The one apparent fact that is emerging from the Crisis-in-Capitalism now being played out on Wall Street is: Nobody knows nothing.
No one knows the true causes of this calamity and no one knows of any systemic approach to stem the tide of the collapse of the modern financial system.
Right now, and since at least March of this year, we are witnessing the Treasury Secretary and the Fed Chairman playing the roles of Battalion Chiefs as they scurry from one bushfire to the next, dousing them with untold 100's of billions of taxpayer funds, most of which wind up in the pockets of bond holders like the Bank of China, hedge funds who bet the USG would bailout Fannie and Freddie and who therefore accumulated large holdings of the depressed debt securities of those "private sector" firms.
Nobody knows nothing.
When bewilderment reigns, it's generally a good idea to say and, especially, to do as little as is practicably possible. It's not the time to run-off at the mouth; it's not the time to assume nearly $5 trillion of private mortgage debt, as has already been done---with absolutely zero public discussion.
Obama's support should be done in the spirit of "National Unity" in a time of crisis. He should emphasize "crisis." He should emphasize Hoover-Bush-McCain. He should tie his (tepid) support to his sense of patriotism, not enthusiasm. He should make it explicitly clear that he is putting partisan politics on the shelf regarding this matter; but he should implicitly exploit the partisan advantages that this scenario gives the Democrats.
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