The real issue is that, if you corner any of these Republican economic 'leaders', they will still claim that regulation is the root of all evil, that the market will eventually settle itself, and that any government interference is bad because it messes with the 'dog eat dog' aspect of a free market.
The problem with that thinking is that it results in the wild swings that have pocked our financial history as a nation, when panics were part of the business cycles, trusts were a way of maintaining an immutable upper class, and hunger and poverty were ever present to varying degrees.
Then, FDR said 'enough!', and people protected to a certain degree from the wolves. This worked for many years, until the new generations of Republicans decided that the 'old ways' were best - either through ignorance or criminal avarice. They spewed deregulation as a religion, and DID restore us to the 'good old days', where people could see their life savings vanish in a single day.
Now, Obama renews FDR's cry of 'enough!' The Republicans have no counter, because it is not in their DNA. It is not so much a question of leadership, or character, or even experience. It is now a matter of the very natures of the candidates. McCain cannot and will not be a leader who can do the work necessary - restoring the safeguards installed by FDR - and Obama can and will. |
