I cicli delle idee

Anche il Financial Times assume la fine del ciclo conservatore. Gli esempi che prende in considerazione sono quelli offerti dal sistema politico inglese: anche lì, vincessero i Tory, non si farà ritorno al thatcherismo. I cicli delle idee. Nel frattempo, questa notte, ancora panico nelle borse. Quanto peseranno nel dibattito di questa sera le tensioni economiche fortissime di questi due giorni? E' come se un paziente con 38 di febbre avesse avuto un balzo verso i 40 gradi, e non si capisce cosa fare per fargliela abbassare. Gli americani sono così furibondi da chiedere risposte molto serie riguardo alla loro condizione economica: come sottolinea Tomasky del Guardian, difficile che si bevano la favola di McCain sul carattere dei candidati, questa volta contano i problemi perché sono tempi straordinari. Ecco cosa scrive Tomasky:

The Republicans can't win on substance. Most of their positions are too unpopular. They know this, and this is why they lie, like Palin did during her debate, about leading the state of Alaska to divest of investments that could benefit the Sudanese government. It turns out that her administration opposed such divestment when it mattered and that she finally told a legislator or two she was for it - after it was too late for the legislature to act. That's not substance. It's substance abuse.

So in this closing month, they will do what they know how to do. Republican operatives told the Washington Post last Saturday that they will spend the remaining days attacking Obama's character and past associations. Meanwhile, independent conservative groups are bound to spread all manner of disinformation - about how al-Qaida wants Obama to win and how, if the Democrats capture the White House, they'll outlaw the Ten Commandments.

We've seen lies like these work before. But what we haven't seen before is basically 80% of American adults feeling this miserably about their country. If there's ever going to be a circumstance when voters stay focused on the things that matter, this ought to be it.