Ensign suggests debate strategy for McCain

U.S. Sen. John Ensign said Tuesday that Republican presidential nominee John McCain must be more aggressive in blaming Democrats for the current financial crisis if he wants to win the argument with Barack Obama.

"I can't even believe McCain let Obama get away with that in the debates," the Nevada Republican said. "I hope he hammers him on it" in the last debate between the two, scheduled for this evening.

Ensign said Democrats with good intentions expanded the Community Reinvestment Act and pushed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to issue more subprime mortgages. He supports the government's new move to buy stakes in banks.

"This is government causing this, and that's why government, unfortunately, has to get in, to restore confidence so the market can heal itself," Ensign said in an interview with the Review-Journal's editorial board.

McCain, he said, "needs to lay out a clear message on how we got here. He's allowed the whole deregulation issue to be the cause."

Democrats largely blame the slackening of regulations and lack of enforcement by the Bush administration for the meltdown in the markets.

Ensign is head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, leading an effort to limit what are considered to be inevitable losses to the GOP's current 49 members of the upper house of Congress in November.

On Tuesday, the Politico newspaper reported that the Republican National Committee might take out a $5 million line of credit to help vulnerable Senate incumbents. Some projections even have the party losing enough seats to give the Democrats -- and Ensign's colleague, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada -- a 60-seat, filibuster-proof majority.

"There's no question that we're facing a pretty strong headwind right now," Ensign said. "The financial crisis has hurt the top of the ticket more than some candidates, but it's hurt all of our candidates. ... It's just the whole thing of the Republican brand, basically, and being tied to Bush. The overall climate, that's what has hurt the most."

He named Oregon, Minnesota, North Carolina, Mississippi, New Hampshire and Colorado as races to watch.

"It really is the last three weeks that's going to determine that number" of Republican seats lost, he said. "We could survive with a decent minority, or we could get really low."

Ensign, elected to a second term in 2006, is not on the ballot this year.

Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.