May 4, 2008
WHICH ARE THEIR RESPECTIVE CONSTITUENCIES:
Clinton’s Gas-Tax Talk Connects With Indiana Voters (Matt Phillips, 5/04/08, WSJ: Washington Wire)
Hillary Clinton continued to press the gas-tax suspension as an issue Sunday in her effort to woo voters and boost turnout among the middle-class Hoosiers she needs to win the May 6 Indiana primary. Prominent economists and some Democrats in Congress — not to mention her rival, Sen. Barack Obama — continue to pan the idea, which seeks to suspend the federal gas tax during the summer’s peak driving season and impose a tax on the profits of oil companies to make up for the lost revenue. But anyone observing the New York senator’s rally at Indiana Tech’s Andorfer Commons in Ft. Wayne Sunday could clearly see the issue connecting with voters.
Senator Obama is the candidate of East Coast elites, Ms Clinton of middle American voters. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 4, 2008 3:28 PM
I don't know what it says about me (prob that I'm not middle american...) but I am just plain blown away that Hillary is "the candidate of Middle America".
I just cannot get my head around that no matter how hard I try...
I just cannot see her being comfortable in any neighborhood bar I've frequented or in any of the homes of the blue-collar dems or republicans I know...
Posted by: Benny at May 4, 2008 6:23 PMThere is no substantive difference between Hillary and Obama.
Posted by: djs at May 4, 2008 6:56 PMThe commenters are right about this. Democrat voters who are rejecting Effendi Obama vote for Mrs. B.J. This does not necessarily mean tha they do not hold that she is a gun-grabbing, baby-murdering lying sleaze, only that, as such, she is preferable to a committed enemy of the American folk.
Posted by: Lou Gots at May 4, 2008 7:17 PMShe's just Bill's wife.
Posted by: oj at May 4, 2008 9:10 PMPerhaps we will see an McCain/Hillary ticket against Obama/Patrick (as in the "Deval you know")
Posted by: Bruno at May 4, 2008 11:49 PMI have to say it: on this issue at least, Obama is closest to the truth. Hillary and McCain are pandering with a superficial gimmick that does nothing to address the real problems.
Posted by: PapayaSF at May 5, 2008 12:06 AMIt's a democracy. It doesn't matter which is right, just which is popular.
Posted by: oj at May 5, 2008 7:18 AMSam, I'd like to agree, but a small temporary tax cut based on a jump in a commodity price is probably the worst sort of tax cut possible. It's just populist micromanaging of the economy. Tax cuts are great when they are permanent and not driven by the day's headlines.
Posted by: PapayaSF at May 5, 2008 1:40 PMGreat policy doesn't win elections.
Posted by: oj at May 5, 2008 3:51 PMIt certainly helped in '80 and '94.
Posted by: PapayaSF at May 5, 2008 5:59 PMReagan ran on an enormous tax giveaway. He made Hillary look like a fiscal conservative.
Posted by: oj at May 5, 2008 7:17 PMPermanent cuts in marginal rates make economic sense. Temporary gas tax cuts don't.
Posted by: PapayaSF at May 5, 2008 11:33 PMGas tax cuts make economic sense, just not public policy sense.
Posted by: oj at May 6, 2008 6:08 AM