Senator McCain dropped a surprising name last night when he was asked whom he would want to replace Christopher Cox as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission: Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic attorney general of New York. “I think he is somebody who could restore some credibility, lend some bipartisanship, to this effort,” Mr. McCain said on “60 Minutes,” adding that he admired Mr. Cuomo’s work in New York. He said Mr. Cuomo had “respect” and “prestige,” praising his tenure as secretary of housing and urban development in the Clinton administration. The Republican presidential nominee said last week that he would have fired Mr. Cox for betraying the public trust in providing what he characterized as shoddy regulatory oversight of the financial markets. He acknowledged last night that the president technically does not have the authority to fire the SEC chief, but he said that if he wanted a government official to resign, “they would resign.” Mr. Cuomo became state attorney general in 2007, taking over for Eliot Spitzer. He is the son of Mario Cuomo, who served three terms as governor of New York.

EX-EDWARDS AIDE FORMS NEW 527

With just weeks to go before the November election, a former aide to John Edwards is starting a so-called 527 political organization that may seek to boost Democrats’ chances at the polls. Citizens for Safety & Security was formally registered with the Internal Revenue Service last week by the former chief financial officer of Mr. Edwards’s unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, Lora Haggard, who identified herself as treasurer of the group. The new organization has strong parallels to a 527 group started in advance of the 2004 election, Citizens for a Strong Senate. That organization, founded by Ms. Haggard and two former political advisers to Mr. Edwards, Jonathan Prince and Nicholas Baldick, raised nearly $11 million for hard-hitting television ads targeting Republican Senate candidates four years ago. More than $8 million of that money came from a single California couple who made their fortune in the mortgage industry, Herbert and Marion Sandler. Mr. Prince, who was deputy campaign manger for Mr. Edwards in 2004 and 2008, was recently tapped to oversee the Democratic National Committee’s independent expenditure effort for Mr. Obama this fall. That unit, which is prohibited by law from coordinating with Mr. Obama’s campaign, plans to run more than $118 million on ads in the presidential race, the Associated Press reported. Ms. Haggard and Mr. Baldick did not respond to phone and e-mail messages seeking comment for this article. Mr. Prince told the Sun last night the he is not involved with the new group.

CANDIDATES REACT TO $700M BAILOUT PROPOSAL

Senator Obama called yesterday for speedy, bipartisan consideration of the Bush administration’s $700 billion economic rescue proposal, but he cautioned that any final deal must offer protection to taxpayers and homeowners as well as to Wall Street. “As of now, the Bush administration has only offered a concept with a staggering price tag, not a plan,” the senator said at an afternoon rally. He added that “in return for their support, the American people must be assured that the deal reflects the basic principles of transparency and fairness and reform.” Senator McCain criticized his opponent for not being more specific in how he would solve the financial crisis. “I proposed a plan for comprehensive reform of the broken institutions that allowed this crisis to become a grave threat to our economy,” he said.

PALIN SPEAKS BEFORE THOUSANDS IN FLA.

Governor Palin was welcomed like a star yesterday, with tens of thousands cramming into a plaza and nearby streets in the Villages, enormous retirement community. Her remarks hit most of the same points she’s made since she became Senator McCain’s running mate, but she did update the stump speech to reflect the turmoil in the financial markets. “We need serious reform on Wall Street. We need better regulation. It’s like Senator McCain said just yesterday — we don’t need a dozen federal agencies doing the job badly, we need the best agencies doing the job right,” she said.