The Economist: America wants change; it just can't work out what sort of change

In fact, the only safe lesson to draw is that the battle for the White House is an extraordinarily fluid affair. Everything is up in the air. That is not just because this is the most open election in America since 1928 (the last time that no incumbent president or vice-president was in the race); it is because Americans don’t really know what they want. Sure, they are desperate for “change”: with the economy reeling, politics gridlocked, young people dying in Iraq and the Bush administration a global byword for callous incompetence, huge numbers of Americans have long believed their country is on the wrong track. But what sort of change? And who can deliver it?

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Posted in * Economics, Politics, US Presidential Election 2008

5 comments on “The Economist: America wants change; it just can't work out what sort of change

  1. Tom Roberts says:

    Throw the bums out; vote against all incumbents. Then you’ll see change. The presidency isn’t the issue; incumbency is the issue on all levels.
    (smiley face optional)

  2. libraryjim says:

    Change I want to see:
    *enforce the border policy to strengthen national security
    *crack down on illegal immigration and reform legal immigration to make it quicker and easier for those who are playing by the rules.
    *make sure we WIN in Iraq and Afganistan
    *Make the Bush tax cuts permanent
    *appoint judges to all levels who inforce the law, not legislate from the bench

    That’s the kind of change I want.

  3. libraryjim says:

    ENforce not INforce. sorry, just got back from a boy scout camping trip.

  4. Bill Matz says:

    Wasn’t 1952 the last election with no incumbent?

  5. CharlesB says:

    Based on the following Harry S Truman quotes, I beleive Fred Thompson would be the right choice. Eliminate one choice (guess which one) and it would be Huckabee. The following are from Harry S Truman:
    A President needs political understanding to run the government, but he may be elected without it.

    All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.

    I do not believe there is a problem in this country or the world today which could not be settled if approached through the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount.

    I remember when I first came to Washington. For the first six months you wonder how the hell you ever got here. For the next six months you wonder how the hell the rest of them ever got here.

    My choice early in life was either to be a piano-player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference.

    The President is always abused. If he isn’t, he isn’t doing anything.

    When even one American – who has done nothing wrong – is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth – then all Americans are in peril.

    You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog.