The presidential campaign and the Wall Street financial crisis collided Wednesday. What resulted played at times like a cheesy political movie.

The unprecedented cascade of bizarre events almost upstaged a nationally televised effort by President George W. Bush to convince a skeptical nation that nothing less than “preserving America’s overall economy” rides on the passage of the administration’s $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan.

Mr. Bush’s speech clearly was aimed at the two-thirds of Americans whom polls show either doubt the wisdom of the administration’s plan or are opposed to it, based on details that remain in flux.

The president gave a forceful, if necessarily abbreviated, explanation of the crisis. Had he delivered this speech last Friday when he introduced the plan, he might have muted some of the criticism of it. Still, there was no mistaking the gravity of his words.

“We are in the midst of a serious financial crisis,” Mr. Bush said, noting that banks have restricted lending, credit markets have frozen and businesses and families can’t afford to borrow.

“The market is not functioning properly. There is a widespread loss of confidence,” he said. “America could slip into a widespread financial panic.”

Mr. Bush acknowledged that his initial plan, little more than a three-page outline when Congress first saw it last week, has been improved with provisions for a bipartisan oversight panel, taxpayer ownership participation and limits on payouts to executives of failed financial institutions. His speech should go a long way toward building bipartisan support for the plan — and public support as well.

So will his decision, announced shortly before the speech aired, to invite both presidential candidates, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, to a meeting today with congressional leaders to discuss details of the rescue plan.

By including Mr. Obama, the president played along with part of Mr. McCain’s effort to position himself as an economic savior willing to lay politics aside at time of crisis.

Mr. Obama had begun the day’s extraordinary events by calling Mr. McCain to suggest they issue a joint statement on the bailout plan. By the time Mr. McCain returned the call, he had decided to up the ante by suspending his campaign activities and returning to Washington, if not on a white horse, at least as a crusading bipartisan consensus builder.

The Arizona senator even went so far as to suggest postponing the first presidential debate scheduled for Friday evening.

Bemused, Mr. Obama said he thought the debate should go on as scheduled, although he pledged to return to Washington if necessary. By the time the joint statement was issued, Mr. Obama had recaptured the advantage by amending it with a five-point plan that Mr. McCain refused to sign.

Democrats in Congress accused Mr. McCain of grandstanding in the face of polls in which voters give Mr. Obama higher marks on handling the economy. “It’s the longest Hail Mary pass in the history of either football or Marys,” said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Of course, the debate should take place as scheduled, unless by some odd confluence of events it would conflict with a final Senate vote on the bailout plan. Since Democrats control the Senate schedule, that’s not likely.

Mr. McCain’s gambit was the oldest of ploys, an attempt to gain political advantage by pretending to forswear politics. That Mr. Obama wouldn’t play along comes as no surprise. That Mr. Bush asserted a strong leadership role and gracefully accepted Democratic suggestions for improving the bailout plan, was the surprise, and it underscores just how serious the financial crisis is.

That George W. Bush could demonstrate to John McCain what real bipartisan leadership looks like is at once a pleasant surprise — and a major disappointment.

(Pictured: President Bush poses for photographers after delivering a prime-time speech from the White House on the ailing financial markets, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008, in Washington. AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)