Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Barack Obama (D-IL), and Joe Biden (D-DE) all voted in favor of the emergency economic legislation on Wednesday. Ahead of the vote, both presidential candidates urged their Senate colleagues to support the bill. McCain warned of an economic “disaster” (WSJ) if the legislation failed again. Obama said Congress should pass the bill and “move with the same sense of urgency to rescue families on Main Street who are struggling to pay their bills and keep their jobs.”

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Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), and Obama’s runningmate, Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), will return to Washington (Reuters), D.C., on Wednesday to vote on a revised economic rescue package. As part of the discussions, both McCain and Obama have endorsed a proposal to temporarily increase bank deposit insurance limits.

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Responding to news of the failure of the Wall Street bailout legislation, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said it is “time for all members of Congress to go back to the drawing board.” He reiterated principles he hoped the bill would follow, including “responsible oversight, effective transparency, added protections for the taxpayers, and a cap on excessive salaries for executives.” He also said the bill should “have no earmarks.”

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Both presidential candidates said Sunday they will likely support the proposed $700 billion federal financial bailout deal. On Face the Nation Sunday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) repeated his call (PDF) to “update our 20th century regulatory framework for a 21st century global financial system.”

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The American public is increasingly optimistic about the situation in Iraq, but is not as interested as it once was in global engagement, a new survey from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and CFR shows.

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Both presidential candidates spoke at the Clinton Global Initiative conference on Thursday. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) stressed the need to limit carbon emissions. “To make the great turn away from carbon-emitting fuels, we will need all the inventive genius of which America is capable,” he said. “We will need as well an economy strong enough to support our nation’s great shift toward clean energy.”

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Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) released a joint statement on Wednesday calling for bipartisan cooperation to solve the economic crisis. McCain announced on Wednesday he would suspend his campaign and return to Washington to help broker a deal on a financial bailout. Together, the candidates will meet with President Bush (CNN) and leaders of the House and Senate Thursday to work on the bailout plan.

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“There’s a short list of the forces shaping the 21st Century.  No one country can control these forces, but more than any other country, we have an ability to affect them – if we use the totality of our strength. That means maintaining the finest fighting force in the world – not pushing it to the breaking point… rebuilding our alliances, partnerships and international institutions – not disparaging them… strengthening our diplomacy — not disdaining it… and using our economic might, not putting it in jeopardy.”

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Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) condemned what he called Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s “hateful and anti-Semitic views” at the United Nations on Tuesday. He called for strong sanctions to “increase pressure on the Iranian regime.”

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Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) said the U.S. focus on Iraq has meant diminished attention to Latin America (WashPost). He spoke with Miami’s Radio Caracol on Monday. “We spend the same amount in Latin America in an entire year that we spend in Iraq in one week. That has created, I think, a void which people like [Venezuelan President Hugo] Chavez have been able to fill,” Obama said.

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