Is the "Fundamentals of the Economy Are Strong" really a gaffe? (Vanity)

[GOPinCa]

For two days now the Obama camp and the media (like there's a difference) have been hammering John McCain about his remarks that the "fundamentals of the economy are strong." Is this a potential problem for McCain down the road? I know Obama put out an ad today that plays McCain's quote over and over against a backdrop of all the negative economic news of late. What does the McCain camp do to counter this? I think they need to come out and forcefully say, the fundamentals of the economy ARE strong because the fundamentals are the American worker, American ingenuity, and the American entrepreneurial spirit. Thoughts...

[Paradox]

It is a political gaffe, not a factual one, and really, thats what counts at this time.

[silverleaf]

exactly

we need a colllage of the people in flyover country just doing the business of america- the ones Srah Plain spoke abut at the convention who grow the food, work in the factories, fight the wars

that is the fundamentals

[GOPinCa]

But the Obama camp and media are making hay with this. And this ad is going out to all the battlegrounds. What does McCain do to counter this because obviously this will do some damage I think.

[Twinkie]

Doom & Gloom. . that’s all the Dhimmicrats have, it’s all the MSM has. PANIC & DOOM & GLOOM is ALL THEY HAVE.

AMERICA is the greatest country on earth, and the love of her and of LIBERTY has held us in good stead for over 200 years. PANIC feeds on itself and produces the outcome eventually that just plain FEAR perpetuated.

We do have nothing, indeed, to fear but fear itself.

[1rudeboy]

Is the "Fundamentals of the Economy Are Strong" really a gaffe?

The answer depends on whether the person saying it is a Republican or a Democrat.

[atomicweeder]

Sounds to me like Obama is doing the "we're all doomed" dance that Carter did. And Obama isn't even President yet.

It won't work. Americans are naturally optimistic. No one ever got elected by saying "we're going to lose the war, and the economy sucks, and America is bad."

[mnehring]

I know the answer, but I want to challenge you. Look at the items that are ‘fundamentals’; growth, unemployment, average income, etc. Compare this year to 1999 when the Democrats called it the ‘best economy in 50 years’.

[Dahoser]

Of course the fundamentals are strong! If they weren’t, we could not weather the huge runup in oil and commodities, the collapse of large companies like Lehman and Merrill Lynch, and a 4-1/2% drop in the Dow Jones yesterday. These are not trivial events, but they aren’t cataclysmic, either. An economy without strong fundamentals would have gone toes up long ago from this kind of stuff.

[Corin Stormhands]

No, it's not a gaffe, it's an edited "sound bite." Like the "100 year war" you're not getting all of what McCain has been saying.

“Today we are seeing tremendous upheaval on Wall Street. The American economy is in crisis. Unemployment is on the rise and our financial markets are in turmoil. People are concerned about our economic future. But let me say something: this economic crisis is not the fault of the American people. Our workers are the most innovative, the hardest working, the best skilled, most productive, most competitive in the world. My opponents may disagree, but those fundamentals of America are strong. No one can match an American worker. Our workers sell more goods to more markets than any other on earth. Our workers have always been the strength of our economy, and they remain the strength of our economy today.

“But their efforts are not being matched at the top. From Washington to Wall Street, the top of our economy is broken. We have seen self interest, greed, irresponsibility and corruption undermine the hard work of the American people.

“It’s time to set things right. When I am President, we’re going to put an end to the abuses in Washington and on Wall Street that have resulted in the crisis we are seeing unfold today.

Whether you agree with him or not the "fundamentals of our economy are sound" is not the full statement.

[bigbob]

Fundamentals are strong. The idea that government can do a better job than private enterprise and capitalism is what’s weak. Paulson made the right call on Lehman Brothers. Anyone remember E.F. Hutton or Kidder Peabody? And yet we survive and grow stronger as a nation. As we will this time.

[silverleaf]

Look, the employment rate is 94%. McCain needs to remind people of this and tell them that our economy has weathered 9-11, war on terror, and Katrina and will continue to grow. By running against Bush McCain has rendered himself unable to take advantage of the generally marvelous job Bush has done with our economy in very very tough times

Drill baby drill! Energy and jobs!

People need to be reminded and reassured of our strength, not told that capitalism is our problem and must be “changed” - by nattering nabobs of negativism who are wining and dining in Hollywood at $28,500 per plate dinners (pictures please) and who have NO BELIEVABLE PLAN -

except raising taxes on the people who create jobs and pay taxes and cutting gubmint checks to people who don't pay taxes
(OK, so McCain won't ever say that last part but we all know it to be the dividing issue)

[tbpiper]

The more Obama harps on this the better. He's yacking about the fundamentals so much, people will start asking just what exactly are the fundamentals.

[johnnycap]

Congratulations...McCain said exactly that, almost word for word this morning on the whistle stop interview with ABC Good Morning.

[CharlesWayneCT]

FactCheck.org would be explaining why Obama is lying about McCain’s comment, by quoting only half of his sentence.

Except taht FactCheck.org is owned by people associated with Obama, so it is not an unbiased source (it never was, but it used to try — I think they did so because that way they would be taken seriously when they were needed in such a time as this to hide all the lies in the Obama campaign).

McCain is correct. The fundamentals of the economy ARE sound. The fundamentals of the monetary system seem a bit unstable, and that could damage the economy, but we are America, the greatest country in the world.

I don’t see any other economy out there that is more grounded than ours.

[CharlesWayneCT]

“Today we are seeing tremendous upheaval on Wall Street. The American economy is in crisis. Unemployment is on the rise and our financial markets are in turmoil. People are concerned about our economic future. But let me say something: this economic crisis is not the fault of the American people. Our workers are the most innovative, the hardest working, the best skilled, most productive, most competitive in the world. My opponents may disagree, but those fundamentals of America are strong.

I just realised that McCain didn't say "The fundamentals" are strong. He said "Those fundamentals" are strong.

And "Those fundamentals" were that our workers are great.

So Obama is basically saying he disagrees with McCain that the American worker is not to blame, and he disagrees that we have a superior workforce.

That is the ad that McCain can run next:

"Two days ago, I pointed out that despite the current turmoil, the fundamental strength of our economy, our workforce, is strong. Barack Obama disagrees"

[tbpiper]

Thanks. I would repeat that old cliche about great minds, however in my case it’s more like ‘even a blind squirrel will find a nut every now and then’.

[tbpiper]

Thanks. I would repeat that old cliche about great minds, however in my case it’s more like ‘even a blind squirrel will find a nut every now and then’.