According to this Reuters/Zogby poll, John McCain is seen as a better steward of the economy than either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton by 3 and 5 points, respectively. That's just bizarre. When did it stop being conventional wisdom that Democrats are stronger on the economy than Republicans, particularly when we're in a quasi-recession with myriad economic problems on the horizon?
The scary conclusion is that a lot of voters simply don't associate John McCain with the GOP despite the fact that, these days, he follows the party line on economic matters (among other areas of policy). Consider McCain's big speech on the economy yesterday. Where it wasn't simply incoherent (let's unnecessarily complicate the tax system!), it was a blanket giveaway to oil companies, the upshot being a cash-starved federal government that must slash entitlements in order to pay for endless war and endless tax cuts for the wealthy.
The trick for Democrats -- and it isn't a particularly hard trick -- is to portray McCain not simply as a third term of Bush but to strip him of his "maverick" gilding and reveal what he really is: a Republican. Remind voters that Republicans are responsible for every important crisis in America today, both foreign and domestic, and then ask them who a better "steward" of the economy would really be. McCain's strength flows from his ability to transcend party. It's time to bring him back down to Earth, the sooner the better.
--Mori Dinauer
