The economy finally trumps pigs and lipstick

Yesterday morning, as the US financial markets went into meltdown and Lehman collapsed, John McCain stated that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong”, proving yet again that he is a disconnected rich guy that doesn’t understand economics. It is a bravura performance of obliviousness reminiscent of Monty Python’s Black Knight (“It’s merely a flesh wound!”).

The Obama campaign, to its credit, quickly released this terrific ad lambasting McCain with his own words. Look, barring some unforeseen development overseas, the economy is going to be the issue from here on out and one that Obama should dominate, if for no other reason than damn near everything McCain thinks about economics is wrong.

It is not for nothing that Phil Gramm, the architect of much of the bank deregulation that got us into this fix, is one of McCai’s closest economic advisors and the leading candidate for Secretary of the Treasury in a McCain Administration (I shudder at the thought). McCain is a true believer in Gramm’s vision of a deregulated banking market, the flaming wreckage of which was evidenced by the images of a steady stream of former Lehman employees toting out the contents of the desks in cardboard boxes. McCain’s call for a high-level commission to study the problem only reinforces the notion that he does not get it. I mean really, is that the best the guy can muster? For goodness sake, did the campaign decide that “the blue ribbon panel” was just too hackneyed?

The bottom line is that people like Gramm, McCain, et al. are not just wrong but recklessly so and clueless to boot. The more Obama can successfully illustrate that point, the better. McCain’s miserable performance yesterday has opened up a huge opportunity for the Democrats to make their case and now that we are back on issues and off the lipstick, Obama and Biden can really start throwing some punches. This is their moment to take back the momentum.