This morning Barack Obama effectively reminded Americans that the failed Republican policies supported by John McCain are solely responsible for the financial crisis we're seeing unfold this week. In reminding us that Republicans are not "minding the store," he is on target and timely with his economic message, doing exactly folks around here have said he needed to do.
Obama released a statement this morning that laid it on the line:
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Monday the upheaval on Wall Street was "the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression" and blamed it on policies that he said Republican rival John McCain supports.
"This country can't afford another four years of this failed philosophy," Obama said after the shock-wave announcements that financial giant Lehman Brothers was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy while titan Merrill Lynch was being bought by Bank of America for about $50 billion...
"The challenges facing our financial system today are more evidence that too many folks in Washington and on Wall Street weren't minding the store," Obama said in a statement. "Eight years of policies that have shredded consumer protections, loosened oversight and regulation, and encouraged outsized bonuses to CEOs while ignoring middle-class Americans have brought us to the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression."
Damn strong, and damn right. Then Obama reminds voters that these are the failed policies that John McCain supports:
"I certainly don't fault Sen. McCain for these problems," Obama said, "but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to."
The article notes that Obama's statement served two purposes, and did so successfully as I see it: to link McCain with the extremely unpopular presidency of George W. Bush and to express sympathy with the anxiety of most Americans who say the economy is issue No. 1 in the election.
The article also notes that today Joe Biden is taking serious aim at McCain for his sleazy tactics and his elitism:
Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, said McCain was "launching a low blow a day" and went on to say the Republican candidate stands "with George Bush firmly in the corner of the wealthy and well-connected."
"Low blow a day." Now that's what I'm talking about. Want more? You've got it:
Biden, in an appearance planned Monday in St. Clair Shores, Mich., tried to link McCain with President Bush.
"If you're ready for four more years of George Bush, John McCain is your man," Biden said in prepared remarks. "Just as George Herbert Walker Bush was nicknamed `Bush 41' and his son is known as `Bush 43,' John McCain could easily become known as `Bush 44.'"
A great way to start off the week.
UPDATE:
inland pointed out a great line from Obama's statement this morning that I missed:
Well now, instead of prosperity trickling down, the pain has trickled up --- from the struggles of hardworking Americans on Main Street to the largest firms of Wall Street.
Hey John McCain, who are the whiners now?
UPDATE 2:
I should add that I think the economy is the No. 1 issue that Obama and Biden should always be talking about, but especially this week, and we should too. (Not the distraction known as Sarah Palin.) Obama needs to keep McCain on the defensive with his economic policies, his "ideas" for getting us out of this mess, the "whiner" comment, etc. The only other thing he might want to emphasize is what Biden was talking about today: McCain's sleazeball tactics and LIES.