Washington ? A wave of House converts jumped aboard the $700 billion financial industry bailout Thursday on the eve of a make-or-break second vote, as lawmakers responded to an awakening among voters to the pain ahead of them if stability isn’t restored to the tottering economy.

Black lawmakers said personal calls from Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama helped switch them from “no” to “yes.” Republicans and Democrats alike said appeals from credit-starved small businessmen and the Senate’s addition of $110 billion in tax breaks had persuaded them to drop their opposition.

“I hate it,” but “inaction to me is a greater danger to our country than this bill,” said GOP Rep. Zach Wamp of Tennessee, one of the 133 House Republicans who joined 95 Democrats in rejecting the measure Monday, sending the stock market plummeting.

Still, the outcome was far from assured. Vote-counters in both parties planned to huddle first thing Friday morning to compare notes on coming up with the dozen or so supporters needed to reverse the stunning defeat.

Deciding how to vote

Lawmakers were agonizing as they decided whether to change course and back the largest government intervention in markets since the Great Depression. “I’m trying desperately to get to ‘yes,'” said Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H.

Fears about an economic downturn sent the Dow Jones industrials down nearly 350 points Thursday, three days after Monday’s historic 778-point drop. The Federal Reserve reported record emergency lending to banks and investment firms, fresh evidence of the credit troubles squeezing the country

Obama and his Republican rival, John McCain, phoned reluctant lawmakers for their help. McCain, in Denver, predicted the bill would pass the House.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., told a closed-door meeting of House Democrats that he will support the bill after speaking with Obama about it. Other wavering lawmakers said Obama’s entreaties had swayed them as well.

Twisting arms

Congressional leaders worked over wayward colleagues wherever they could find them.

Rep. Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking House Democrat, said there was a “good prospect” of approving the measure but stopped short of predicting passage – or even promising a vote. Nonetheless, a vote was expected today.

“I’m going to be pretty confident that we have sufficient votes to pass this before we put it on the floor,” Hoyer said.

The top Republican vote-counter, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, did predict the measure would be approved.

“A lot of people are watching,” President Bush pointed out – as if lawmakers needed reminding – and he argued from the White House that the huge rescue measure was the best chance to calm unnerved financial markets and ease the credit crunch. He was calling dozens of lawmakers, a spokesman said.

Minds were changing in both parties in favor of the much-maligned measure, which would let the government spend billions of dollars to buy bad mortgage-related securities and other devalued assets from troubled financial institutions. If the plan works, advocates say, that would allow frozen credit to begin flowing again and prevent a serious recession.

Making demands

Emboldened by the feverish bidding for votes, other members of both parties were demanding substantial changes to the legislation before they would vote for it. A group of Republican opponents indicated they’d back it if the price tag were slashed to $250 billion and several special tax breaks added by the Senate – including for children’s archery bow makers, imported rum producers and racetrack owners – were removed. Democrats wanted to add a way to pay for the bailout and more help for homeowners staring at foreclosure.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said no, such revisions were impossible because they would slow the measure’s enactment and further shake markets.

“I don’t think that any changes here will do what we need to do, which is right now to send a message of confidence to the markets that Congress will act,” she said.