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Dec. 1, 2008

Max Freidlander, as told to Jacklyn C. Wadler: India Inkings

Mark Steyn: Whodunit!?

Nov. 28, 2008

Rabbi Ahron Rapps: An evil seed that didn't have to be

Melanie Phillips: Carpe diem --- or can we all relax now?

Nov. 26, 2008

Michael Feldberg: Meet the Orthodox Jew who laid groundwork for scientific development of ordnance that undergirds America's current world leadership

Andrea Simantov: Shades of life

Nov. 25, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Getting Emotional For Influence

The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman : Thanksiving feast!

Nov. 24, 2008

Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: 'I just Became a grandchild!'

Barry Rubin: Don't flatter your enemies, protect your friends

Nov. 21, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Money matters?

Caroline B. Glick: Civilization walks the plank

Nov. 20, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bronfman's blindness

The Kosher Gourmet By Linda Gassenheimer: Portobellos add a hearty flavor to pasta with pesto

Nov, 19, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Spread the wealth? Jewish tradition and income equality

Elliot B. Gertel: 'Mad Men': Tackling prejudices or reinforcing them?

Nov, 18, 2008

Dr. Debby Schwarz Hirschhorn: The End of the Age of Reason

Jonathan Tobin: Does Barack + Bibi = Disaster?

Nov, 17, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The End of the Age of Reason

Diana West: Gulling Americans into making terror legit?

Nov, 14, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: The Power of Spiritual Inertia

Caroline B. Glick: The perils ahead

Nov, 13, 2008

Stratfor Intelligence Briefing: How Bush and Obama together could change the Middle East dynamic

The Kosher Gourmet by JeanMarie Brownson: Sweet and savory, crispy and meltingly tender bestilla

Nov, 12, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Tyrannical Co-Workers

Michael Doyle: High Court to consider today donated monuments that may have religious messages in public parks

Nov, 11, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Will Obama stop government officials considering institutionalizing financial jihad?

Jonathan Tobin: They Will Decide Their Own Fate

Nov, 10, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: $8 billion, modern-day Tower of Babel being built?

Barry Rubin: A letter to the president-elect from a Middle East realist

Nov, 7, 2008

Rabbi Francis Nataf: Of Children and Immortality

Caroline B. Glick: Livni's Obama strategy

Nov, 6, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: How I tricked a classroom of apathetic students into grasping the fallacy of moral relativism

The Kosher Gourmet By Gina Kim: Tips for making the perfect soup --- includes recipes

Nov, 5, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Destitute Debtors

Bruce Weinstein: 'Religulos': Bad title,even worse movie

Nov, 4, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Treasury Dept. submits to Shariah law

Frida Ghitis: A surprise for Obama in the Middle East

Nov, 3, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: Who says Jews are Smart?

Jonathan Tobin: Was He Wrong About Everything?

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Oct. 14, 2008 / 15 Tishrei 5769

What about the economy Obama, McCain?

By James Klurfeld


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | There was a surreal quality to the presidential debate Tuesday night that was very discouraging. Even as both candidates went about their scripted, well-rehearsed routines, they all but ignored the 800-pound gorilla stalking around the room: the global financial meltdown.

Oh, sure, both John McCain and Barack Obama gave a grudging acknowledgment to the gorilla. How could they not? But then they proceeded to debate each other as if the gorilla had left the building. Health-care plans, energy plans, getting rid of lobbyists in Washington, eliminating earmarks and, of course, cutting taxes. Obama talked about how he had warned of excessive deregulation of the financial markets. McCain talked about how he had warned of the lending practices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

It all seemed so irrelevant to what's really on everyone's minds: How are we going to survive the financial meltdown? How long will it last? How much will we have to sacrifice?

At the very least, somebody needs to give a clear explanation of what has gone wrong. The political blame game has not done it. What I was looking for in the debate was some candor, not oversimplified finger-pointing. There has rarely been a sadder example of the disjunction between campaigning and governing than the debate Tuesday night.

Maybe I expect too much. Clearly there are no magic potions out there that will, presto-chango, bring back our faltering markets or instantly restore our depleted retirement funds. But I was waiting for some straight talk, something that McCain was willing to do back in the 2000 campaign and that the super-articulate Obama has done so well, at times, this year.

But neither candidate even tried to give a sober explanation of why things have gone so wrong and why the steps the government is taking now are necessary. Yes, the race is still so close that any possible misstatement or even a discouraging note will be turned into a devastating 30-second sound bite by one campaign against the other. But if a candidate doesn't call for sacrifice during a campaign, on what basis can he or she ask for it once in office?

President George W. Bush has seemed almost irrelevant to this financial crisis. The leadership burden has fallen to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke. But they are more technocrats than political leaders. So is either Obama or McCain up to the role that Franklin Roosevelt played during the Great Depression, explaining complex matters clearly and giving the American people a sense of hope?

Neither stepped up to the task Tuesday night. Both chose the politically safe route: keep to the mantra of tax cuts, don't even hint at anything smacking of real sacrifice by the American people, and don't dare suggest that our own profligate ways have anything to do with the crisis. Just blame it on Wall Street and the Washington lobbyists.

McCain's proposal for the government to purchase faltering mortgages and refinance them for homeowners might be a sound program. It's the type of big concept that should have been part of the debate. But he presented the concept in such a confusing manner, using verbal shorthand and garbled syntax, that its impact was largely lost on the audience. And much of the media seemed as interested in the fact that McCain referred to Obama as "that one" in answering a question, than in the concept - let alone the details - of McCain's mortgage proposal.

I believe both McCain and Obama are better than the campaigns they are running. I was attracted to Obama in the primaries because he seemed to understand intuitively that he must bridge the gaps between left and right to govern effectively. McCain, in his better moments, also has been willing to govern from the center, but his recent tendency has been to campaign from the gutter. That won't work when the problems we face are so serious.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

Comment by clicking here.

James Klurfeld is a professor of journalism at Stony Brook University.


Previously:

09/04/08:Palin stunningly wrong choice by McCain
05/01/08: Carter, Hart ... and Obama?
04/12/08: Election year politics and the cost of war
04/02/08: Time for a '30s-style government mortgage role
03/11/08: Power rightly belongs to Dem superdelegates
03/04/08: A neophyte looks like a pro, and vice versa
02/22/08: The allure of Obama for young people
02/19/08: Obama sounds good, but words aren't enough


© 2008, Newsday Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

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