And especially against Barney Frank. Can McCain stay on this message, with the relevant commercials etc., for the next week? To make it more authentic, he should add praise for his own record of bipartisanship, which is very, very real. There’s some reason to hope that harmmering this one point home will make a difference. It puts the attention on the economy and shows that, even if Obama is a smooth, smart guy, the all-Democratic government isn’t going to be marked by wisdom and moderation.
agreed -- but it's too late. His message from the beginning should have been look what's happened to my party from having complete control. Checks and balances is real. Instead he choose Sarah palin and ran a negative campaign. Hopefully mccains as well as the republicans party decimation this election will be the end of the American dumbing down of government seen in Aristophanes.
When the financial crisis hit, Obama's narrative was that the financial crisis caused by Reaganite "deregulation", that was supported by John McCain. There was a potential McCain narrative that the financial crisis was caused by the corrupt connections between Big Government liberals like Frank and Obama and connected Big Bussinessmen like the guys who ran Fannie and Freddie (and advised Obama). Neither narrative would have been the whole truth, but they were both plausible. Obama stuck to his narrative. He appeared knowing, confident, and in control. McCain switched his story constantly and just appeared confused and oppurtunistic. Going after Frank, Fannie, Freddie and tying them all to Obama would have made sense a month ago. But look at the difficulties of keying on that issue with only about a week to go.
1. What fraction of the public knows who Barney Frank is?
2. What fraction of the public (outside of the talk radio listening, conservarvative blog reading, conservative base) understands the role of Fannie and Freddie in the housing bubble?
3.What fraction of the public knows about the role that the Democrats (including Obama) played in protecting Fannie's and Freddie's practices?
Its kind of a complicated story. McCain and Palin could probably have told it strongly during the debates when the country was stunned and fixated by the financial meltdown. For whatever reason, McCain chose not to. Like with his healthcare plan, McCain failed in the job of public education. The strategy is still worth a shot even with all the attendant difficulties. Its a longshot, but right now any McCain strategy is a longshot. Time and again, McCain has missed the oppurtunity to connect with the public on domestic policy. I'm pulling for him, but my brain tells me that he has wasted too many chances and time is too short.
Peter - Why do you say "especially against Barney Frank"? What is the specific case against his role in the financial crisis?
Steve, Esp. Barney Frank refers to what McCain actually says. But he was big at egging on and even pressuring Fannie to be reckless and attacking those who urged caution and restraint as really not wanting every American to own a home. According to a Fannie exec I've spoken with, everyone at Fannie loved the Democrats--they were compliant (although with a bit of pressure to aggressively buy up questionable mortgages) but the Republicans tended to be intrusive. The example of Barney's Fannie protective cheerleading shows that much of the problem wasn't really deregulation, but bad regulation of a certain kind.
The financial crisis was caused by the connections between the government and the liberal, left-wing illuminati like Barney Frank and his ilk, and those who worked for Fannie and Freddie. There's only a week to go before the election and McCain really needs to pound away at his solutions for many issues, but especially the economy.