Democrat Obama and Republican McCain, who have both sought to distance themselves from the unpopular Bush, sat down with the president at the White House for the hourlong afternoon session that was striking in this brutally partisan season. By also including Congress' Democratic and Republican leaders, the meeting gathered nearly all Washington's political power structure at one long table in a small West Wing room.

"All of us around the table ... know we've got to get something done as quickly as possible," Bush declared optimistically at the start of the meeting. Obama and McCain were at distant ends of the oval table, not even in each other's sight lines. Bush, playing host in the middle, was flanked by Congress' two Democratic leaders, Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

But neither Bush, McCain nor Obama have been deeply involved so far in this week's scramble to hammer out a package. The meeting was intended more to provide bipartisan political cover for lawmakers to support a plan in the face of an angry public and their own re-election bids in six weeks.

At day's end, Frank said he told Paulson "this whole thing is at risk if the president can't get members of his own party to participate."

Layered over the White House meeting was a complicated web of potential political benefits and consequences for both presidential candidates.

McCain hoped voters would believe that he rose above politics to wade into nitty-gritty and ultimately successful dealmaking at a time of urgent crisis, but he risked being seen instead as either overly impulsive or politically craven, or both. Obama saw a chance to appear presidential and fit for duty but was also caught off guard strategically by McCain's surprising campaign gamble.

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Contributing: Deb Riechmann, Martin Crutsinger, Christopher Wills, Beth Fouhy, Judy Ausuebel