Obama on the Mortgage Mess

Writes an article for FT, in which he proposes legislation to address the problem, and joins Chris Dodd and HRC as the only presidential candidates who seem aware of the problem. Mitt Romney's personal fortune has even been directly affected by the meltdown, yet nothing from his campaign (that I'm aware of, at least) on the matter.

From The Economist:

The Republican candidates have not said much. And the Democrats will gain the upper hand if they successfully link housing woes to the broader economy. The Republicans might do well to recall the election in 1992. The reputation of the first President Bush on the economy was sealed by anaemic growth and job losses. However America’s growth rate in the first three quarters of 1992, the election year, was actually almost double that of the last three quarters of 1991. It was too late. Bill Clinton took the advice of his campaign strategist. He hammered home a message of Republican economic mismanagement and ensured that the electorate took care of his housing needs for the next four years.

This may be indication that yet another one of the pillars in the mythology of Republican competence may be about to tumble, namely that the GOP is a better steward of the economy. The Republican brand can't afford to lose that third leg of the stool since Iraq and a corrupt congress have already demonstrated that the party of national security and "family values" isn't really the party of either.