Focus on issues
Russ Morgan
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The voters are watching and waiting.
On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates again in an effort to fend off the recession some economists believe we have already slipped into.
Make no mistake: the economy is tanking. Home foreclosures are rising. The job market is shrinking. The dollar continues to lose value. Prices for food and energy are increasing.
On the international stage, violence in Iraq continues five years after the invasion, and prospects of political progress there remain dim. There is conflict in Israel, unrest in Pakistan, protesting in Tibet, rioting in Kosovo.
From a side stage this election season, President Bush offers his usual platitudes: The economy will be fine. The surge is working.
So we turn our attention to those who would succeed him.
John McCain promises to stay in Iraq for as long as necessary. His pronouncements on economic policy echo those of the Bush Administration, for better or worse.
The Democratic contest, meanwhile, risks being reduced to a slap fight over race versus gender, experience versus inspiration. The news cycle feeds daily on sound bites of back and forth accusations over who has more experience, who can win in November, who is best suited to answer that ringing phone. The Pennsylvania primary is five weeks away, leaving plenty of time for each of the candidates to get in some cheap shots.
Or, and this may be wishful thinking, the candidates could stop targeting each other and start focusing on the issues. Let’s hope they do, for the benefit of the voting public.
Whoever wins this November must be ready to face a multitude of challenges. More than one phone is ringing.
Russ Morgan
Copy editor