Pessimism =(
I was talking to my right-leaning boss the day of the Lehman collapse last week and said 'I'm afraid this will cost McCain the election'. She didn't believe me, or maybe she didn't want to believe me given how ridiculous it would be for people to vote for a big government candidate in the midst of a recession. However with this bailout, (regardless of whether it is necessary or not) I'm pretty convinced that this is the absolute worst thing to happen to the McCain ticket.Why? Many voters will be convinced that while the government is not willing to provide for health care for the poor, they are more than willing to shell out trillions for a wall street debacle. They will view this as largely political, and they will complain that once again, only corporate wealthy types are protected from the government and not the poor people. These frightened people will call for socialism and Obama will play on that fear for the remainder of the campaign.
I was very optimistic when Palinmania swept the nation, but in the past week I have lost some hope. (Yes, I had hope!) The timing is almost uncanny, even frightening. McCain cannot make any stupid moves. I think he thought postponing the debate to tend to economic matters would make him look like a serious politician for the people, but the media has once again schewed this view.
Then again, I live in NY, far from a swing state, so I don't know how this is all playing out in other places. I just hope McCain stands firm and calls out Obama for the manipulator that he is.
posted by PN @ 10:01 AM
