Now Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war activist and House candidate, is attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) over the $700 billion bailout.

A day after House Republican leaders blamed a Pelosi speech for the bailout bill's failure, Sheehan said Pelosi is working "for corporate interests" by backing the plan.

"She put this bill forward and voted against the will of her district," said Sheehan, who is running as an independent for Pelosi's San Francisco seat. "Thankfully my opponent wasn't able to get the votes she needed in her own House to get it to pass. I am heartened that 'We the People' won the first round in the corporate bailout of irresponsible and greedy bankers."

Sheehan, in a press release, also called for a "bottom up" rescue plan that would place a moratorium on foreclosures and include more help for homeowners.

Sheehan, whose son, Casey, was killed in Iraq while serving in the Army, has been critical of Democrats' inability to end the war. She said she's running against Pelosi because she hasn't brought up articles of impeachment against President Bush.

Former Rep. Joe Schwarz (R) endorsed Democrat Mark Schauer in Michigan's 7th Congressional District Tuesday, backing the candidate to unseat first-term Rep. Tim Walberg (R), who beat Schwarz in the 2006 Republican primary.

Dozens of powerful trade associations and lobbying groups again urged lawmakers to approve the financial bailout package in a letter sent Tuesday evening.

They ranged from groups with an obvious interest in the package, such as the American Bankers Association, to groups that would seem more Main Street than Wall Street, such as the Air Conditioning Contractors of America.

Read the letter below.

-Ian Swanson

JOINT ASSOCIATION LETTER TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE U.S. CONGRESS

September 30, 2008

We are writing to express our profound disappointment in the House vote yesterday rejecting the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, and to urge both the House and Senate to act as soon as possible this week to enact legislation to bring stability to credit markets.

Read the rest after the jump. > Read More

Barack Obama did not do enough to shepherd the Wall Street bailout package through the House Monday, conservative bloggers allege, while liberals take satisfaction in national polls showing Obama with an average seven-percentage-point over John McCain nationally.

Obama sat idly by while the bailout package failed in the House, Townhall.com’s Hugh Hewitt alleges after The New York Times reported Tuesday that Obama did not reach out directly to any House Democrats who opposed the bill. Obama’s lack of phone calls was the equivalent of voting “present,” The Campaign Spot’s Jim Geraghty claims, asking why Obama did not call Chicago Democrats who voted “no.”

Obama has taken a solid lead in national polls, MyDD’s Todd Beeton declares, averaging recent major surveys to calculate a seven-percentage-point advantage for Obama. Obama and running mate Joe Biden have good favorability numbers, too, Beeton says, arguing that bodes well for the Democratic ticket’s chances in November. Unless John McCain changes the game in a big way, these polls could mean a checkmate for Obama, Big Tent Democrat proposes at TalkLeft.

And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) may have whipped GOP votes in opposition of the bailout package yesterday, Hunter suggests at Daily Kos. Gingrich was outspokenly against the deal before changing his mind, Hunter says, proposing that Gingrich’s opposition helped bring the deal down.

FROM THE BLOGS:
A Seven-Point Race - Todd Beeton, MyDD
Obama Didn't Talk to Members - J. Geraghty, The Campaign Spot
McCain Camp's Threat - G. Sargent, TPM Election Central
More, Please - Patrick Ruffini, The Next Right
Obama Calls for Rescue Support - J. Aravosis, AMERICABLOG
Kurtz on Obama, ACORN, CRA - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Obama on Fundamentals - S. Hayes, The Weekly Standard
The Polls - Big Tent Democrat, TalkLeft
Bloomberg and Term Limits - A. McCarthy, The Corner
AP: If Elected, McCain Will Drop Dead - Mark Kilmer, RedState

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Pressure Mounts to Revive Bailout - Washington Post
Bush Reassures World that Bailout Will Pass - The Hill
Stocks Rebound on Hopes of Bailout's Revival - LA Times

A new viral campaign launched by Barack Obama supporters seeks to raise money for their candidate, all while enjoying some good food and friends at the same time.

"Hungry for Obama" is a new campaign launched by four San Francisco-area roommates in which fans of the Illinois Democrat can hold dinner parties that double as fundraisers for Obama's presidential campaign.

In the past 13 days since the project was launched, nine dinner parties have generated almost $10,000 in donations to the Obama campaign, according to cofounder Louis Eisenberg. And now, as the idea has gained more traction, over 30 more dinner parties have been scheduled across the country, mostly centered in major cities.

"We had a sense that we'd been complacent in not supporting Obama as much as we could," Eisenberg said. "It occurred to us that people enjoy having dinner parties, while taking advantage of a viral component of the campaign."

Each dinner has a minimum donation of $20 and a suggested donation of $100, which has brought in roughly $1,000 per dinner. And while Eisenberg said he doesn't expect those numbers to last, he's hoping that the idea catches on, raising tens of thousands, if not more for Obama.

Hungry for Obama has not had any formal contact with the campaign–at least yet–Eisenberg said. "I think there have been a few friends that have contacted them on our behalf," he explained, "but we're hopeful that, sometime soon, they might be willing to give us some exposure."

-Michael O'Brien

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) may have a race on his hands.

A new Survey USA poll shows Democrat Jim Martin trailing Chambliss 44 percent to 46 percent. Chambliss's lead is insignificant since the poll's margin of error is 3.8 percent. Martin, a former state legislator and candidate for lieutenant governor, had trailed Chambliss 36 percent to 53 percent in a Survey USA poll two weeks ago.

As MyDD notes, the poll is the second this week to show a tight race. A poll conducted for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee showed Martin behind Chambliss 34 percent to 37 percent.

A witness in Sen. Ted Stevens's (R-Alaska) gift-giving trial who testified Tuesday afternoon had a rather racy revelation about an annual fundraiser Stevens used to hold on Alaska's Kenai River.

Jeri Best, who worked for a decade putting together the mid-summer fundraiser attended by lobbyists, cabinet officials and members of Congress, lauded former Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) for running the auction, whose prizes included paintings, a Royal Caribbean cruise and a barge ride from Seattle to Alaska.

"The man can move his tongue like you wouldn’t believe," Best said in the U.S. District Court in Washington, prompting laughter from the courtroom.

-Manu Raju

The media should calm down in their coverage of the stock market and the collapse of the bailout legislation, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) said in an interview Tuesday.

"You're very anxious, I can hear your voice there," Kaptur said to ABC News's Chris Cuomo, who was reporting from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

"For the sake of the country, and even for the sake of the markets, I think you should operate prudently and with a little bit of calm in your voice today," Kaptur told Cuomo.

Cuomo had seemed to indicate a delay in audio between New York and Washington during his interview with Kaptur and Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.). Both Kaptur and Musgrave voted against yesterday's financial assistance legislation.

"Of course, both of you understand that any anxiety here is because of the interests of people on Main Street, and wanting to make sure they don't get caught up in politics," Cuomo said.

"I think one of the problems is that [Treasury Secretary Henry] Paulson is a day-trader; he's not a banker," Kaptur said later in the video.

Watch the video here.

-Michael O'Brien

CBS has released an excerpt from the latest installment of Katie Couric's "CBS Evening News" interview series with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), and in it Palin explains a campaign trail comment about Sen. Joe Biden's (D-Del.) age.

Palin told voters that she was looking forward to debating Biden, as she had been "hearing about his Senate speeches since I was in, like, second grade."

When asked by Couric if that was a risky thing to say, given John McCain's own age, Palin said Biden's age was nothing negative and praised the Delaware senator's experience.

Monday's failed House vote on a $700 billion bill to stabilize the U.S. financial markets has not only rattled Wall Street; it has rattled GOP Senate leaders' confidence in their powers of prediction.

Twice on Tuesday, prominent Senate Republicans hedged when asked about legislative strategy or process, reminding reporters that they — like most observers — were surprised by Monday's 205-228 House vote against the Wall Street bailout bill.

Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) was first asked about the margin of any Senate vote on such a bill.

"I missed on my prediction last time — I said, 'Better than 50-50 chance,' " Kyl said of his previous expectation of a successful House vote.

Another reporter asked Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) whether the Senate will be in session on Saturday.

He paused, and said, "We've learned not to predict."

-J. Taylor Rushing