Obama Should Stick to the Message of Hope

You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession. We may have a recession; we haven't had one yet. We have sort of become a nation of whiners. You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline.

--Phil Gramm

Phil Gramm is right. There is no recession. The economy is growing.

He didn't say this but I guess what he meant was that it's a figment of your imagination, these high gas prices. When people are out there losing their homes and property values are declining, that's not a figment of your imagination and it isn't whining to ask government to step in and give families some relief.

--Barack Obama

If you think GDP has declined over the past few quarters, it is absolutely a figment of your imagination.

What do "these high gas prices" have to do with it? I thought Democrats understood that oil is a non-renewable resource and therefore things made from it must get more expensive as time goes forward until we find alternatives.

What does more affordable property values have to do with it? Prices go up and down. Government stepping in to give relief won't change that.

A hopeful, optimistic candidate would view these developments as opportunities. The spike in gas prices is a reminder that we need to get alternatives in place soon. The lower real estate prices make homes affordable.

If he were explicitly talking about the impact of these things on the poor, I would have a different take. Everyday ups-and-downs of markets are difficult for the poor. That's part of why they call it poor: it means you don't have the money to handle everyday things that come up. I still have hope Obama will become president and institute many difficult-to-dismantle programs that drastically reduce the rate of poverty for generations. But that's not what he's talking about.

Instead his talking about short-term blips the economy: "Why do things have to change? Why can't we have cheap energy? Why can't prices of everything stay the same so we don't have to adapt?"

We are not a nation of whiners; Obama's comments are whining. I can imagine McCain countering with an optimistic response of hope and being adaptive to economic change, and thereby beating Obama at his own game.