Tom Rants

My attention was captured by a throwaway line in James Pethokoukis piece Can McCain Win if There's a Recession?

Among Democrats, nearly half (48%) believe Clinton would best handle the economy, compared with 35% who believe Obama would do a better job. [According to a just released Zogby poll.]

So, if only 35% of Democrats believe Obama would be best to handle the economy (and apparently a significant number actually think McCain would be best?), I'm wondering what happened to «Yes, we can»?

Can we turn around the much ballyhooed, if not actually empirically established, recession with words of hope and increased regulation? No, we can't.

Can we improve a soft job market with colorful speeches and tax increases? No, we can't.

Can we cut the federal deficit by talking a good game, spending more and killing the goose that laid the golden egg? No, we can't.

Can we cut the cost of health care by making promises, then sending more federal dollars chasing fewer goods? No, we can't.

Apparently, at least some Democrats are starting to realize that when it comes to the economy Barack Obama's «Change» is a lot like John Kerry's «Plan» - he'll figure out what it means if he gets elected and it likely won't be good for the economy.

Now let's just hope they realize that «change» in fundamental long term foreign policy and strategy probably won't be real effective either.