OPINION: McCain, Obama Talk Wall Street Reform

The failed attempts on Wall Street over the weekend to save Lehman Brothers (LEH Quote) from bankruptcy and the surprise acquisition of Merrill Lynch (MER Quote) by Bank of America (BAC Quote), a merger deal that came at the behest of government officials, sent the U.S. stock market into a tailspin Monday.

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) offered distinct reactions to crisis, offering insight into how each might handle a financial crisis as president.

Neither campaign said much last week about the crisis gripping Wall Street - not after the Treasury's weekend bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae (FNM Quote) and Freddie Mac (FRE Quote) nor after financial bellwethers like Lehman and AIG (AIG Quote) got hammered heading into the weekend. ...