Bailout Plan Makes McCain 'Deeply Uncomfortable'

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DAVID GREENE: And I'm David Greene traveling with Senator McCain, who spent time yesterday speaking to an Irish American group in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He thanked all the organizers.

(Soundbite of Republican campaign rally)

Senator JOHN MCCAIN (Republican, Arizona; Republican Presidential Nominee): Daniel O'Connell(ph), Neil O'Donnell(ph) and Jack O'Connell(ph). It seems like every name has to have an O in the beginning...

GREENE: McCain's reaction to Obama's speech about Wall Street was, been there, done that.

(Soundbite of Republican campaign rally)

Senator MCCAIN: I laid out my plan and my priorities last Friday. I spoke to Secretary Paulson about it over the weekend. And I've been looking at the plan that the administration has put forth.

GREENE: The government's bailout plan, McCain said, is something Congress should look at closely. McCain said he respects Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. He admires him. He's just worried about one man having control over all that money. ..TEXT: (Soundbite of Republican campaign rally)

Senator MCCAIN: This arrangement makes me deeply uncomfortable. And when we're talking about a trillion dollars of taxpayer money, trust me just isn't good enough.

GREENE: It might be better, McCain said, if there was a bipartisan oversight board to set guidelines for exactly who would get help from the government. McCain has spent more than a week talking almost exclusively about the economy. He sounded eager to bring in some new topics.

(Soundbite of Republican campaign rally)

Senator MCCAIN: This Friday, Senator Obama and I are going to have a debate. It's going to be over foreign policy.

(Soundbite of crowd ovation)

GREENE: And here, McCain brought up Iraq and reminded the audience in Scranton about his early criticism that President Bush didn't send enough troops.

(Soundbite of Republican campaign rally)

Senator MCCAIN: In my own party, people said that I was being disloyal when I knew that we had to change that strategy. And thank God we did with General David Petraeus and those brave people. And we are winning in Iraq.

(Soundbite of crowd ovation)

GREENE: When McCain took questions, one woman in the audience stood up and directed her attention to the reporters in the room. She wasn't happy about reading stories focusing on Sarah Palin's family.

(Soundbite of Republican campaign rally)

Unidentified Woman: We want the media to start doing their job and stop picking on little children because of their age and their pregnancies. Shame on you. Shame on all of yous.

GREENE: McCain thought about his response.

(Soundbite of Republican campaign rally)

Senator MCCAIN: I'm not - that is a great question.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Senator MCCAIN: One thing I want to assure you of is that Governor Palin, she can take it. She can take it.

GREENE: Speaking of Palin, she joined back up with McCain last night for a rally outside Philadelphia. David Greene, NPR News, traveling with the McCain campaign.

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