Obama: No Time for Fear or Panic. Time for Resolve and Leadership

Ed Sills, director of communications for the Texas AFL-CIO, follows up on Tuesday’s presidential debate and highlights Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign speech in Indiana, which demonstrated his statesman-like approach to our economic crisis.   

Sen. Barack Obama did just fine in Tuesday night’s debate with Sen. John McCain, and he scored—or benefited from—the points that will stick in people’s minds. 

Most anyone in the union movement would have just about jumped out of his or her chair when McCain called health care a “responsibility” and Obama joined the AFL-CIO in proclaiming health care a “right.” Couple this with McCain’s plans to tax health care benefits and to cut (or “reduce the cost” of) Social Security and Medicare, and the contrast was made nicely. It didn’t hurt, either, that commentators seized on McCain’s finger-pointing use of the phrase, “That One” to describe Obama.  

The best thing about Obama’s day, however, has been his follow-up. He’s still pouncing on McCain’s missteps in discussing health care, but he also is channeling Franklin D. Roosevelt in beginning to talk the nation through hard economic times. 

From an Associated Press story: 

Speaking to several thousand people in Indianapolis on Wednesday, Obama acknowledged public anxiety over the financial crisis. 

“This isn’t a time for fear or panic,’ he said. ‘This is a time for resolve and leadership.” 

Obama criticized Republican rival John McCain’s economic and health care plans, saying they will continue the failed policies of President Bush. He said his ideas are better. 

“I know that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis. Because that’s who we are,” Obama said. “This is a nation that has faced down war and depression, great challenges and great threats.” 

This is the voice of someone who is starting to plot out a presidency even as he tries to win votes, the voice of someone who is actively avoiding a low road that might make voters even angrier at “the rascals” but also harm the economy.  

When debate moderator Tom Brokaw asked Obama if he thought the economy would get worse before it got better, it was a test of sorts. Any number of dispassionate analysts would answer that question “Probably.” But a presidential candidate needs to bring optimism to the table when it’s needed, as well as a dose of reality when it’s called for. Obama instead said, “No,” and talked about how to avoid a worsening of the situation. 

The frame, the subtext and the message continue to revolve around “Yes, we can,” and it has never varied. That says a lot.

_________________________________

Paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Political Contributions Committee, www.aflcio.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

		Become a Fan on Facebook			Follow Us on Twitter			Subscribe to YouTube			Subscribe to Blog RSS

Print This Article | E-Mail This Article |Comments (3)