Obama Appears to Benefit From Campaign Focus on Economy | Voice of America - English
The turmoil in the U.S. financial markets is dominating the debate in the presidential election campaign, and Democrat Barack Obama appears to be gaining because of it. VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone has more on the political impact of the crisis on Wall Street.
Thenews headlines are hard to ignore. The newspaperdescribes the financial upheaval as the worst crisis since the 1930s,with no end in sight. Voters tend to prefer Democrats duringtough economic times. And Democratic nominee Barack Obama has takenevery opportunity to link the country's economic woes to President Bushand the Republican candidate who wants to succeed him, John McCain. "This is somebody who has been in Congress for 26 years, who put sevenof the most powerful Washington lobbyists in charge of his campaign. And now he tells us that he is the one who is going to take on the 'oldboys network'. The 'old boys network.' In the McCain campaign that iscalled a staff meeting," he said. Senator McCain has had hisstumbles in trying to respond to the financial crisis. Early in theweek, he said the fundamentals of the economy were sound, despite thecurrent upheaval. McCain now says the economy is in crisis. Buthe says Senator Obama and the Democratic-led Congress are partlyresponsible. "My opponent sees an economic crisis as a politicalopportunity instead of a time to lead. Senator Obama isn't change. Heis part of the problem in Washington," McCain said. Bothcandidates have said they want to strengthen the government's role inregulating the financial sector. McCain also wants an independentcommission to investigate the financial crisis similar to the panelthat probed the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Recentpublic opinion surveys show Obama retaking a slim lead over McCain. ACBS News/ poll has Obama ahead by a margin of 48 to 43percent. The survey also found that voters believe Obama is morelikely to bring change to Washington. That margin was 65 to 37 percent. Obamaalso has a four point lead in a new Quinnipiac University poll and atwo-point edge in the latest Gallup daily tracking poll. "If weare focusing on economic issues, which has never been John McCain'sstrength and where Americans are looking for change, and where the CBSpoll suggests one other problem for McCain, which is that a majority ofAmericans see him as a typical Republican, not as an agent of change. The change gap remains extremely strong, then Obama has a verysignificant amount of traction [i.e., has the potential to gainsupporters]," said Norman Ornstein, a political analyst at the AmericanEnterprise Institute in Washington. Polls have long shown thatvoters consider the economy the number one issue in this year'selection, a factor that should favor the Democrats. But McCainsurged in the polls following the Republican convention and his pick ofAlaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate. DonFrederick is politics editor for the newspaper. Frederick told VOA's program that Obama is stilltrying to find a way to connect with voters on economic issues. "Theeconomy is front and center, but it is sort of a vague discontent thatpeople have that they can't really put their finger on. Obama has notbeen able to focus what their discontent should be. The other thingthat has happened over the last year is that Iraq has really becomesubmerged as an issue and, of course, that has helped the Republicansand hurt the Democrats," he said. The selection of Governor Palin has energized Republicans and boosted McCain with some women voters. Butsome experts say the so-called "Palin poll bounce" that came after theRepublican convention is fading, and the race appears to be settlingback to what it was before both party conventions. Ornstein saysthat means a tight race, with a slight advantage to Obama. "The raceright now is very much as it was a few months ago and I believe theunderlying structure will likely leave it there for a while. And thatis a three or four point Obama advantage on a terrain that remains morefavorable to Democrats," he said. McCain's prospects may suffer if the financial turmoil continues to dominate the political debate. ButOrnstein and other analysts also caution to expect more surprises inthe final weeks of a presidential election campaign that hascontinually defied predictions and expectations.