Lieberman: McCain ‘important’ to financial deal

Sen. Joseph Lieberman said Sunday that Republican presidential candidate John McCain's decision to come off the campaign trail and return to Washington was instrumental to the bipartisan compromise addressing the financial crisis that was forged over the weekend.

Lieberman, the Connecticut independent and 2000 Democratic vice presidential candidate, said McCain showed "characteristic guts" in making the decision to temporarily suspend his campaign last week as Congress contemplated a $700 billion bailout plan for Wall Street.

{mosads}"I honestly don't think that this would had have happened as timely as it did if Sen. McCain had not come back and been a bridgebuilder," Lieberman said to reporters on a conference call Sunday afternoon.

Democrats have blasted McCain's involvement on Capitol Hill, attacking the Arizona Republican for injecting presidential politics into tense negotiations.

McCain senior policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin said on the call that McCain's staff was reviewing the preliminary legislative language that began circulating Sunday, and if the final product contains the provisions McCain has argued for then "he's happy to support the legislation."

Holtz-Eakin did not say whether McCain would be in Washington to vote for the bill.

Some Democrats criticized McCain's return to Washington after Friday night's debate, noting that he has not actually been a presence on Capitol Hill as the deal was brokered.

Lieberman defended McCain's return, saying the Arizona Republican made 17 phone calls on Saturday to congressional leaders, President Bush and administration officials including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.