McCain, Obama, show crisis styles

It was classic John McCain and classic Barack Obama who grappled with the $700 billion bailout plan over the last week: McCain was by turns action-oriented and impulsive as he divebombed targets, while Obama was measured and cerebral and inclined to work the phones behind the scenes.

For Republicans, McCain's performance proved mixed. His quick call to fire the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, then his decision to suspend his campaign and return to Washington even though he lacked an alternative to the bailout, risked making him look impetuous in a moment of crisis. He comes out of this without an easily definable role or set of obvious results, though his top advisers said he had bought time for House Republicans to raise their own concerns.

On Capitol Hill, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the House minority leader, said that McCain's support had been critical to bringing the Republicans into the negotiations.

For Democrats, the episode was one more reminder that Obama was more analyzer-in-chief than firebrand — though in this case, they gave him high marks for his style. Still, given concerns among Americans about the economy, Obama risked seeming too cool and slow to exert leadership.

Aides and political allies to both men agreed Sunday that perhaps no episode thus far in the campaign better demonstrated how they would approach managing problems as president. Their instincts, temperaments and leadership traits were in the spotlight in Washington, as well as their limitations and foibles — characteristics that also showed through stylistically in Friday night's debate.

Both candidates said on Sunday that they were inclined to vote for the bailout even though they were not completely happy with it.

McCain said Sunday that he will "swallow hard and go forward" with the plan, adding that "the option of doing nothing is simply not an acceptable option."

Obama called the need for a bailout "the culmination of a sorry period in our history, in which reckless speculation and greed on Wall Street and lax oversight from Washington led to a meltdown of our financial markets."

Obama said that as president he would order a review of the bailout plan to make sure it meets the principles he sought, including strict oversight and limits on executive pay. But he said a failure to approve it would have "devastating consequences" for the U.S. economy.

Information from The Washington Post is included in this report.