There's this assumption in some quarters that because the economy is bad, people will just naturally gravitate towards the Democrat.  That's not how it works.  Bill Clinton won because the economy was bad, but an indispensable part of that was convincing voters that he felt their pain and had a plan to do something about it.

McCain doesn't have the first clue about the economy, but you don't win with the general electorate by outwonking the other guy.  Any Democrat needs to develop a bond of trust on the economy with the voters on a purely emotional level, and I really don't think Obama has gotten there yet.

As a prominent Pennsylvania blogger wrote today:

Barack Obama has been talking about "his story" and what it means for America, but that's not the sort of thing that resonates with Pennsylvanians. We're a pragmatic state because we've seen all too closely how the whims of so-called "visionaries" affect real workers, and how plans from self-professed Smart Guys can wreak havoc on entire regions.

Honestly, I don't have anything against Barack, and I'm kind of disappointed that Hillary hasn't gracefully bowed out since the numbers are so clearly against her. But I'd like to see the Senator from Illinois stop telling me his story and start telling me about how he's going to change the story for people in places like Pennsylvania.

Say what you will about her, but Hillary has done that and she's done it well. She's told us she recognizes that we got the shaft with NAFTA, and that to stay competitive we need universal healthcare.

Rather than show up in Philadelphia to give a big speech that most Philadelphians will never hear, Hillary walks around our towns and sees what has happened to places like Ohio and Pennsylvania. She's told us that she's learning the lessons along with the rest of us, and here in PA, that's something we can respect.

When it comes down to it, I know they have just about the same positions on everything. I just wish Senator Obama would take some time out from talking about himself to let us know.

I know they feel they have to campaign on a certain level, but what matters to me is not who invented the hammer, the wrench, the pliars, and the screw driver, but who knows how to use those tools and has a history of fixing things.

Please keep the focus on McCAIN -- whose policies would drives us far into a war in Iran, continuation of the terrible Bush policies that brought us to Ira q and near bankruptcy.

BOTH Hillary and Barack have economic plans to get us out of this dire economic mess. Does any of us really believe it would be WORSE to have Obama's plan than McCain's?

She unveiled a new policy today "on rebuilding the middle class by creating new jobs and promoting job training." The AP reports:

Among other things, the former first lady called for a new program to extend federal aid known as Pell Grants to workers enrolled in education programs aimed at updating their skills. She also promoted a pre-emptive training initiative to allow workers concerned about potential threats to their jobs to receive grants to help transition into other industries.

She also released a four point plan on retirement and medicare this week.

At a follow-up conference call, Obama economic adviser Daniel Tarullo was asked why the candidate's speech this morning didn't include hard numbers for his financial reform proposal.

Tarullo pointed out that new regulations are hundreds of pages long, in "microscopic federal registry font."

"Anyone who thinks you should have specificity like that probably doesn't understand how financial regulation is supposed to work," he said.

The most powerful institutions in our world today are not governments they are corporations.  Relying on the Fourteenth Amendment, added to the Constitution in 1868 to protect the rights of freed slaves, the Court ruled that a private corporation is a natural person under the U.S. Constitution, and consequently has the same rights and protection extended to persons by the Bill of Rights, including the right to free speech.  Unless and until the Supreme Court revisits this radical decision we cannot take the corporate money out of our politics.  Any law that attempts to limit the money corporations can spend to influence our laws and policies will be struck down using this precedent.  Corporations are not people.  The word "corporation" does not appear anywhere in our Constitution or Bill of Rights.

Hillary and Bill Clinton have mastered the art of using corporate money as their political tools.  That is the how NAFTA and Welfare Reform came to be.  This money has corrupted them, as well as most of our representatives of both parties.  We all need to examine our religions; how we believe what we believe.  Realizing not one politician has explained the above is the primary example of how powerful this corrupt system is.  It is no mystery how we came to this.  One bad Supreme Court decision, referenced over and over put us where we are.

the president has the bully pulpit, he/she can craft and have legislation proposed, and put their political capital behind it. your party in the majority in both houses is also quite helpful.

i like specifics. not minutiae mind you, but a decently filled in outline of the actual plan of attack. most thinking people do. it's helpful as well if the president has at least a basic grasp of economic theory, and gets solid advisors.

http://obama.3cdn.net/f9836ef496f75a9be0_39gimvt5b.pdf

and the backdrop, the flag, the podium, man this guy is just all show.

But I am truly shocked that the Clinton Campaign finds Obama's plan lacking, except when it matches Hillary's.  I'm equally shocked that they believe he doesn't connect with the average American on the economy.

I plan on doing a comparison/contrast as I've done on

Higher Education
and
Trade

between the two.

I think Hillary made a huge mistake in mentioning Rubins and Greenspan, that's really letting the foxes in the hen house, but someone somewhere has to start regulating these financial investment vehicles, long term.

The most powerful institutions in our world today are not governments they are corporations.  Relying on the Fourteenth Amendment, added to the Constitution in 1868 to protect the rights of freed slaves, the Court ruled that a private corporation is a natural person under the U.S. Constitution, and consequently has the same rights and protection extended to persons by the Bill of Rights, including the right to free speech.  Unless and until the Supreme Court revisits this radical decision we cannot take the corporate money out of our politics.  Any law that attempts to limit the money corporations can spend to influence our laws and policies will be struck down using this precedent.  Corporations are not people.  The word "corporation" does not appear anywhere in our Constitution or Bill of Rights.

Hillary and Bill Clinton have mastered the art of using corporate money as their political tools.  That is the how NAFTA and Welfare Reform came to be.  This money has corrupted them, as well as most of our representatives of both parties.  We all need to examine our religions; how we believe what we believe.  Realizing not one politician has explained the above is the primary example of how powerful this corrupt system is.  It is no mystery how we came to this.  One bad Supreme Court decision, referenced over and over put us where we are.

Asked about the comments, Bill Burton, a spokesman for Mr. Obama, wrote in an email message, "The American people are tired of the sniping from the Clinton campaign -- both real and imagined."