For those of you who missed the Obama love-in that was the “America Votes” IFOA event this past Saturday afternoon, let me assure you that it warmed the hearts of every Democrat supporter in the room (i.e. everyone in the room). Postulating on the impending election hoopla were Hugh Eikin, senior editor of the New York Review of Books; economics writer Jeff Madrick, author of The Case for Big Government; and host Michael Tomasky, the colourful editor of Guardian America, who promised to resort to “cheap punditry,” should he be prodded to do so. He was and he did, making the wise suggestion to “choose the smart guy this time.”
Madrick spoke first on the current economic situation, launching into an animated lecture on the gravity of the economic disaster Obama will shortly inherit (the foregone conclusion being Obama’s inevitable victory). While much of his analysis seemed overfamiliar, Madrick’s emphasis on the opportunities that might be salvaged from the wreckage was refreshing. He spoke of the calamity as a chance to pull back from the “government intervention is bad” school of thought that has dominated US policy for the past several decades.
However, he warned that even though former free-market champions are calling for intervention in this specific crisis, it doesn’t necessarily indicate that they’re ready to broadly change their thinking. Madrick thinks they should. He suggested that beyond simply injecting the economy with cash, governments should be fearless about investing in education and healthcare, and should be careful to watch the national debt at a time when the country is not in acute crisis. “We need a fiscal stimulus, and the federal government is the only entity that can do it,” Madrick said. “It’s a chance to invest in infrastructure, an investment that we will be rewarded for in the long run.”
Eiken, meanwhile, expounded on the scale of the massive humanitarian crisis, the largest population exodus since the one that occurred in 1948 Palestine. “It’s amazing that the issue of Iraqi refugees has not come up in any of the debates,” he told the audience. “It’s not just a humanitarian issue, it’s also a security issue. The people that are leaving are well-educated. They’re needed in Iraq to rebuild the country and restore stability.” Eikin hopes that the issue will be recognized once Obama is in office.
A unifying theme throughout the dialogue was the thinly-veiled frustration with Obama’s reluctance to take a clear stance on economic and foreign policy. All three lamented Obama’s tendency to play his cards close to his chest, though his rationale for doing so seems obvious. Eikin did comment however, that he took comfort in the fact that Obama does not rely heavily on one or two advisors. Tomasky agreed that Obama seems able to digest multiple opinions and filter them down, to produce the most logical and calculated response.
All seemed pleased when Tomasky said that “looking at it objectively, it really looks like the wheels are coming off the McCain campaign.” The audience reacted appreciatively by breaking into peals of “you-go-girl” applause. Cheap punditry indeed.
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