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Obama Phones Into Bailout Meeting

Barack Obama just beat John McCain to the punch.

Just after McCain’s plane touched down in Washington Thursday, Obama phoned into a Capitol meeting to offer words of encouragement to members working on a bailout deal.

A Hill source says Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd didn’t put Obama on the speaker phone, but rather passed around the handset to both Republican and Democrats in the room.

Members of the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee have been meeting for more than an hour in the hopes of striking a deal on the bailout before McCain and Obama meet with President Bush later today.

The Hill source said McCain has not called into the meeting.

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