Bush can’t even carry his home state — and doesn’t understand politics

In Texas, 15 of 19 GOP Congressmen voted against the bailout.

At least that was better than John McCain. Schmuck Talk Express™ couldn’t deliver a single Arizona GOP Congressman.

And, no, they were NOT influence by

“They aren't pissed off at Pelosi,'”Darrell Issa said. “They are pissed off at Paulson, they are pissed off at Bernanke, they are pissed off at Cox.:

Here’s Pelosi’s alleged “well-poisoning” speech.

Besides, many non-liberal Dems voted against the bill. Why? (And more on the “more liberal Democrats” in a minute.)

They were all swing-state Congressmen in tight elections. That includes the 17 GOP freshmen, all who voted no.

And the Udall brothers, both running for Senate, voted no as well.

Among the members of the Progressive Caucus, meanwhile, a 46-29 yes split parallels to a T the entire House Democratic caucus.

Back to the swing staters, though.

Bush, Paulson and Bernanke are three caknuckleheads; Paulson and Bernanke should have figured out a “patch” to get to Nov. 5, stopped short-selling sooner than Paulson did, and leaned on Chris Cox to find a way to restrict trading at the NYSE. Maybe even declare a limited bank holiday.

Then, while canvassing electoral votes, let the lame-duck session deal with the issue, if possible.

Of course, in hindsight, Paulson should either have bailed out Lehman after all, or else been more ready for the consequences. Or, even better, let Bear fail earlier and bit the big bullet then.

Finally, leave it to the WSJ; behind the excellent news coverage, at least one op-ed writer is ina In Texas, 15 of 19 GOP Congressmen voted blame the Dems spin.