What's Important 25

Twenty-fifth in a series.

This one's from TPM:

McCain was asked if he believes we're in a recession, and here's the crux of his answer:

"If we're technically in a recession or not, I would imagine that we are, but the major thing is, Americans are hurting, and Americans don't like it and they think the country's in the wrong direction."

What you have here is McCain's political problem in a nutshell. If he acknowledges that the country's in a recession, then he has to explain why he's basically offering a continuation of Bush's economic policies. If he doesn't, he looks out of touch with Americans' economic pain. Here he tries to split the difference.

On this score, my favorite quote from this interview might be this one: "Eighty-some percent of the American people think the country's on the wrong track. "

And yet, especially as regards economic policy, McCain is for continuing the same policies Bush started, making the tax cuts permanent, and working hard to make sure that nothing much changes.