John McCain called dozens of House Republicans over the past few days, trying to get them on board with the Wall Street bailout plan that failed by 23 votes in the House of Representatives today, a McCain economic adviser said this afternoon.
“He called dozens,” McCain senior economic policy adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin told reporters today on a conference call.
“I won’t go through all of them–they had their reasons” for opposing the bill, Holtz-Eakin said, “Certainly he checked in at every point with the Senate side as well.”
House Republicans had held out support during the negotiating process over the past week. Over two thirds of House Republicans (133) voted against the bill today, while just under two thirds of Democrats (140) voted for it.. McCain’s campaign has suggested that McCain’s main role in the negotiating process was to convince House Republicans to engage more actively in talks with Democrats.
“He certianly made calls today,” Holtz-Eakin said. “He was engaged in the process today as he was in the previous days.”