With No Plan B, House Reluctantly Passes Politically Risky Measure

The next day, at a town hall meeting in Andrews, a city of 9,800 people 35 miles north of Midland, Tex., Conaway said a somberness fell over those gathered as they came to grips with the potential for the financial crisis to affect them.

Two men who are not from the districts were also making calls. On Wednesday evening, as he walked through the Capitol, a strange phone number with too many digits rang on Cummings's cellphone. When he answered, the voice announced, "Hello, congressman, this is Barack Obama."

To African American and liberal lawmakers, Obama's message was reassuring: All the measures that Democrats were not getting now, such as infrastructure spending and bankruptcy rule changes that would allow judges to adjust mortgage repayments, would happen in an Obama administration.

In a conference call Thursday that Rep. Betty Sutton (D-Ohio) organized, half a dozen or so freshman Democrats received Obama's assurance that his Treasury secretary would do everything possible to recoup the money now going to buy troubled assets from ailing banks.

By that night, the White House was increasingly certain the bill would pass. But lawmakers insist they were not at all so sure. Myrick said she made her decision to switch yesterday morning. Cummings said he prayed on it, then decided late Thursday night.

Returning to Washington on Thursday, Conaway was still undecided. He went to bed that night, reading 2 Chronicles 1:10 -- "Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of yours?" -- and asking God for strength.

"I got up this morning at peace with what I was going to do," he said.

He voted yes.

Staff writers Michael Abramowitz, Zachary A. Goldfarb, Neil Irwin and David Maraniss contributed to this report.