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Opinion: Democrats flail at John McCain’s comment on economic fundamentals

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As word circulated that John McCain -- even while acknowledging Wall Street’s financial meltdown and the additional worries that has caused many Americans -- picked this morning to once again express his confidence in the ‘fundamentals’ of the U.S. economy, the sense of Democrats getting ready to pounce was palpable.

Predictable sarcasm and criticism came from Joe Biden, speaking in Michigan, and shortly thereafter from Barack Obama, appearing in Colorado.

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But other segments of the Democratic message machine also went into overdrive to flog McCain. And as typical of what to expect for as long as they can breath life into the matter, we pass along a release from Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois (the ex-Bill Clinton aide, at right, who in the 2006 election helped catapult Democrats into the majority in the House).

The release noted that McCain’s remark about the economic fundmentals ‘came one day after former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said America was in a ‘once-in-a-century’ financial crisis.’ With that set-up, Emanuel’s offered this:

John McCain keeps proving just how out of touch he really is. Last week, he said he was ‘divorced from the day-to-day challenges people have.’ Today, he said ‘the fundamentals of our economy are strong.’ All the while, unemployment is up, costs are rising, incomes are declining, and Alan Greenspan says we’re in a once-in-a-century financial crisis. Only George Bush and John McCain can say the economy is strong and keep a straight face.’

Bush, by the way, weighed in today on the Wall Street tumult after providing no comment over the weekend. He stressed the positive, as The Times’ Countdown to Crawford blog reports.

-- Don Frederick

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