McCain calls 'fundamentals of our economy' strong

Posted By Blake Hounshell Monday, September 15, 2008 - 7:02 PM Share

I see that Matt Yglesias is hammering John McCain for saying this morning that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong," and so is Barack Obama (although the latter is conveniently omitting McCain's following remarks, "but these are very, very difficult times."). Watch him here:

It is a pretty tone deaf thing to say on a day when the Dow loses more than 500 points -- its worst session in seven years. And it is looking increasingly false, Donald Luskin's horribly timed best efforts to the contrary.

But still, is what McCain said any different than what Obama might be saying a year from now if he's in the Oval Office and -- as many expect -- things continue to go south? What's he going to tell the American people then? "This economy is going down in flames! Head for the hills and hide the children!"

EXPLORE:DECISION '08
 

KIDZIB

6:21 PM ET

September 15, 2008

What are the "fundamentals"?

Obama has been making mention of McCain's line on the "fundamentals" of our economy being strong for quite some time now. McCain hasn't stopped using it, so he obviously has a vastly different meaning of the term. Both candidates should be asked in the debates what exactly they mean by "fundamentals." If Obama wants to define the issue ahead of time, he should pre-emptively declare "fundamentals" to be the regulatory underpinnings of the banking and financial sectors. That way, the new congress can pass fresh regulatory measures in early 2009 and President Obama can honestly claim a year from now that the fundamentals are strong once again and the economy is on track to rebound successfully. He can then just wait out the rough patch, take credit for the recovery, and gain a few seats in the Senate in 2010. If the Democrats can increase their number of Senate seats to 57 in this election then they will be in very good shape to secure a filibuster-proof majority in the next midterm elections.

 

KIDZIB

6:59 PM ET

September 15, 2008

McCain just pre-empted...

From Ben Smith @ Politico: http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/McCain_camp_Fundamentals__American_people.html?showall

"Fundamentals" = "The American people."

Pretty weak if you ask me. Who in their right mind is going to argue that the American people are weak? Other than, you know, Phil Gramm and Donald Luskin...

 

KIDZIB

7:34 PM ET

September 15, 2008

Obama on "Fundamentals"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW_LzurwsGM

Fundamentals for Obama are family savings, low unemployment, etc. Stronger than McCain's definition for sure, but still not completely developed.

 

SAM

7:18 PM ET

September 15, 2008

well, I am an Obama

well, I am an Obama supporter but I shall say I am so embarrassed by the way he is leading his campaign these days. He should start talking about what he would do, if he was in the Office This Morning, what he would do, what decisions he would have made. who he would have talked to, and how he would have addressed the American People about it. This is what a leader should do, not attacking his opponent who has nothing to do with what is happening now. and the irony is, McCain among all republicans is the most centrist, most close to democrats that we could have had on the republican ticket.

 

KIDZIB

7:39 PM ET

September 15, 2008

not true

The Obama campaign is one of the slickest and best managed campaigns in American history. McCain is the 5th most conservative Senator in the United States (95th of 100): http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Senate/lib_senator_ratings-2007.html

 

PAUL GAUTHIER

11:10 PM ET

September 15, 2008

Bloomberg

Mayor Bloomberg:

"I do agree that fundamentally America has an economy that is strong," he said. "America’s great strength is its diversity, its hard work, its good financial statements, its broad capital markets,its enormous natural resources" and its work ethic, he said.

"I'd rather play America's hand than any other country," he said. "Without problems? No."

 

RUFUSJSQUIRREL

1:56 AM ET

September 16, 2008

Come Now

I don't expect the president or a presidential candidate to paint things in an excessively negative light. But I don't expect them to yammer on about fundamentals being strong when they're clearly not. You have Fingar saying we're heading for steady decline (for perfectly good reasons we can already see at work), the financial markets coming apart at the seams and real wages heading south for nearly a decade.

It's not hell in a handbasket but it also definitely isn't "strong". I agree that things are being a little overplayed - and I am always about six months behind being comfortable with predictions - but things are not exactly looking good. To pretend otherwise does absolutely no one any good.

What we're looking for here is a solution. And if you can't even see a real problem, how are you going to fix it?

 

JGARZIK

4:16 PM ET

September 16, 2008

Morale

It is difficult to balance between explaining the reality of the situation, and convincing people not to lose all hope.

McCain would be under fire for insulting the American populace if he describes the fundamentals of America (note, I excluded the word "economy") as weak.

It's also true that the current crisis disproportionately impacts financial services; you don't see huge layoffs and collapses in the tech, industrial, and health care sectors for example.

 

JGARZIK

4:23 PM ET

September 16, 2008

Side note, the HP layoffs

Side note, the HP layoffs were largely expected, as a result of the merger, so I intentionally excluded that example.

 

GABEH73

1:49 PM ET

September 16, 2008

$50/hour McCain has no grasp of the world

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWOZKeOauNI

But Obama is just as big a stooge for the Military Industrial Complex. The two party system is rigged...we have one party.

 

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