Paging John McCain

Quick question, though I'll confess to not yet looking at the fallout from the Supreme Court strike-down of McCain-Feingold in any depth: where does McCain stand on McCain-Feingold II?  Not to mention on Obama's proposed "Volcker rule," a lighter version of McCain's proposed Glass-Steagall II.

Historical accident would seem to have put McCain on the Dems' side of the ledger on two key fronts just as the Democrats have lost their 60-vote supermajority.

Will the worm in John McCain's soul turn once more and turn him left? I wouldn't bet on it. But still.

UPDATE 1/23: The WSJ has this reaction to Obama's bank reform proposals from McCain:

But in a political environment decidedly hostile to big banks, Democrats might need only a few Republican votes to enact a variant of what Mr. Obama called "the Volcker rule." Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican, said the White House appears to be moving closer to a proposal he is co-sponsoring that would reinstate restrictions on banks that were repealed in the late 1990s. "It seems to me that a number of the proposals [Mr. Obama] has move in that direction," Sen. McCain said, "but I haven't had a chance to examine the details."

Most recent post: Frank Rich wrote his column too early this week

Perfect money storm?

Obama is proposing to downsize the megabanks and restrict their activities - on the very day the Supreme Court took the wraps off direct corporate spending on political ads - and the day after Democrats lost their chance to break a filibuster on any law creating new restrictions. Add the political gale winds blowing in Democrats' faces - and where do you think newly freed Wall Street dollars for political messaging are going to go this time? Will Goldman billions fund paid political attacks on the Administration? 

P.S. Since McCain's out there calling for a restoration of Glass-Steagall, how is he going to find a way to oppose Obama's more limited restriction on deposit-taking banks -- banning proprietary trading only rather than investment banking activity generally?

P.P.S. Perhaps this new assault is part of a political two-stroke.  Obama has said that he hasn't done a good enough job explaining how the health care bill will improve life for ordinary Americans. Meanwhile he's gotten on the wrong side of populist rage against the megabanks.  I expect that in the SOTU he will attempt to weave bank curbs and universal health care together as a platform that will bolster security and opportunity for the middle class -- and dare the Republicans to obstruct both measures.

UPDATE: The Times reports, 1/23:

His first big chance [to reconnect with voters] will come when he delivers his State of the Union address. Rather than unveil a laundry list of new initiatives, advisers said, Mr. Obama will try to reframe his agenda and how he connects it with public concerns. In particular, he will focus on how his ideas for health care, energy and financial regulation all fit into the broader economic mission of creating what he calls a “new foundation” for the country, the key words being “rescue, restore and rebuild.”