WASHINGTON — Lobbying for the $700-billion financial rescue plan reached fever pitch as the hours ticked down toward today's climactic vote in the House, with powerful interest groups orchestrating last-minute appeals from constituents back home and the two major presidential candidates working the telephones.
Supporters of the measure were hopeful of approval, saying that public fury over a bailout for Wall Street -- which helped torpedo the plan Monday -- was giving way to concern that government inaction could devastate the economy.
Those fears were given new weight Thursday by government data showing an unexpectedly steep decline in factory orders and a fresh seven-year high in claims for jobless benefits. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged nearly 350 points.
"The tide has changed," said Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Alamo). "While this was initially unpopular, events are overtaking us."
It remained uncertain, however, whether the intense pressure would shift enough votes to reverse Monday's 228-205 defeat, and neither side was predicting victory. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), while voicing cautious optimism, said she would not bring the measure to the floor unless it was assured of passage.
A scattered handful of members, several of them among the 133 Republicans who opposed the bill Monday, announced that they would now support it. But some fiscally conservative Democrats -- the so-called Blue Dogs -- expressed unhappiness with the package of tax breaks and other provisions added to the rescue plan in the Senate. That raised the possibility of new defections among Democrats, 95 of whom voted "no" on Monday.
The rescue plan was proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson as a means of restoring liquidity to a financial system battered by losses on securities tied to troubled home loans. It would give the government the power to buy these securities and get them off the books of banks and other financial institutions.
In recent days, some members of Congress who initially opposed the bill have been besieged by constituents who worry that the volatile stock market -- the Dow saw a record 777.68-point drop Monday -- threatens their retirement nest eggs.
At the same time, lawmakers are getting an earful from business owners who say they can't get the credit they need to make payroll or buy inventory.
