I just listened to two McCain surrogates on MSNBC (Fiorina on Gregory's show, another woman on Matthews), and both were asked in what way the "fundamentals of the economy" are strong. They both claimed that "worker productivity" was the particular "fundamental" that was "strong" and that "you can't blame the American worker for these problems."
OMFG. Can the overlords be any more obviously contemptuous of working-class Americans? I fault the Obama surrogates for failing to capitalize brutally on this simple point: McCain thinks the "fundamentals of the economy are strong" because workers are being forced to work harder and longer than ever. They certainly don't mention wage growth as an indicator of a "strong" fundamental. Thus, while workers' wages have stayed the same, their productivity went up. And because of this, we're supposed to be reassured?
The hubris of those who rely on increased worker productivity (and rising unemployment for the "lazy," presumably) as the measure of the strength of the present trickle-on economy is both breathtaking and heartbreaking.