MIDDAY ROUNDUP

With financial firms failing around him, John McCain has showed that he’s out of touch by saying Monday that the economy’s fundamentals are “strong,” according to liberal bloggers. McCain’s remark may help Barack Obama, but the Democrat still needs to show how he would fix Wall Street’s mess, according to a centrist blogger and an old foe. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) should step down from his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee while Congress investigates his real estate deals, according to both conservative bloggers and The New York Times.

Just hours after investment firm Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch sold itself to Bank of America, McCain said that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong,” notes The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein. McCain’s statement was “politically tone-deaf” and makes it easy for Barack Obama to portray the Republican as out of touch, writes Steve Benen at Political Animal.

Obama is blaming the financial sector problems on Republican policies and the lack of regulation for the crisis, but he needs to lay out what regulation he would enact that could help prevent future problems, writes Donkelephant’s Alan Stewart Carl. The White House candidates may be loath to make a bold statement that could artificially affect the markets, but the current crisis is a “3 a.m. moment” that requires a plan that would reassure voters, wrote Howard Wolfson at The Flack.

The Times called on Rangel on Monday to give up his gavel temporarily while Congress looks at his real estate purchases in Puerto Rico and Manhattan. Rangel also reportedly failed to list income from a real estate deal in Florida, a revelation that will only add to his problems, writes RedState’s Brian Faughnan. Obama, who has built his campaign around changing Washington, should join calls for Rangel to resign, writes Contentions’ Jennifer Rubin.

FROM THE BLOGS:
McCain Still Sees Fundamentals As Strong – Benen, Political Animal
McCain on ‘Black Monday’ – Sam Stein, Huffington Post
What I Want to Know From Obama – A.S. Carl, Donkelephant