Since the attacks of September 11th, Americans have inhabited a space that included, indeed required, a willing suspension of disbelief.
War, terror, globalization and political intrigue lived uneasily with a normalcy of painless consumerism, tabloid media preoccupation and growing societal narcissism. And the more the world intruded, the tighter we held on our sense of normalcy.
But now we are at a fork in the road.
Decades-long government policies that sought to promote home ownership as a right, where the end justified the means, eventually collided with 21st century financial innovation, lax standards and greed, to create an epic economic calamity, potentially as serious as the Great Depression.
It is no longer outside and abstract. It now is a clear and present danger to our jobs, our homes, our savings and our children.
As the magnitude of the crisis expands, profiles in courage are hard to come by in Congress. A solution, any solution let alone the right one, does not seem at hand.
Against this backdrop, the race for president began its final lap with two candidates who reflect the duality of our post 9-11 world. McCain reminds us of the world outside, the world of wars, extremism, instability and danger. Obama appeals to our sense of normalcy, one that through the use of reason and idealism, can reach beyond hatred to promote common interest.
And so now those worlds collide as well.
After an unsteady week of conflicting economic statements on the financial crisis, McCain has again thrown the dice and upended the race with a vow to return to Washington and calls for a bipartisan effort to resolve the financial crisis.
To that end, he’s taken the unprecedented step of suspending his campaign, as he also asks for a postponement of the debates and Senator Obama’s active help as a partner in solving the crisis. For McCain, bipartisan action to resolve a fundamental threat to our economic way of life is more important that the demands of a political campaign.
Barack Obama, whose silence on the unfolding crisis has significantly bolstered an image of calm and mature management, agreed with McCain to a joint statement of principles regarding the crisis. Still he remains focused on the campaign in its last 40 days, including the scheduled debates.
For Obama, the continuation of the campaign and the competition of ideas over the next seven weeks is the best way to address the crisis by presenting competing visions to the American people.
So is this a McCain publicity stunt for a candidate who has dropped precipitously in the polls over the last several days? Does he appear even less steady or even unserious as a manager for the provocative change in direction?
Or is it an act of political courage by someone who acts on his convictions while Obama talks? Someone willing to wade into the uncertain cesspool of Capitol Hill for the greater good, even at the not inconsiderable risk of failure?
Does Obama’s detached calm reinforce his perceived leadership on economic issues? Or is he marginalized for a tentativeness to join McCain and continue to campaign amid potential financial ruin?
Congressional leadership, Committee Chairs and the President will all get their fifteen minutes in this unfolding drama, with more sudden and uncertain course corrections guaranteed along the way as a result. Against the backdrop is a very angry electorate.
The smart money is on Obama right now.
He has turned McCain’s most potent weapon – superior experience — against him, at least for the moment.
But in a political year full of surprises, we find the end game full of uncertainty. The Surge and Sarah Palin showed the danger in counting McCain out. With an issue that transcends politics, McCain is reaching again to practice what he preaches – “Country First”.
We’ll see if it’s enough.