John McCain has set out a course of action. Barack Obama shrugged and said he will answer his phone if anyone needs him. McCain has set aside his campaign to focus on the biggest potential financial bailout in US history. Obama has intimated that its simply a matter of multitasking, like answering the phone while you are baking cookies. Or maybe calling for takeout while working on a spreadsheet. Is this Barack Obama’s belief in his own political superpowers? Does he actually believe he isn’t subject to the laws of physics and can actually be in two places (Washington and the campaign trail) at once? Or is he underestimating the importance of this issue? I would venture this: he believes, very firmly that talk is more important than action, that his campaign is more important than the economic crisis we’re facing, and most likely that once he becomes President “we will provide care to the sick and good jobs to the jobless…the rise of the oceans began to slow and the planet began to heal” and since we will have a 100% employment for the first time in the history of the US (and not just employment mind you but “good jobs”) we shouldn’t have to worry about any current economic crisis. So that’s our two Presidential candidates’ plans in this, the biggest economic crisis in decades: one is going to Washington to commit his time in a very close election to helping solve the current crisis, the other is making sure to check his blackberry in between campaign events. One is leading by being involved, determined to get the best deal for the taxpayer and to get it done by this weekend, the other is determined to not let this crisis get in the way of his campaign.
You can tell a lot about someone’s character by looking at their priorities. Obama’s priority since gaining office has been his personal ambition, most likely with the idea that the more resposibility he had the more people he could help. This is probably why he voted “present” on 130 (presumably) controversial bills in the Illinois state senate, and began running for President a short two years and two weeks after being sworn into office in the US senate. You can also tell a lot about someone’s leadership by examining their response to crises. McCain has taken leadership by proposing an aggressive series of meetings with the President and leaders in Congress, affirming his resolve to come to a solution within the week. Obama has shirked responsibility, letting the leaders of Congress and the President figure it out themselves and letting them know they can call him if they need him. How anyone can see a leadership in Barack Obama’s reluctance to be involved in solving one of the biggest financial crises in recent history can only be explained by pure partisanship. Die hard leftists will support Obama no matter what, but those who value leadership, those who seek decisiveness and clear thinking in crises need to look elsewhere.
