I understand that he didn't want to get overly partisan while a delicate measure he thought was necessary was just barely making it through both houses of Congress. But there's no excuse for letting a false narrative lie, and letting Obama and Biden continue to lie about the roots of this crisis.
It was not simply Wall Street greed that caused this problem, but government intervention that incentivized self-interested industries to offer and buy up high-risk loans they thought were backed by a government promise because they were backed by government-sponsored entities. If the American public gets only one side of this argument, the free market is in some serious trouble. There are plenty of respectful (even bipartisan) ways to articulate this, and Bill Clinton is the guide for the message.
And, yet it sounds like McCain is unwilling to go there. The financial crisis is what has driven his numbers down; a little distancing from the root causes of that crisis, and placing blame where it belongs, would be helpful.
Nope, that is not going to happen Why not? 1) It is a complicated argument, and McCain is not good at making complicated arguments, not even about earmarks. (Note, additionally, his lack of defense of the war in Iraq during his debate with Obama. Amazing.)
2) There is a racial component to criticism of the Community Reinvestment Act that can make it sound like you are scapegoating minorities for Wall Street's problems.
3) The campaign believes McCain's time is better spent talking about taxes and energy and healthcare. Really.
Really? This is the perfect illustration of McCain as prescient reformer while Obama is nothing but petulant rhetoric, and it happens to distinguish his position from Obama's on the most important issue of the day.
I realize the campaign would like this to just go away, but I don't think that's going to happen. Repeating the same talking points as the Obama camp about Wall Street does not help close the gap on economic issues. The truth just might.
