Whether Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama is the Democrat candidate in November, one thing is for sure: the stakes are high.
The turnout at Democratic primaries is unprecedented, all over the world we are watching, mesmerised, as the results come in. The sense of hope, the sense that we are on the cusp of change is palpable. Politics, ideas and values matter.
Five years ago I worked in Washington, commentating on the US economy and the impact for the UK. The US was recovering from recession after a decade of strong growth under President Clinton.
Bush consistently failed to understand the US economy – he will likely have the record of the only postwar president to have presided over two recessions. His ‘cure’ for these recessions – tax cuts for the super-rich; impoverishing the unemployed (Bush refused to extend unemployment benefits beyond thirteen weeks although unemployment was up 50 per cent in two years); freezing the minimum wage; and axing welfare to work programs – failed to deliver the economic recovery Bush promised. Laissez-faire economics reward the rich and ignore the poor, the whole US economy is punished.
The sub-prime mortgage crisis, increasing repossessions and debt write-offs mean that again the economy is at the top of the agenda.
So, what do the presidential front runners have to say? Incredible as it might seem, McCain does not mention recent US economic troubles in his pro-forma of priorities: no reference to falling house prices or how to tackle the recession that most economists think the US is slipping in to. McCain’s economic agenda – more tax cuts for the wealthy, less government spending – is hardly a panacea for economic ill health.
What about the Democrats? Unlike Bush and McCain, they’re not sleepwalking in to recession. Obama wants tax credits for low-income workers, a minimum wage indexed to inflation and a tax cut for working families – all sensible ways to strengthen the economy and incomes. Obama has also set out specifically how he would address mortgage foreclosures and pledges tougher regulation of mortgage brokers and lenders.
The US is the economic powerhouse of the global economy. A president who does not have a plan of how to put the US economy back on track is irresponsible and reckless, especially when the current economic turbulence has been brought on by lending decisions in the US. And, for constituencies like Leeds West where sharp falls in unemployment in the last decade have slashed poverty and raised incomes, a return to economic vulnerability and uncertainty bought on by a sick US economy would have disastrous repercussions for local people.
The British media has focused on whether the US will elect the first black, first female or first 72-year-old as president. This is a side issue. If Clinton or Obama wins in November, there will be a change in direction and a new sense of optimism. Not because Clinton is a woman or because Obama is black, but because they both represent the aspirations and dreams of ordinary people – the values of social justice, fairness and opportunity.
The stakes are high. America and the world needs a Democrat back in the White House.
Rachel Reeves is Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Leeds West