Posted by
Sean Engmann on Wednesday, October 01, 2008 3:20:44 AM
The financial crisis has turned the Presidential campaign on its head, but it has also significantly shaken up the political climate in other nations. While Barack Obama and the Democrats have benefitted considerably from the current crisis, ironically, in the UK, the conservative Tory party which has long been the minority in Britain
has seen considerable gains. The contrast is staggering, in that the Americans trust the left to manage the same crisis that the British are moving to the right to address. This phenomenon suggests two things, first that moving to more liberal economic policies will not resolve the crisis here and secondly that the issue is toxic, and that the party in control of government bears the brunt of the blame.
The whirlwind of activity in Congress these past few days is illustrative of just how political and toxic the bailout has become. The only thing that is clear is that all involved are putting partisanship and politics ahead of doing what's right for the people. First it was Harry Reid saying that the Democrats would not pass a bailout plan not approved by John McCain. Why? The public is fed up and has come out 80% against the bailout plan, and the Democrats are afraid to pass the bill and have their members attached to such an unpopular bill in November when the GOP votes against it. They have gone to lengths to say that this is a Bush GOP bill. Nancy Pelosi's speech on the floor as Democratic strategists talked on TV about how they'd use the bill against Republicans underscores this.
So since the Democrats are too scared to pass the bailout, the logical leader to push the bill through would be President Bush. Unfortunately, Bush has used up all of his political capital, and he is an equally toxic figure politically. The American people didn't buy what I thought was a very lucid assessment of the financial situation, and because of his inability to communicate, he is virtually politically impotent when it comes to getting a bill done.
It is a time of crisis in this country, and this bailout could arguably be more important than anything that either Presidential candidate does in the next four years. What better time to show leadership than to get to Washington and become the standard bearer on a bill that the public can support. John McCain tried last week and was roundly criticized. Barack Obama, in a time of peril, has demonstrated his true sense of leadership and principle by staying away from Washington and the process, campaigning and Monday morning quarterbacking every decision that's made. He keeps saying he's laying out the answers, but where is the guy? He talks about what he said a couple years ago, but does not mention that as a community organizer he helped coach activists on how to pressure companies into giving politically correct subprime loans.
This is a time for John McCain to demonstrate true leadership. As I said last week, he needs to go to Washington, get in front of the issue and get something passed that does everyone proud and contrast that with Obama's hands-off approach. If he doesn't own the issue, the change in focus and the vitriol directed at the GOP brand will cost McCain the election.
As an aside for an interesting discussion of the financial bailout strategy, check out
this site.