Sometimes it takes an extreme situation or a crisis to see the true colours of somebody. In the recent economic turmoil that has devastated Wall Street and has led to unprecedented government intervention that has put a proposed $700 billion price tag on the tax payer, there has been one candidate that has continued to show a calm poise and provided thoughtful and productive commentary, and then the other candidate that has looked confused, flip-flopped almost on a daily basis, and has not sent out any signals of confidence to the electorate. As I mentioned in my previous article, this current crisis is a great litmus test for the candidates to display to the American people who really does have the right virtues to lead the country, and to be frank, Barack Obama has passed this test while John McCain has failed.
The failing has not gone unnoticed by McCain himself, and as true to his form, what does he do when things are not going his way? He goes with his gut and makes another gutsy move. This time, pandering to the public and the media to provide a false-tense that he is suspending his campaign to go to Washington to make sure this bailout is pushed through. Now at first glance, this may actually seem like a non-political, non-partisan move on his part. Yet, as with many of the other falsehoods that John McCain and his team has put out in the past few weeks, if you just scratch barely beyond the surface, you begin to see what a political stunt this is. Now I can go into details why this is so, but I think David Letterman is really spot on in his dissection of the situation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjkCrfylq-E
John McCain has been throwing a lot of hail marys in his campaign. His selection of Sarah Palin was one. His push for putting up ads and talking points that focuses on the personalities instead of the issues was another one. Yet this maybe the biggest one of them all. Most media outlets and the general public are calling him out on this as well. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out, but one thing is for sure - the debates will continue tomorrow, with or without John McCain.
It’s the Economy, Stupid
Tags: aig, barack obama, economic policy, flip flop, government bailouts, john mccain, lehman brothers, mccain moments, merrill lynch, phil gramm, presidential election, republican party, wall street
After a week filled with shenanigans, bruising ads, talks of lipstick, pigs and old smelly fish, I am more than glad that this past week the discussions and focus has switched back to the issues, and more specifically, the economy. Unfortunately, it only took one of the greatest crisis on Wall Street since the Great Depression to do this. In the past week, we saw Lehman Brothers, a historic 158 year firm and 4th largest investment bank in the United States file for the largest bankruptcy in American history. We also saw Merrill Lynch, one of the largest brokerage firms in the world, get swallowed up by Bank of America. We even saw AIG, the largest insurance brokerage firm in the United States being given an 85 billion dollar bailout by the federal government, where the American taxpayers are footing the bill. Finally, at the end of the week, we also saw the federal government take drastic measures and bring forward a proposal for stabilizing the banking and financial sector, putting an unprecedented $700 billion bailout plan to buy toxic mortgages from failing banks and financial institutions.
It’s hard to say at the moment if this is the right move, however it has become clear that a move had to be made. After standing on the sidelines for so long, pushing the deregulation legislation of banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions that lead to this disaster, it’s about time the government did something to try to correct their mistakes. And let’s be clear about it, this was a mistake that stemmed from decisions made during a Republican backed Congress and Senate. In fact, it’s John McCain’s own economic advisor, Phil Gramm that pushed through this legislation while he was in the Senate.
Having this predicament happen during the final weeks of a presidential election gives the candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain a chance to show the American people how they would react to such a crisis. And the results on each candidate’s approach is day and night.
Here is a video that shows the contrast between the two candidates:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmfeesYmx1Y
On one hand, you have Barack Obama, who presents himself as a statesman, pushes asides partisan differences and attacks and provides a calming demeanor and tone, a clear grasp and understanding of the problems, as well as concise policies and steps that need to be taken. On the other hand, you have John McCain, who looks lost and confused, unconfident that he knows what’s going on and why it happened, and pettily lays all of the blame on Obama without following it up with any justification.
McCain’s failure to grasp and understand the situation is obvious, and he is clearly uncomfortable talking about the economy. The following video from the Rachel Maddow Show sums up McCain’s week of gaffes quite nicely: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNGa6Ujyaf4
Perhaps it’s the fact that the McCain team does not have any new ideas on the economy and how to solve the current problems which has lead his campaign to focus on attacking Obama’s character and have outcries about lipstick and pigs. This is contrary to Barack Obama, which has a concise and intricate plan that he lays out repetitively during his stump speeches and made available online:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM6zILb_FUU
I believe that the past week’s event has reminded people the importance of the coming election and how critical it is to have a leader with the right judgement and vision to bring the country back on track. In a time where America faces an economic crisis, wars on two fronts, a failing foreign policy, and a government that is failing the American people … now more than ever it’s important to put the right type of leader in the White House. If this week is any indication on how they will lead, there is no contest that the choice must be: Barack Obama.