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Economic Slump Compels McCain To Explain What Is Going Wrong

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 24, 2008

When your party holds the White House, it's unheard of for a presidential candidate to advertise: "We're worse off than we were four years ago."

Sen. John McCain is doing that and putting himself in a contradictory position. He supports most of the policies of President Bush, who says the country has no problems, yet McCain complains of a downturn. By conceding that things are worse, McCain must either say what Bush has done wrong or risk being accused of double-talk.

Middle-class workers overwhelmingly agree with McCain that they're not better off. Polls show that about 80 percent of us believe the economy is bad, and 70 percent expect it to get worse before it gets better. These views are based on personal observations: higher gasoline prices, lower home values and a feeling of job insecurity.

Broader indicators also are flashing red. Wholesale prices are increasing at their fastest rate in 27 years while housing starts are at their lowest rate in 17 years.

Republicans have been too slow to acknowledge the squeeze the middle class is feeling. Former Sen. Phil Gramm had been co-chair of the McCain presidential campaign until he said that "we have sort of become a nation of whiners ... This is a mental recession." McCain's reaction was physical. Gramm got the boot.

But McCain is hurting himself by letting it slip that he doesn't personally share our everyday financial worries. Asked by evangelical pastor and author Rick Warren how much money a person needs to make to be considered rich, McCain quipped, "How about $5 million?"

It was not an answer that would occur to most of us in a country in which only folks in the top one percent make more than $450,000. Democratic rival Barack Obama made more sense, answering, "If you are making more than $250,000, then you are in the top 3, 4 percent in the country."

McCain tried to say he was joking about the money, but when he was recently asked how many homes he owns, he couldn't count them all in his mind. Instead, he said, "I'll have my staff get to you."

He's making voters wonder what else he doesn't know. He needs to outline a plan of action that explains what mistakes the country is making and how he would do a better job than Bush.

It may reassure Bush and Gramm that the economy is still growing, but the middle-class has seen its spending power dwindle. The way the economy is measured, money spent on gasoline adds to the gross domestic product the same as if it had been spent on a long-lasting product or on infrastructure, such as a bridge repair, that would bring future benefits.

So when McCain says the economy is sound, folks assume he's not paying close attention to the realities faced by households and local governments.

The United States economy has benefited from lower taxes and less regulation. Lots of things have grown bigger, including houses, TVs, SUVs and the GDP. But things that should have gotten smaller also grew, including public and private debts, the unemployment rate, inflation and the list of unfunded civic needs.

To win in November, McCain needs an agenda more creative than lower taxes and less government. He needs to follow his instincts in the primaries, where he presented himself as a maverick conservative.

He dare not say what Bush said earlier this year: "In a free market, there's going to be good times and bad times. That's how markets work." How elections work is that politicians who appear insensitive and out of touch don't win.

Obama is forcing the issue, saying: "If you think this economy is working well, if you think George Bush has been a good steward of the economy, then you should vote for John McCain."

The flip side is not true: Just because you think the economy is in trouble doesn't mean you can trust Obama to fix it.

The election will be decided by people who so far are undecided. They are ordinary people who have only one home and earn considerably less than $5 million a year. To win, McCain needs to get on their wavelength.

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