It's the Stupid Economics, Stupid!

The Gone Old Party has long been the home of two species of fundamentalists: Fundamentalist Economus and Fundamentalist Religulous.

The alliance between the two has been uneasy, but victories have often been sufficient to paper over their differences.

John McCain is an eco-fundie, but not a religio-fundie. He has, however, sold his soul to the devil -- the religio-fundies -- in his desperate attempt to win the presidency.

For her part, Sarah Palin is both a religio-fundie and an eco-fundie.

But all that matters in this election is the economy, and, try as he might, Sen. McCain cannot escape from his lifelong adherence to economic fundamentalism: Thou shalt honor the Market thy God, and thou shalt have no other gods before It. It must be left to rule us without interference.

It is the economic fundamentalism that reigned in the 1920s and led to the Great Depression.

That same economic fundamentalism has been dominant in the presidency of George W. Bush and it has run the economy into the ground once again. And John McCain has genuflected before it religiously.

In 1960, a photo of an unsavory-looking Richard Nixon (I know, I know -- is there any other way he looked?) with the caption, "Would you buy a used car from this man?" was popular among Democrats.

The same type of photo of McCain works this year, with "used economic philosophy" replacing "used car."

All the Obama campaign people need to remember is a variant of the sign in the 1992 Clinton war room:

It's the Stupid Economics, Stupid! Remind Everyone of it!

Historian Robert S. McElvaine is Elizabeth Chisholm Professor of Arts & Letters at Millsaps College. His latest book is Grand Theft Jesus: The Hijacking of Religion in America .

Comments

[schatsie]

05:07 AM on 10/14/2008

I just hope that Obama realizes (of course he does) that the Wall Streeters are the ones who drove us into the DITCH with the Repugs egging them on all the way.....The very first thing he needs to do is
EXTEND UNEMPLOYMENT and MAKE IT TAX EXEMPT and PUT A SIGNIFICANT SURTAX ON INCOMES OVER 1 MILLION, at least 15% for Payroll Taxes (both sides employer and employee)...

This will get the Hedge Fund Managers taxes up to 30%....Also have analysis done on the AMT with regard to increasing the percentage...(were hedge fund managers exempt from AMT, if so, why?)

I also want analysis done on who benefits from the Real Estate writeoffs for interest and also for property taxes....

[Kram]

11:01 AM on 10/14/2008

They need to bring back 94% marginal tax rates on the uber rich, and make it retroacitve!

[TomTheAlmostUgly]

01:45 AM on 10/14/2008

As I understand it, the sign in the Obama war room is "No Drama." That no-drama rule is how he beat Hillary, and how he's beating McCain. Hillary then, and McCain now, had/have all sorts of backstage battles that make great political-reporting copy, while Obama&Co. quietly rack up more votes.

[Glenn1441]

03:22 AM on 10/14/2008

So true. Hilary's campaign was a daily soap opera of melodramatic stunts. McCain's? Worse than imaginable.

[darker]

09:25 PM on 10/13/2008

REPUBLICAN economic fundamentalism in the 1920s and led to the Great Depression.
REPUBLICAN economic fundamentalism since Reagan in 1980's led to the Great Economic Collapse.

REPUBLICANS = SNAKE OIL.

don't vote for snake oil anymore!

[bootcamp]

08:26 AM on 10/14/2008

Palin-McCain has nowhere to go now but down. He can run away from President Bush, but he can't run away from the Republican Party. The Republicans will be regarded from now on as "the party that wrecked America." Over the weeks ahead, as carnage in the economy and the financial markets ramps up, it will become increasingly clear. It is important that this meme be spread through the internet. I urge all commentators to adopt and spread the idea that the Republicans are "the party that wrecked America." It will work because it is the truth.