Megan McArdle sees through John McCain’s call for a commission to figure out a solution to the crisis with the financial markets:
So John McCain wants a commission on what to do about the financial markets. I’m of two minds on this. On the one hand, John McCain is not exactly an economic genius, and I’d rather he get the opinion of some people who are. On the other hand, in Washingtonian, “set up a commission” means “Let’s ignore the problem and hope it goes away.” This one isn’t going away.
Here’s my modest suggestion: John McCain could convene a commission right now. He could get a bunch of economists and bankers together, and they could hash out the problem and present him with a plan. Then he could tell us what it is. Then we could decide if we liked it. It would be almost like this election was about selecting someone who will make good policy.
A plan? How about if McCain just gives a straight answer as to whether he is for or against regulation? In the past he was against it. Tuesday he began the day calling for more regulation but later was again against regulation as Jon Stewart showed in clips. Will the real media do as good a job of showing John McCain’s flip-flops?
Of course McCain isn’t the only candidate who should tell the voters what their plan is. Another blogger from The Atlantic, Andrew Sullivan, points out that this could be an opportunity for Barack Obama. He quotes Andrew Romano on this:
Now that the press and the public are finally paying attention, Obama can’t just say that McCain is out of touch and call it a day. He has to explain what he would do differently–and better. He has to sell his plan for righting an economy still reeling from the real estate and mortgage crises–something he shied away from doing today, preferring instead to rely on the “same vague… pitc[h] he has sounded over the past few months for fixing what ails the country.”
If each candidate gave concrete plans would people base their votes on this rather than the sound bites? Would the media even pay any attention?
