Don’t Dismiss Our Anger * Open Thread

Yesterday, I posted an article “Republicans Aren’t the Only Ones Who Are Mad As Hell.” Scrolling through the comments, I came across a one from Monet, one of our regular posters, and I wanted to it share with you.

Monet rightly points out the anger, frustration and fear that so many Americans are gripped with right now in dealing with the current economic crisis, and in that regard, offers Senator McCain an interesting prescription for how to conduct the rest of his campaign.

Please take a look at Monet’s excellent post:

Washington Post:

McCain advisers dismissed the crowd’s angry tone as an exception and not representative of most of the campaign’s events. And they noted that those gathered seemed most upset by the media’s handling of the contest, and simply wanted McCain to be more aggressive.

As usual, McCain’s campaign is downplaying something they should be taking note of and grabbing hold of.

A few weeks ago they had Senator McCain telling us the economy was fundamentally strong when everyone from a Wal-mart greeter to the CEO of Bank of America knew we were teetering on an edge of a cliff. You didn’t have to have a ph.d in economics to know that, all you had to be doing for the past few years is running the every day errands of the average American to the grocery store, the gas station, the dry cleaners and then dropping by the bank to deposit the paycheck (or checking the statement to see if the check was electronically deposited).

This is a Wisconsin political audience that has angry and frustrated people. Wisconsin of all states!!! This is a state that only gets fired up by the Green Bay Packers. And we’re not talking about riled up like the Oakland Raider fans who nearly riot in the stands every Sunday afternoon. No, this is Wisconsin where they put on cheese hats and jovially jump up and down in the stands to intimidate the opposing team.

Wisconsin is an optimist’s utopia. Where everyone is sure tomorrow will be a better day, the latest crisis will have a good outcome, there’s a silver lining coming once those clouds move out over Lake Michigan. This is Wisconsin that is turning against the media, screaming nasty things about Senator Obama, etc. This isn’t a rough and tumble state. Does the McCain campaign really think this isn’t representative of how America is feeling across the country? That they somehow wandered into a bubble that exists nowhere else? Or do they realize this is an emotion that is growing strong nationwide and instead of finding a way to use it in a healthy, productive way – they’re running scared from it and pretending it doesn’t exist? Is Senator McCain going to suspend his campaign for a few days this week to let America calm down a bit?

Hey, Senator McCain – I’ve got news for you. America is angry. We’ve worked hard to build financial security in our lives with our 401ks and homes. While we were working so hard on that financial security, the financial industry, Executive branch and Congress were on a feeding frenzy binge that now has all the markets in the world teetering on collapse, taking huge corporations and banks with them. We’re angry. We’re frustrated. We’re scared. We have the right to be. And you’re going to dismiss how we feel by saying Wisconsin is not representative of the majority of campaign events you stage? Get a clue before you’re one more failure for the American people.

Forget your maverick stump speeches. Forget your rhetoric of taking on Washington. Forget the earmarks. Stop telling us off shore drilling and new nuclear plants are going to keep us employed. A gallon of gas has dropped over an dollar in the past month – that’s an old issue now. (That doesn’t mean in January you should forget about energy independence, it means that is no longer an issue you need to press on the campaign trail).

Get out there and tell us you’re as angry as we are. Show us exactly how you’re going to bring financial stability and security to our lives again. Tell how us how our Justice Department is going to go after those who cultivated the fraud, mismanagement and negligence in our financial markets. Tell us how oil speculators are no longer going to be able to determine how our paychecks are spent. Tell us how greedy speculators in every market will no longer be able to hold us hostage under your administration and the executive branch with all those departments (SEC, FDA, etc.) will start enforcing the laws and regulations they have been entrusted with.

We don’t want to hear about how you’re going to reach across aisle in Congress. We want to hear about how you’re going to take on the markets that have been run by out of control speculators who have been permitted to skirt the laws and regulations and who have created a financial mess that is threatening to bring down the entire world from capitalists to communists. That’s job number one right now, Senator McCain. We need someone to step up to the plate and lead. You have yet to do that and behind door number two we have that other candidate, and we have no idea who is actually behind him, but we do know who ever is backing Senator Obama doesn’t have the best interests of the American citizen and the rest of the world citizens in their playbook.

I’m hunting for a leader, Senator McCain. I’m an Independent/former Senator Clinton Democrat/former Senator Edwards Democrat. This past June, after researching all of the candidates (including third parties), I became a supporter of your campaign. While I disagree with you on many social issues, I decided you were the best candidate to lead us and the global community to stable, secure prosperity and peace. There are hundreds of thousands of Independent voters out there just like me, who have never voted for a Republican candidate for president and are willing to do so in this election. Our patience is running out and we would really like to know if you’re going to step up to the plate and lead us or continue to be bogged down in countering the Obama campaign. Please take the lead and leave Senator Obama in the dust.” [emphasis mine]

Thank you, Monet, for stating this so well. Let’s hope someone is listening.

What say you all?