Candidate of the Hour

The big news for the past few days has been the economy. Politicians and pundits alike are reverting back to the old Clinton campaign theme of “It’s the economy, stupid”. So everybody is scrambling to get out his or hers solutions to the plunging stock market. But will that still be the big news tomorrow or even an hour from now?

The lifespan of news stories, even the most important ones, seems to get shorter and shorter. Just a few weeks ago everyone on the campaign trail were talking about the war; who would get us out, who would build it up etc. Iraq and to a lesser extent Iran were the main issues discussed.

Then came the mortgage collapse and the next thing you know everybody is bringing out their plan to handle the subprime mortgages, foreclosures and banking crisis. A few weeks later, the world market starts to crash and then ours begins to wobble even more. So once again the big issue is the economy.

But wait a minute. What about terrorists? When did that topic disappear entirely? Even Rudi’s campaign ads now discuss his economic plans and ignore both the war and the issue of terrorists. Oh gees. Even I forgot the other big issue – immigration – it, too, has been left out of the news lately. Or even global warming and the green agendas.

In the next 3 weeks the majority of the states will be electing the Democratic and Republican candidates for the presidency. But the actual election is not for another 11 months. A lot can happen between now and then.

What if we get it wrong? What happens to this country if we elect someone because of their economic platform and suddenly in October we have another terrorist attack? Will we have the right candidates to choose from to handle something like this? I can only hope so…..