Obama Profits From The Crisis

Americans don’t want to hear any more about laissez-faire capitalism: how Wall Street chaos is affecting the campaign.

Obama’s administration will probably begin this week. No, not President Obama’s term of office. The candidate could still lose the election, but his philosophy of governing is conquering America. With the pending bailout package for big Wall Street banks, the era of unfettered markets, low taxes and deregulation that began with Ronald Reagan is finally coming to an end.

Every other region of the world, and above all Europe, has left America economically decades behind. The era of laissez-faire capitalism bestowed fantastic wealth upon America. To excess. Now that the bubble has burst, a period of government intervention in the market will follow. It probably won’t be a European regulatory rage but rather-according to Obama-free markets as opposed to markets running amok.

Within the last two weeks, one economic philosophy has had to declare bankruptcy; Wall Street has been basically restructured, and the election has been turned upside down. Voters don’t want to hear about unregulated markets any longer, they would rather hear ideas for regulating them. That’s why they want to hear from Barack Obama. A short while ago, John McCain had begun inching ahead in the polls but that’s now history. Barack Obama emerges as the victor in the financial crisis.

He profits, first of all, because with the financial crisis the subject has been changed. It’s no longer Iraq, it’s the economy. It’s no longer Palin, it’s the economy. And, finally, he profits because chaos now reigns. Americans have long wanted change and now, in the midst of a crisis that grows worse by the hour, they definitely want a fresh start. Every chaotic hour helps Barack Obama.

Let’s look back to that distant time (it could be as long as six weeks ago) when Obama faced an opponent who openly admitted that economics was not his strong suit. But he had a respectable record opposing government waste and calling for low taxes. During the crisis, however, McCain revealed that he was not only impulsive, erratic, even unpredictable, he also had to suffer journalists’ parading his record as a deregulator before the public. Suddenly, McCain supported Wall Street’s excesses while simultaneously condemning them. The crisis had undermined McCain’s main message so his new line was to claim that the Republican platform now embraced reform and change.

Think back six months. At the time, Hillary Clinton was racing through Mid-western blue-collar neighborhoods touting herself as the candidate of the little guy. Many perceived Obama as the candidate from a third galaxy, elevated and professorial. The Harvard grad seemed to have no grasp of working peoples’ problems and worries. Even after he had clinched the Democratic nomination, Hillary continued enjoying big victories in certain industrial regions. Just a few weeks ago, one prominent Democratic strategist remarked that Obama had locked up the “arugula vote” but he still needed the support of the “ham and cheese” crowd. By that, he meant that cappuccino drinking, natural food eating, liberal urban dwellers weren’t enough. He also needed the support of union workers whose lunches consisted of old-fashioned double-decker sandwiches.

The crisis, it seems, brings that group closer to the Democrats. From the opening of the first presidential debate, Obama successfully appeared as the candidate of the little guy. Of course he didn’t do it as emotionally nor as laced with examples as Bill Clinton used to do, but he was effective enough. Obama’s claim that the crisis had begun on Main Street long before it was felt on Wall Street has to be one of the most successful sentences spoken during his campaign.

He pointed out that unemployment had been rising for a long time, especially in rural areas, and that everybody knew that wages had stagnated long ago. In direct comparison with McCain, Obama now seemed almost like a union organizer. Obama now reminds his audiences at every opportunity that John McCain didn’t mention the term “middle class” once during the debate. The line always brings howls from thousands every time it’s uttered.

Thanks to the Wall Street drama, Barack Obama has taken a substantial lead in election polls, currently reported as eight percent. And now Obama clearly has the momentum. But, as is well known, America doesn’t vote in unity; it votes in 50 separate state elections plus the District of Columbia. Whoever looks at the national electoral map will see that Obama’s lead is still paper-thin.

In Ohio, the state that was decisive in the 2004 election and may well be decisive in this one, John McCain is actually ahead slightly.

The roller coaster ride called the American election goes on.