Incensed by Republican advertisements critical of Senator Barack Obama, several current and former executives came forward to discuss the role that Rick Davis, Senator John McCain’s campaign manager and longtime adviser, played in helping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac beat back regulatory challenges when he served as president of their advocacy group, the Homeownership Alliance, formed in the summer of 2000.

Propelled by discontent at Republican handling of the economy in light of the financial crisis, Senator Obama matched his record high of 50 percent in the latest Gallup daily tracking poll, against 44 percent for Senator McCain. Meanwhile, Mr. McCain tried to blame the turmoil on fraud at US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Senators Barack Obama and John McCain each cite the mess at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as a consequence of the corrosive coziness of lobbyists and politicians that they promise to end. But each man and his party also have ties to the fallen giants that will complicate the next president’s job of reshaping the mortgage finance companies that have been essential to the economy. And neither man has a record of directly challenging the companies they now criticize.

The United States must acknowledge that its deep indebtedness is especially dangerous in times of economic crisis. The level and stability of American interest rates and of the dollar are now dependent on the willingness of foreign central banks and other overseas investors to continue lending to the United States.

The bailout plan for the companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a seismic event in a year of repeated financial crises followed by aggressive federal intervention, places the companies in a government conservatorship, much like a bankruptcy reorganization. The plan also replaces the management of the companies.