It's no real surprise that one of John McCain's top advisers is also one of the few individuals we can say is actually responsible for the financial meltdown. The problem, though, is that McCain, by assembling a team of advisers who don't agree with each other, gets to dodge all these questions. The economists I know are all comforted by the fact that Doug Holtz-Eakin advises Obama. Phil Gramm is trotted out to appease conservatives. Kevin Hassett is the liason to folks who think the Dow will reach 36,000. And McCain, because everyone agrees he doesn't really care about economic policy and has no consistent record on it, can just be assumed to agree with whatever audience he happens to be talking to that day. Journalists figure he agrees with them, conservatives are hoping he agrees with them, centrists are sure he shares their take, and every group can hold up one particular adviser as evidence that they have the inside track the "real" McCain.
