Elitist is off the table, folks. McCain is married to an heiress and just received the endorsement of Lady de Rothschild. Mittster and and RudyJules are also not allowed to use said phrase…
Per 538.org, the race is pro-Obama (popular and electoral).
Both sides are guilty of associations with those involved in the building financial crises we are undergoing.
But McCain has been a long-time supporter of deregulation (Keating S&L and on) or surrounds himself with those who lobbied for deregulation (Campaign Manager, Rick Davis, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac).
As of July 2008, Merrill Lynch employees have given $297,000 to the Arizona Republican and $191,000 to Sen. Obama, an Illinois Democrat.
Lehman employees gave $361,000 to Sen. Obama’s campaign and $117,500 to Sen. McCain’s campaign.
And Obama has received a significantly proportionate amount of donations in comparison to McCain from Fannie.
This crisis began in the Clinton Administration (Nov. 1999) and grew reckless under the Bush Admininistration and Republican controlled Congress. Note, the Gramm bill vote was pretty much down party lines and acquired a veto-proof majority.
And before you chant “McCain” and “2005″, he actually wanted to alter the Gramm 1999 bill so that regulation would be handled by an independent agency and out of the hands of Congressional oversight.
Therefore, both parties are to blame.
It’s just that the current Republicans have been wrong about this issue much more than the Democrats have been wrong about this issue.
And while Obama surrounds himself with heavy-hitting financial advisors, McCain surrounds himself with lobbyists and architects of deregulation.
Credit-swap-default is the brain child baby of such lack of regulation. And now there is an additional $700B proposal to congress to get us out of this sorry mess that has boomed under the umbrella of deregulation.
The Obama campaign isn’t desperate. It doesn’t have to be. McCain is a Republican and the R’s were at the healm of the deregulation. The longer there is a financial crisis, the advantage falls to the Democrats.
Of course, who knows what the landscape wil be in late October/early November.
But nothing reeks “desperation” like picking Tina Fey as your running mate, IMHO.
