The Only Show in Town

J. Jennings Moss writes from New York: Here's the latest from the candidates on the financial mess.

John McCain: A day after he said the economy was fundamentally strong despite Wall Street's crisis, the G.O.P. nominee took a decidedly darker view. McCain hit the TV interview circuit today to call for reforms and a commission modeled on the one that investigated 9/11.

McCain said that his initial comment about the strength of the economy was really about American workers. "They've been betrayed by a casino on Wall Street of greedy, corrupt excess -- corruption and excess that has damaged them and their futures," he told ABC. On CNBC, he said the government shouldn't be in the bailout business. "When you see these people who are the top executives, after really having failing enterprises, and not succeeding, leaving with these huge packages, that makes the American people cynical, and, frankly, it threatens the free enterprise system, and lends itself sometimes to over-regulation," he said.

Barack Obama: The Democratic nominee stumped in Colorado on Monday and tried to pin the economic blame on McCain by virtue of the fact he's part of George W. Bush's party. "Senator McCain, you can't run away from your words and you can't run away from your record," Obama said. "When it comes to the economy, you've stood firmly with George Bush and failed economic theory, and what you're offering is more of the same."

Obama today further pushed the idea with a new campaign ad called "Fundamentals" that invoked September 15 as a day that will be remembered for a long time and asked "How can John McCain fix our economy ... if he doesn't understand that it's broken?"

Joe Biden: Obama's running mate went on CNBC and said the following needed to happen to help the economy: the "bleeding" of the economy needed to be stopped, jobs needed to be created, personal bankruptcy laws needed to be changed, and common-sense regulation needed to be implemented.

"The fundamentals in this economy have not been strong. You've got a trillion dollars in new debt to new governments. You're borrowing money from China to pay for Saudi oil. You're in a situation where we're left with a $400 billion debt this year. Why? Because of a war we're involved in in Iraq at $10 billion a month, and a tax policy where money's flying out the door on the top income earners."

Sarah Palin: Finally, McCain's running mate seems to be running in a different campaign altogether. On Monday, she said as vice president she'd be focusing on energy policy, government reform, and the needs of special kids.

Palin's still talking about opposing the "Bridge to Nowhere" even after a number of media outlets reported that's really not what happened in Alaska. And she's dealing with an investigation back home into whether she sought to have her ex-brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. Here's a shocker: one of her people says she won't cooperate with a state legislative probe because it's tainted with politics. Does that argument really fly with anyone anymore?

J. Jennings Moss