PrintOctober 26, 2008
The Economic Meltdown and Obama's Bounce: An American Paradox
Before the fall meltdown of the American economy, the presidential candidates were in a very tight race, with most polls giving John McCain a slight edge. But the focus on the nation's dramatic financial crisis has worked in Barack Obama's favor across the country, including in key battleground states. Yet Obama and his allies contributed significantly to bringing about the disaster, while John McCain warned about and fought to avert it.Adding to the paradox in Obama benefiting and McCain sliding backwards is that Americans almost invariably side with the whistle-blower, the person who warns of looming disaster and exposes those who put ideological or material gain above the common good. Americans even demand of their fiction -- books, movies, plays -- that the whistle-blower be vindicated in the end.A plot line like that of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People" runs contrary to the preferred American theme of justice rewarded. In the play, the...(Read Full Article)
