Clive Crook: The economy and the campaigns

http://clivecrook.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/the_economy_and_the_campaigns.php

The economy and the campaigns

24 Sep 2008 12:37 pm



When I read this piece of a few days ago by Michael Barone, arguing that "the old rule that economic distress moves voters toward Democrats doesn't seem to be operating," I found it somewhat persuasive. He argued that blame for the crisis cannot easily be pinned on Republicans alone, and that voters may fear that taxes will rise faster under Obama than they would under McCain (regardless of the fact that Obama is promising more tax relief for most Americans than McCain), which in turn would be more bad news for the economy. But a new poll this morning seems to say otherwise.



It's just one poll, but still. I do think Obama is handling the crisis much better than McCain--not because he is suggesting better remedies (he continues to say little), but because his instinct to reflect before opening his mouth and his impeccable taste in advisers are both working to his advantage.

These factors I think are much more important than the supposed popularity of standard Democratic positions on economic management. Unlike McCain, Obama offers no instant bold responses, needing to be qualified or withdrawn or forgotten soon after. As ever, he looks calm, methodical and unruffled--and has his picture taken in conference with Paul Volcker, Bob Rubin and Larry Summers, who command wide respect. His response may be thin, so far, on content, but it is an altogether more reassuring posture than his rival's tendency to hasty and exaggerated certainty.

This difference of intellectual temperament has often been seen as one of Obama's biggest drawbacks, including by many of his own supporters. Sometimes his altitude over the issues, and his reluctance to commit himself to simple straightforward positions, have indeed hurt him. But the complexities of the crisis are putting those traits in a much better light.

for what's happening in the economy.
The focus for us should be on McCain's & his campaigns' own words:

"I'm not srong on econmics"
"The fundamentals of the economy are strong."
"We're having a mental recession."
"They're a bunch of whiners."

Regardless of who created the mess (repubs) why would anyone want people in the white house who have said the above?