The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Opinion

August 29, 2008

Political rhetoric aside: ‘It’s the economy, stupid’

By Lynn Saternow

Here are some thoughts from a guy who is still weighing the rhetoric tossed around at the Democratic Convention and plans to ignore the garbage that comes out of the Republican lovefest.

Now I fully understand that promises in politics are like a fine champagne glass. They are beautiful to admire, but easy to break. And for the next few months we will be pummeled by TV advertising that espouses many lies on both sides.

And as the conventions capture the American viewing public — except for the millions who chose to watch NFL football instead Thursday night — we need to realize that the euphoria and all the cheering and applause come quickly to an end. Then it comes down to which candidate is actually the better person to be president.

And after watching the speeches at the Democrat gathering, there is no doubt who that person would be — Bill Clinton.

Oh, he can’t run again?

Has there ever been a person who could unify this country better than Clinton? Has there ever been a president who could instill faith in other countries that America is a true world leader?

Barack Obama reminds me somewhat of Clinton. I think Obama has the same ideals and dreams that Clinton professed, although he’s not as smooth a politician.

He is young and enthusiastic and he has already made decisions that were in the best interest of the country. The Republicans will tell you that he doesn’t have the experience to be commander-in-chief.

Really?

Obama was one of the few people who was brave enough to speak out against the lies put out by Bush and his cronies concerning the war in Iraq. If more people had done so and de-ployed troops as he pushed for in 2007, we may have already captured or killed Osama bin Laden; many American families would still have their loved ones with them rather than killed for no good reason overseas; and we would have saved several hundred billion dollars that the continued war in Iraq cost us.

John McCain is a war hero because he spent 5 years in a prison camp in Vietnam. From that experience you would think that he would have realized that starting a war in Iraq would end up just like the war in Vietnam: a lot of Americans dead or crippled with no good ending. Yet he went right along with Bush and still backs the war.

The polls show that the presidential race is tight. That is hard to even imagine unless you vote because of the color of a person’s skin or you’re still upset that Obama beat out Hillary.

In the wake of the disaster of the last eight years under George W. Bush we learned one thing: The “W” in his middle name is for Worst — as in the worst president in the history of the United States.

And yet if we elect McCain to the White House — which would make eight houses he owns — it would be like a reverse Robin Hood. He’ll take from the poor to give to the rich.



The economy of this country was great when Clinton was in office. And guess what? The economy is still good for most rich people. But for working stiffs, it’s not quite so rosy.

So when it comes to electing the next President the prevailing comment is: “It’s the economy, stupid.” Therefore, voting for Barack Obama is the only way to go if we have any hope for change.



Otherwise, the saying will be: “It’s more of the same, stupid.”



Lynn Saternow of The Herald writes this weekly column for the Opinion Page.

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