What's the Plan?

William Galston has some strong words for Barack Obama:

I'll get right to the point: You are in danger of squandering an election most of us thought was unlosable. The reason is simple: on the electorate’s most important concern – the economy -- you have no clear message, and John McCain has filled the void with his own.

But just yesterday my liberal friend told me all about Obama's reponse to yesterday's economic problems, a great six point plan for the economy. (He didn't know what the points were, but still, it was great.) So, what are those six points?

So, I googled "obama six point plan economy" I got some notes about a Bush six point plan from 2003, and an article from last March with an Obama six point economic plan. The only recent reference I could find was this:

Obama reiterated a six-point economic plan affecting Wall Street that included more oversight, transparency and streamlining of regulatory agencies, cracking down on market manipulation, and regulating institutions for "what they do, not for what they are."

Sounds pretty standard to me. What's McCain's economic plan? His site says:

John McCain has a comprehensive economic plan that will create millions of good American jobs, ensure our nation's energy security, get the government's budget and spending practices in order, and bring relief to American consumers. Read each of the sections below to learn how the McCain Economic Plan will help bring reform, prosperity and peace to America.

It goes on to outline plans for: workplace flexibility (I'm all for this, but not sure what the government's role in it can be without mandates), lower taxes on gas, government reform, support for small businesses, lowering barriers to trade, simpler taxes, etc. Again, sounds fine enough, but pretty standard.

What does Barack Obama's site say about his economic plan? (Off topic, but the first thing that I notice is that BarackObama.com takes me to a site where I have to register my name and contact information. I search around and low on the screen and very small is the button that allows me to skip this step- annoying. Moreover, his site is fancy and full of pictures of him and Biden bathed in heavenly light, and it is slow!). His plans involve basically what we have heard before- middle class tax cuts, windfall profits taxes, something about a Job and Growth Fund that I can't quite figure out, simplify tax filings, etc. Here's an interesting one: eliminate taxes on seniors making over $50,000/year. I can't quite follow that one- how much do seniors making that little pay in the first place? It can't be much, if anything at all. And even so, I would think that a family w/ kids in that pay range is probably better suited for needing such a tax break. Anyway, it goes on and on (and on and on). I didn't see any mention of a 6 point plan, though.

So, on the whole, I can see what Mr. Galston was saying- thereis no coherent message here. Unlike McCain's site, there is no summary and point by point issue, just pages of information that I can't imagine anybody sitting down and reading just out of curiosity.

The Humor Campaign

A discussion of McCain’s “Humor Campaign”

Will it work? It’s hard to say. I’m thinking that it’s pretty much unprecedented in presidential elections, but it’s certainly grabbed a lot of attention during what is traditionally a very slow period in the presidential race, and people do appreciate a sense of humor (I think that John Kerry’s tendency to take himself far too seriously certainly worked against him last time, and we all remember the wooden Al Gore.) Of course, Bob Dole is a very funny guy (I doubt that he does the late night shows anymore, but when he did, they were a riot), but I don’t think that he ever attempted to capitalize on that during his campaign.

Plus, there’s this:

The laugh-laced attacks have offered Democrats an unappealing set of options:
Respond to the substance of the criticism and look humorless -- or play along,
and risk permanent laughingstock.

I think that Dems have risked appearing humorless a lot lately, pretty much since they got the reputation of having to make everything PC, so this might really play to that.

McCain family

I think that it’s interesting (and admirable, but quizzical) that John McCain almost never talks about his family- Some people know that his son is a solider who was in Iraq, but I’ve never heard him bring it up. Likewise, people don’t know this story (courtesy of gatwaypundit ):

(I)n 1991 Cindy McCain was visiting Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh when
a dying infant was thrust into her hands. The orphanage could not provide the
medical care needed to save her life, so Mrs. McCain brought the child home to
America with her. She was met at the airport by her husband, who asked what all
this was about.Mrs. McCain replied that the child desperately needed surgery and
years of rehabilitation. "I hope she can stay with us," she told her husband.
Mr. McCain agreed. Today that child is their teenage daughter Bridget....(T)here
was a second infant Mrs. McCain brought back. She ended up being adopted by a
young McCain aide and his wife."We were called at midnight by Cindy," Wes
Gullett remembers, and "five days later we met our new daughter Nicki at the
L.A. airport wearing the only clothing Cindy could find on the trip back, a 7-Up
T-shirt she bought in the Bangkok airport." Today, Nicki is a high school
sophomore. Mr. Gullett told me, "I never saw a hospital bill" for her care.

I wonder what it would change if he brought this sort of thing up.