From indicting the modern Republican economy, to preventing a short-term panic about the liquidity crisis, to laying the groundwork for long-term economic reform along the lines of the New Deal, Obama delivered big this week.
Let's set the table with comments from Palin and Biden last night, in a different context, but very relevant to the economic crisis:
PALIN: Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You prefaced your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead ....
Cute. How about some truth:
BIDEN: If you don't understand what the cause is, it's virtually impossible to come up with a solution.
Obama this week on the cause of the economic crisis:
It’s the result of an economic philosophy that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else; a philosophy that views even the most common-sense regulations as unwise and unnecessary. And this crisis is the final verdict on this failed philosophy – a philosophy that we cannot afford to continue.
Over the past two weeks, Obama has managed to issue this scathing indictment about the fundamentals of the Republican economic philosophy without being perceived as a wild partisan during the highly controversial debate over the liquidity crisis.
Just the opposite.
While John McCain was lurching from one position to the next, Barack Obama was a rock.
Here's what he did: (1) he used his campaign megaphone judiciously to influence the debate and make the final bill better; (2) he did it without making himself the center of attention or grandstanding at the expense of the nation; and (3) he framed the larger debate around the need for tough "rules of the road" and a requirement that Wall Street pay its fair share, including a Wall Street tax if the rescue funds are not recouped.
Throughout, he demonstrated steady leadership, with no drama, culminating in his floor statement in the Senate this evening:
I do not think this is going to be easy. It's not going to come without costs. We are all going to need to sacrifice. We're all going to need to pull our weight. Because now, more than ever, we are all in this together....
During the great financial crisis of the last century, in his first fireside chat, F.D.R. told his fellow Americans that, "There is an element in the readjustment of our financial system more important than currency, more important than gold and that is the confidence of the people themselves. Confidence and courage are the essentials of success in carrying out our plan. Let us unite in banishing fear." Today we cannot fail. We cannot fail -- not now, not tomorrow, not next year.
Under fire, on a politically unpopular bill that generated outrage, and despite the resistance of many in his base, Obama did not fail.
He's the leader of the Democratic Party.
He's a Democratic Senator.
And the Democratic Senate acted decisively earlier in the week, with the House following suit today, to end the confusion that was further undermining confidence and fueling fear in the midst of this Republican economic crisis.
And Obama accomplished this while building his capital to aggressively advocate for progressive solutions during his Presidency, both on the short-term liquidity crisis and the long-term economy:
If we do have losses, I’ve proposed a Financial Stability Fee on the financial services industry so Wall Street foots the bill – not the American taxpayer. And as I modernize the financial system to create new rules of the road to prevent another crisis, we will continue this fee to build up a reserve so that if this happens again, it will be the money contributed by banks that’s put at risk.
This will only work if there is real enforcement and real accountability. And that starts with presidential leadership. So let me be very clear: when I am President, financial institutions will do their part and pay their share, and American taxpayers will never again have to put their money on the line to pay for the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street. That’s a pledge that I’ll make to you today, and it’s one that I’ll keep as President of the United States.
This week, Obama managed to indict the overall Republican economy in the most forceful terms and lay the groundwork for fundamental economic change while still helping to foster a bipartisan approach to the acute, short-term crisis in the credit market.
A remarkable combination of political leadership and statesmanship on the eve of the Presidential election worthy of FDR.
That's this week's story.