Outworn?

After pounding on John McCain for a couple weeks, I don't have a problem with a longer spot like this from Obama detailing his response to the economic crisis. It's measured and thoughtful and spells out his plan very strongly, and has a nice image of a strong leader in time of great turbulence.

Script: In the past few weeks, Wall Street's been rocked as banks closed and markets tumbled. But for many of you – the people I've met in town halls, backyards and diners across America – our troubled economy isn't news. 600,000 Americans have lost their jobs since January. Paychecks are flat and home values are falling. It's hard to pay for gas and groceries and if you put it on a credit card they've probably raised your rates. You're paying more than ever for health insurance that covers less and less. This isn't just a string of bad luck. The truth is that while you've been living up to your responsibilities Washington has not. That's why we need change. Real change. This is no ordinary time and it shouldn't be an ordinary election. But much of this campaign has been consumed by petty attacks and distractions that have nothing to do with you or how we get America back on track. Here's what I believe we need to do. Reform our tax system to give a $1,000 tax break to the middle class instead of showering more on oil companies and corporations that outsource our jobs. End the "anything goes" culture on Wall Street with real regulation that protects your investments and pensions. Fast track a plan for energy 'made-in-America' that will free us from our dependence on mid-east oil in 10 years and put millions of Americans to work. Crack down on lobbyists – once and for all -- so their back-room deal-making no longer drowns out the voices of the middle class and undermines our common interests as Americans. And yes, bring a responsible end to this war in Iraq so we stop spending billions each month rebuilding their country when we should be rebuilding ours. Doing these things won't be easy. But we're Americans. We've met tough challenges before. And we can again. I'm Barack Obama. I hope you'll read my economic plan. I approved this message because bitter, partisan fights and outworn ideas of the left and the right won't solve the problems we face today. But a new spirit of unity and shared responsibility will.

I don't know if this is the best way to run an entire campaign, but the choppy seas of the past few weeks necessitated a serious response. The "outworn ideas of the left and right" grates on me, though. It's a battleground state ad and I'm not the audience, but that's a disempowering comment if I've ever heard one. It tells me that as someone on the left I'm responsible for the economic mess, which is plainly untrue.

Obama and Biden have of late pulled away from their layers of praise on John McCain, but the post-partisan rhetoric still tends to linger. I think it's far more useful to point out who's responsible for this mess, which Obama usually does. This ad from Nebraska Senate candidate Scott Kleeb ought to be run nationwide.



There is a name for what has happened to our country, and it's called conservatism. They created the deregulated financial sector and gutted oversight. They enabled Wall Street to gamble with our future. They encouraged a mortgage market that got ridiculous and out of control. They had support from the Bob Rubins of the world, but ultimately this is a familiar fault line, between those who believe in regulated capitalism and those who believe in an unregulated free market. People understand who's been in charge, and they understand why we're here. Obama has frequently made the connection. But I could do without the "outworn ideas of the left and the right."

If there ever were a time to be partisan, it's now, 48 days from an election.