Obama and McCain on the Economic Crisis

Barack Obama tells it like it is, that we are in the worst financial crisis in generations. But can he single-handedly turn our economy around? Surely, what has happened and what surely is bound to happen, and the uncertainty that this financial crisis creates, is certain to put pressure on both McCain and Obama to convince us that they have some kind of plan for the future.

No doubt, with the economic crisis affecting everyone in the U.S. and on a global scale, the two presidential candidates had better step up with a plan to help us get out of this mess.

At this point, I’m still up in the air as to who I’m going to vote for. I’m a registered Democrat, but I’ve voted Republican in the past. To me it doesn’t really matter as to the party, but who I feel will do the best job as President of the United States.

So, in light of the economic woes that have caused much concern since “Black Monday”, I’ve tried to pick up on what both McCain and Obama have had to say about all this:

Michael Cooper of the New York Times had this to say about McCain…

VIENNA, Ohio — On Monday morning, as the financial system absorbed one of its biggest shocks in generations, Senator John McCain said, as he had many times before, that he believed the fundamentals of the economy were “strong.”

Hours later he backpedaled, explaining that he had meant that American workers, whom he described as the backbone of the economy, were productive and resilient. By Tuesday he was calling the economic situation “a total crisis” and denouncing “greed” on Wall Street and in Washington.

The sharp turnabout in tone and substance reflected a recognition not only that Mr. McCain had struck a discordant note at a sensitive moment but also that he had done so with regard to the very issue on which he can least afford to stumble.

With economic conditions worsening over the course of this year and voter anxiety on the rise, Mr. McCain has had to labor to get past the impression — fostered by his own admissions as recently as last year that the subject is not his strongest suit — that he lacks the experience and understanding to address the nation’s economic woes.