By Jonathan Allen, CQ Staff

There isn’t much political incentive for candidates, particularly those in close races, to support any of the several versions of a Wall Street bailout that are circulating on Capitol Hill. But with Election Day looming less than six weeks away, there may be danger lurking in inaction, too.

Since President Bush announced his plan to address a growing crisis in the nation’s financial sector with a massive government intervention, many average citizens have expressed anger — even though some polls show that a bailout plan is the right thing to do. A number of critics oppose the vast expansion of government and the huge proposed outlay to purchase bad loans run up during this decade’s mortgage lending spree. And many taxpayers fume that they are being asked to clean up a mess created by the irresponsible actions of many well-paid Wall Street executives and other involved in the financial industry.

“My constituents are angry and frustrated over the economy and are angry that this has become the crisis it has and that taxpayers are being forced to foot the bill,” said California Democratic Rep. Jim Costa , who is heavily favored to win re-election in his state’s 20th District. He conceded that Congress has to act on the $700 billion plan before it leaves for the fall campaigns, probably late this week. “The best thing we can do is put together a well-crafted package,” he said.

Constituent calls and e-mail messages to Republicans and Democrats alike are running so heavily against the plan that one Democratic lawmaker joked that the ratio is 100 against to zero in favor.

Democratic Party leaders are tacitly encouraging their vulnerable incumbents and challengers to steer clear of the legislation.

“I’m just urging all the candidates to listen to their constituents on this,” said Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who heads up his party’s House fund-raising and candidate-support efforts as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Right now, that means voting against a bailout or working to stop it from coming to the floor until it is more acceptable to voters.

The risks of both action and inaction are clear.

Many members of Congress believe that doing nothing in the face of what is being described to them as a financial crisis unmatched since the Great Depression could be devastating to the economy and, consequently, their own political standing. Yet if lawmakers, before leaving the capital to focus on their fall campaigns, approve a bailout bill that lacks public support, they could still feel the wrath of voters — and even more so if the measure fails to stem a further economic downturn between now and the Nov. 4 elections.

That helps explain why so many lawmakers — even those who are almost certain to be re-elected — are hoping to slow down what they see as a rush to legislate under pressure from the Bush administration, which says the credit markets could lock up and cause further damage to the nation’s and world’s economy if there is a delay.

“Vote no, save the dough,” said Mississippi Democrat Gene Taylor , who CQ Politics rates as safe for re-election this year but whose 4th District on the Gulf Coast has a strongly conservative electorate. “Every con artist I’ve ever dealt with has always said, ‘You’ve got to do this right now.’ ”

The angst is palpable.

Democrats held two caucus meetings within 24 hours on Monday night and Tuesday to discuss the bailout proposals and other issues.