The majority of voters cited the economy as the key issue for them in this campaign, unsurprisingly. This information helps shed light on when, exactly, John McCain lost his chance at the White House. You’d think it would be difficult to pinpoint the exact moment (or moments, at least) when an election is lost for a candidate. Journalist and columnist Daniel Gross asks these questions about McCain and his campaign:
But when, precisely, did John McCain lose the narrative on the economy? Was it last July, when economic adviser Phil Gramm, discussing the “mental recession,” noted that “we’ve sort of become a nation of whiners”? Perhaps it was back in December 2007, when McCain said, “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should.” Or was McCain’s economic goose cooked long before the campaigns started? Ray Fair, the Yale professor who plugs macroeconomic data into an election-predicting model, said that “since November 2006, the model has consistently been predicting that the Democratic candidate would get about 52 percent of the two-party vote.” (Read more…)
In fact, the beginning of McCain’s loss can be traced back to mid-September of this year. On the brink of economic crisis, the man told a crowd in Jacksonville, Florida that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.”
McCain’s misstatement about the economy’s strength was a symptom of a bigger problem for his campaign (that his team had no set narrative or strategy, while Obama stayed strong and true to his message throughout the campaign. Read more about that here.)
Once he admitted there was a problem with the economy, McCain suspended his campaign to fly to Washington and find a solution. He was unable to convince Obama he should do the same, and finally resumed his campaign without having solved anything.
Finally, the third debate. Joe the Plummer, while a wonderful “mascot,” could not stack up to the concrete former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and Warren Buffett presented by Obama.
The point is: Obama ran a flawless campaign that stuck to a clear message. He stayed away, for the most part, from issues of race - not using it as a crutch to win votes, but also overcoming it as an issue with some white voters. There were many obstacles to overcome, which Obama did. And now he can apply that know-how to running the United States. Read more for a run-down of Obama’s whole campaign…
I respect and admire Warren Buffett. If I could love a man, I’d love Warren Buffett. But, I am getting a tad tired of hearing how the sage of Omaha is looking out for America’s interest.
Hmm… Buffett is a bank, and his exposure to financials is considerable:
Maybe his pro-bailout-at-any-cost stance has more to do with protecting his own neck than anything else?
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