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Obama Seeks Toehold On Economy Issue

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The New York Times

Published: September 17, 2008

GOLDEN, Colo. - Sen. Barack Obama has delivered at least four major addresses on the economy in the course of his presidential candidacy. Yet even his advisers conceded that voters might not have noticed until he spoke here on Tuesday as turmoil rippled through the financial markets.

"Let's be clear," Obama said sternly. "What we've seen the last few days is nothing less than the final verdict on an economic philosophy that has completely failed."

In the closing weeks of the presidential race, Obama is urgently working to seize the economic issue, using the collapse of Wall Street firms to illustrate a need for greater regulation and stronger oversight in the financial sector. But he is facing a challenge on that front from Sen. John McCain, who has adopted a populist reformer message in vowing to "clean up Wall Street."

Obama originally built his campaign on his opposition to the Iraq war, but his message has shifted to the economy. And now the financial crisis is presenting Democrats with a fresh political argument as they try to win back the White House.

The question remains whether Obama can define his candidacy around the economy, like other Democrats have done, and be seen as connecting with the struggles of Americans.

He is using the nation's worsening economy to draw ever-sharpening distinctions with his Republican rivals. He scoffed at a proposal offered on Tuesday by McCain to create a commission to study the calamity in the nation's financial markets.

"Instead of offering up concrete plans to solve these issues, Senator McCain offered up the oldest Washington stunt in the book: You pass the buck to a commission to study the problem," Obama said. "But here's the thing - this isn't 9/11. We know how we got into this mess. What we need now is leadership that gets us out."

While Democrats think Obama has gained ground winning over working-class voters after the party's divisive primary fight, challenges remain in persuading some voters in economically depressed reaches of battleground states who have experienced their own Main Street versions of the Wall Street financial crisis.

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