The assessments of last night’s doomed economic pow-wow have not been kind to John McCain. Setting the table is The New York Times with a damning (and dryly amusing) description of McCain’s performance at the economic summit that was called at his behest. An aide to House Minority Leader John Boehner all but acknowledges that what seemed like a done deal earlier in the day was scuttled because McCain hadn’t yet arrived to save the day. When House Republicans then surprised everyone by offering up an alternative proposal, McCain “declined to take a stand” on which package he supported. While Barack Obama “peppered” Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson with questions, his Republican counterpart “said little.”

Politico questions McCain’s temperament:

On Thursday afternoon, McCain swept into Washington, walked to his office with pal Joe Lieberman, said little at a contentious White House meeting, did a few TV interviews, sped off to his home and proclaimed, through a spokesperson, that he was “optimistic” about bringing House Republicans “on board.”

McCain’s high-wire intervention in the financial crisis is his latest showstopper move – and his riskiest. He might succeed, but the candidate’s penchant for the dramatic has also raised anew potentially damaging questions of his age, executive abilities and, most of all, his temperament.

Here’s Joe Klein’s analysis:

McCain’s erratic, and irresponsible, behavior this week isn’t happening in a vacuum. This isn’t just politics–even George W. Bush, who never failed to take a partisan advantage in his presidency, realizes that. It is a time for leadership, a time for John McCain to explain to his fellow Republicans that this is one moment where government activism is absolutely necessary, that they have to get behind the Paulson compromise–and also try to explain to the general public, as Bush did on Wednesday night, that their savings and mortgages may be at stake if federal action isn’t taken. We’ve seen nothing like that from McCain. Just histrionics.

John Judis is even more brutal:

It is simply unpatriotic–it’s an insult to flag, country, and all the things that McCain claims to hold dear–for McCain to hold this financial crisis hostage to his political ambitions. McCain doesn’t know a thing about finance and is [in] no position to help work out an agreement. If we do suffer a serious bank run, or a run on the dollar, it can be laid directly at his feet. As I said to friends last night, if McCain had been president at this point, I would have wanted to impeach him.

Then there’s this hilarious bit from First Read:

During a speech on the Senate floor this morning, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) urged President Bush to “respectfully tell Sen. McCain to get out of town. He’s not helping.” …

He added, “When you inject presidential politics into some of the most difficult negotiations under normal circumstances, it is fraught with difficulty. Before McCain made his announcement, we were making great progress. Now after his announcement, we are behind the 8 ball. We have to put things back together again.” …

“So this is a plea to President Bush, for the sake of America, please get your party in line. Get the House Republicans to be more constructive; get Sen. McCain to leave town and not throw fire on these flames. And maybe we can get something done.”