[The Age, Australia]
Die Zeit, Germany
The Obama
Regime 'Has Already Begun'
"The governing philosophy of Barack
Obama has already conquered America. … Within two weeks, an entire philosophy
on economic life has gone bankrupt; Wall Street has been fundamentally
restructured and the election campaign has been stood on its head."
By Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff
Translated By Ulf Behncke
October 1, 2008
Germany -
Die Zeit - Original Article (German)
Americans no longer want to
hear about laissez-faire capitalism: How the chaos on Wall Street defines the U.S.
election campaign
The Obama government will
quite possibly begin this week. No, not the tenure of President Obama. Because Obama
the candidate may still lose. But the governing philosophy of Barack Obama,
which has already conquered America. With the advent of the still-embattled rescue
package for Wall Street's banking giants, comes the inevitable end of an era
which began with Ronald Reagan: free markets, low taxes, deregulation.
For decades, every other region
of the globe - particularly Europe - was left far behind by the United States economically.
The phase of laissez-faire capitalism brought fantastic wealth to America. Beyond
reason. Now that the bubble has burst, a period of government intervention into
economic life is to follow. Probably not European-style regulation, but according
to Barack Obama, "free" rather than "wild" markets.
Within two weeks, an entire
philosophy on economic life has gone bankrupt; Wall Street has been
fundamentally restructured and the election campaign has been stood on its head.
The people no longer want to hear about unregulated markets, but rather about
ideas about how to subdue them. And so they want to hear from Barack Obama. Not
that long ago his opponent John McCain held a small lead, but that has since
evaporated. This crisis is benefitting Barack Obama.
First of all, the financial
crisis has altered the agenda. It's no longer Iraq, but the economy. It's no
longer about Palin, but the financial crisis. And then of course, the agenda
has changed because chaos reigns. Americans have long wanted change. But now, in
the midst of the growing confusion, they want more than anything else a fresh
start. Every hour of chaos favors Barack Obama.
Let's recall that distant
time, perhaps six weeks ago, when Obama was confronted by a candidate who
admitted that economic policy was not one of his strong points - although he's been a respectable battler against waste and for lower taxes. But during the
weeks of financial turmoil, McCain has emerged as impulsive and volatile and yes,
unpredictable.
He has also had to experience
journalists digging through the archives, bringing to light his record as a
deregulator. All of a sudden, McCain was seen as being a party to the excesses of
Wall Street, despite the way he fulminates against it. All of a sudden it
emerged that McCain was for these excesses before he was against them. The
crisis has undermined McCain's central messages of change and reform, which are
words that Republicans can also spell.
Think back six months ago. At
the time, Hillary Clinton trekked from one Midwest working-class neighborhood
to another, presenting herself as the candidate of the "little guy." Barack
Obama seemed to some like the candidate from a distant galaxy - aloof and
professorial. The Harvard graduate seemed to have no sense of the needs and
concerns of the working-class. Even after having won the nomination, Hillary
Clinton was still celebrating large victories in some major industrial regions.
Just a few weeks ago, a
leading Democratic strategist said that Obama had secured the "arugula
vote," and that all he needed now was the "ham and cheese vote."
What he meant to say was, "cappuccino drinkers, whole foods fans and other
urban liberals weren’t enough. What Obama needed were old-fashioned double-decker
sandwich eating unionists."
The crisis it seems, is
drawing this group closer to the Democrats. In the first televised debate, Obama
successfully introduced himself as the candidate for the man on the street. Admittedly,
he didn't do so as emotionally or laced with as many personal anecdotes as Bill
Clinton, but he was nonetheless effective. Obama’s statement that the crisis
had hit "Main Street" much earlier than it hit "Wall Street"
has to be one of the most electorally successful phrases from Obama's campaign
speeches.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Everybody knows that
unemployment has long been on the rise, particularly in rural areas, and
that wages have been stagnant for years. Compared to John McCain, even the
sometimes distant Barack Obama comes across like a labor leader. Barack Obama
keeps telling his audience at every turn that during the debate, John McCain
never once used the term "middle class." Tens of thousands jeer and
howl every time Obama brings this up.
Thanks to the drama on Wall
Street, Barack Obama has managed to carve out a substantial lead - eight
percentage points, according to some nationwide polls. And the momentum is still
with Obama. But we know that America doesn’t vote as a single unit, but rather as
52 separate regions. Anyone taking a close look at the states that count realizes
that Obama’s lead is still paper-thin.
In Ohio, the State that
decided the 2004 election and could do so again, John McCain continues to be
marginally ahead. The roller coaster called the American election rolls on.
CLICK
HERE FOR GERMAN VERSION
[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
October 13, 5:58pm]
