The real economic issue for Americans is their future and children's future outlook. Biggest concern is corporate outsourcing and illegal immigration. Both are depressing wages and opportunities. If the Dems leverage this issue they can win 2004 because the GOP is asking the average American to trust free markets managed mainly by corporate America. An entity that is educated in college that the concept of sovereign state is "old fashion" and that the future is globalism and internationalism. US corporations no longer open their meetings with the pledge of allegiance to the flag, the US flag is removed from most meetings because we do not want to offend non US stockholders. Symbolicly this is very important and represents the mindset of our CEO's. If the GOP keeps wedding themselves to corporate America, the Dems will use it to beat us over the head with.
Nothing the Democrats espouse, with the possible exception of returning to Clinton's anti-terrorism strategies, is as confused, contradictory, and ridiculous as their sworn determination to destroy "Corporate America" and their solemn promise "bring back manufacturing jobs." Does it matter that manufacturing is just about entirely a large, corporate enterprise? No, it doesn't seem to.
The Democrats are bellowing to their base, and in the process insulting the intelligence of both their constituents and the swing voters they hope to attract. Would you believe any Republican rhetoric "distancing" the Bush administration from Corporate Capitalism? Would it help? Or would he just look as phony as the Democrats look now? There is no thinking going on in the Democrat mind, outside of conniving up the next way to deceive the public. We don't need any more of that kind of politics. Solutions to the problems posed by Globalism and outsourcing will not be found in protectionism, and Democrat style anti business recession. And those solutions certainly aren't to be found anywhere in the current sludge of political rhetoric.