for leadership, not policy details. So McCain may not have to answer the above question. He just has to stop making stupid comments and come on strong, decisive and mad. And Obama should ponder how to prevent himself from winding up on the wrong end of an anger gap.

After all, Americans have a right to be livid with the screw-ups of Big Finance, the deregulators of Washington, and the game-riggers of K Street. And they are entitled to a president who feels not only their pain, but their anger.

In response to the news of the latest Wall Street meltdown, John McCain put out a statement that in part said:

Major reform must be made in Washington and on Wall Street. We cannot tolerate a system that handicaps our markets and our banks and places at risk the savings of hardworking Americans and investors. The McCain-Palin Administration will replace the outdated and ineffective patchwork quilt of regulatory oversight in Washington and bring transparency and accountability to Wall Street. We will rebuild confidence in our markets and restore our leadership in the financial world."

Perhaps he could start at McCain Campaign HQ. At least four of McCain's senior campaign aides--including Charlie Black, Rick Davis, and Wayne Berman have lobbied for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. And at least 20 of McCain's fundraisers have also lobbied for Freddie and Fannie. These folks were gaming the system for these now-discredited institutions. And now they are handing McCain his speech lines

McCain is surrounded by lobbyists. One hundred and seventy-seven, according to a report put out by the Democratic National Congress this past weekend. (Yeah, that's a biased source. But the paper trail is well documented.) Does McCain not understand that these lobbyists spend their days doing what they can to avoid making the legislative and regulatory processes in Washington more accountable and transparent. If McCain wants an open system, perhaps he would ask all those lobbyists helping his campaign to fill out reports explaining all their contacts with legislators, staff, and regulators--noting precisely what legislative changes, decisions and favors they are seeking.

In a new add, his campaign says, "Our economy in crisis Only proven reformers John McCain and Sarah Palin can fix it....No special interest giveaways." The guys and gals running McCain's campaign specialize in special interest giveaways. There is a whopping disconnect between what McCain says and what his top people do. If he doesn't see that, then he is, as the Obama crew says, out of touch.