McCain could be railing against the "Obama-Bush Bailout," pointing out Democrat and Obama corruption, promising to clean up this mess without burdening the taxpayers, and rising in the polls. But nooooooo... he is just holding fast to his bipartisan shtick that is absolutely killing him.
When McCain picked Palin he got a taste of what it is like to have conservative support, as he shot up in the polls. He was probably embarrassed by that support, so he's made sure he squandered it since then.