No straight talk about the economy to those voters who are hurting?

From the current US News & World Report, from its lead story in the National & World section is this: A McCain strategist is quoted, regarding Sen McCain's strategy to court Reagan Democrats (white working class voters, who used to be called in Reagan's day, "white ethnics")

"If we're going to win this election, it will because we won Reagan Democrats," says a key McCain strategist. He addds that, since the economy isn't doing well, the argument probably will have to be based on "values issues," such as patriotism, religious faith, and opposition to gay marriage and abortion, in adition to supporting troops and winning the war in Iraq.

In other words, Sen McCain isn't going to address the most pressing issues with them, the slumping economy, high fuel prices. Instead, he is going to obsfucate and discuss these other issues which really have little place and when you look at the legislative success on those issues, pretty thin.

Reagan got away with that because he had a plan to get the economy going. But trickle down never really worked, and it is not working now, and McCain is going to continue with it. I hope the Reagan Democrats, white working class (now defined singularly by educational achievement), or white ethnics, are smarter than that. Of course, many of this group are among those who have told pollsters they wouldn't vote for a black man for president, no matter what. Sen. McCain should be especially effective in recruiting that group to his cause.

This is shaping up to be an interesting campaign: Sen McCain's fear and anger strategy vs Sen Obama's hope and change in the future strategy. In Biblical terms, it is a message of fear vs a message of grace.