If you watch the clip, you may agree with me that Chris Matthews was dead wrong today on Hardball in asserting -- if Obama can somehow articulate a bridge to the future for the next generation -- that white, middle-class mothers under age 45, with whom he's apparently slipping in national polls, will vote for him.
Note that this is a one hour Charlie Rose clip, with guests: New York Times' Floyd Norris and Gretchen Morgenson as well as PIMCO's Mohamed El-Erian, and New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini -- about the economy we inherit from George Bush.
The reason he's wrong is that Matthews, an elite media celebrity with a multi-million dollar, multi-year contract, is incapable of legitimately assessing the true state of the U.S. economy in all its frightening middle-class context -- given the ongoing housing collapse and in the wake of taxpayer-funded bailouts of Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
And the reason Matthews' too future oriented strategy would fail is -- because each passing day leading to this election, millions of mothers (and fathers) in this country are becoming increasingly panicky. Like 2004, such troubled people may yet again not vote for change. Instead, they may again mistakenly vote for normal, for a fictional, nostalgic Andy Griffith past, when times were somehow better -- a natural avoidance to the bleak future we see every day on the TV news and reflected in the Dow Jones' Industrial Average.
Today, millions of middle-class Americans are standing on the rooftops of George Bush's Katrina Economy. The water is rising -- and we're praying that, somehow, a helicopter is coming!
If that helicopter arrives, there may be a growing fear among us that the pilot might be different (young, black, thoughtful, highly-educated and articulate). And we're not used to that. So, as in the aftermath of 911, some of us may be fearful enough to again vote Republican; to vote for Grandpa, the War Hero and an unknown white, pretty, and eerily familiar mother that would carry her disabled child to term, no matter the defect.
Thus, like 2004, this election seems once again to have unfortunately descended -- to personality, values, and now even added race. Panic, after all, is an emotion. And emotion muddles clear thinking.
How can any woman's children cross a bridge to future when parents lose their house, their jobs and their tiny, but highly coveted, trickle down slice of the American dream?
I know it's insane! With McCain-Palin, the helicopter never gases up, let alone rescues anyone -- anyone not listed on the Fortune 500. But with Obama-Biden, and a new Congress, there could, just maybe, still be a chance for us...
So, Messers Obama and Biden, please do all you can to empathize with middle-class voters' gnawing, growing sense of economic panic. Like Reagan in 1980, level with us each day, especially during the debates. We need to better understand why things are so bad and how much more likely they are to worsen under the utter disregard and financial profligacy of the Bush administration's 3rd term Presidential candidate, John McCain. Like Ross Perot, consider resorting to pie charts and statistics if you must. That giant sucking sound is getting louder and much of the time we can barely hear ourselves think.
So, first, just calm us down! Then clearly and rationally demonstrate exactly why and, most importantly, how you will help those of us most in need first -- instead of yet another victory lap for global Capitalism's winners' circle. Then Democrats can win, for once, and finally get a chance to help.