Henry Paulson

PHOENIX -- U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Phoenix) will run again for his seat in 2010, he told reporters at a press conference Tuesday.

The former Republican presidential nominee all but announced his re-election last week when he revived his political action committee, enabling him to raise money for what would be his fifth term in the Senate.

McCain appeared upbeat in front of the local press corps, smiling and joking as he fielded questions for about 20 minutes in the manner that characterized his relationship with reporters prior to his presidential run.

Of his failed bid for the nation's highest office, McCain said he was proud of the campaign he'd run, and showed little interest in giving a post-mortem on why he didn't succeed.

"The individual who lost always has that record parsed and examined... and the person who won ran a perfect campaign. That’s always the way history treats it," McCain said.

U.S. Rep. John Shadegg (R-Phoenix) and Bob Lord, his Democratic challenger in the 3rd Congressional District, have found common ground in their support of the bailout package that passed the U.S. House Friday and was quickly signed into law by Pres. Bush.

Lord and Shadegg both announced Thursday they supported the revised bill, which supporters say toughens protections for taxpayers but leaves much of the framework of the original proposal in place. Their reasons for endorsing the legislation were remarkably similar on key points, given the hostility that has pervaded the campaign so far.

Shadegg joined 262 other members of Congress in backing the bill, which passed with an overwhelming majority in a vote Friday morning. He voted against the original version, which narrowly lost a House vote Monday due to bipartisan opposition.

Bob Lord, Democratic candidate in the 3rd Congressional District race, released a statement detailing his opposition to the proposed bailout plan coming before Congress Monday.

"The Bush administration's proposal was flawed from the very beginning," Lord said. "We simply cannot afford to put that much taxpayer money into the hands of a single person. There's not enough oversight, not enough accountability for those who put our economy at risk, and not enough protections for homeowners and taxpayers," said Lord.

U.S. Rep. John ShadeggAhead of today’s House vote on the $700 billion bailout package, U.S. Rep. John Shadegg is calling for the resignation of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

“Today, I am calling on Secretary Paulson to resign.  I believe he has failed to do his job and failed to uphold his responsibility to the American people.  He did not warn Congress or the nation in advance of the impending crisis,” Shadegg said in a statement.

“Congressional leadership received less than four hours notice before the Secretary publicly warned of an imminent collapse of the market and announced his bailout plan.  Clearly, it was his duty to provide Congress and its leaders time to evaluate this situation, and he failed.  The Secretary went public with dire warnings, scaring the nation minutes after apprising Congressional leaders of this problem.  That is simply unacceptable.

U.S. Rep. John Shadegg: Getty Images PhotoU.S. Rep. John Shadegg (R-Phoenix) said that the financial crisis rocking Wall St. was "serious," after he and the rest of the Congressional leadership was briefed Friday by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and U.S. Treasury Sec. Henry Paulson. 

After the meeting, Shadegg wrote in a statement:

"This situation is serious, and I believe that Congress will take up and pass legislation this coming week. The purpose of this legislation should be to strengthen the market while protecting the American economy from further injury and ensuring that Americans don't lose their jobs or financial security. I will do everything in my power to see that anyone who has gamed the system or cheated is punished and to make sure that taxpayers aren't forced to foot the bill."