U.S. Elections...Who will CAPITALIZE on the NEW FACTOR ?

Yes...I'm talking about the global economic meltdown.....

Either the G.O.P. or the Dems...whoever CAPITALIZES on this SUDDEN FINANCIAL TSUNAMI WILL WIN

Quoting from New York Times...Article by Fran Silverman...captures voter sentiments:

"

In Darien, Jay Wood, 61, a financial analyst at Merrill Lynch, said he was worried about his job and that he intended to vote for the Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain, because he shared his belief in the merits of a free market.

“Most of my concern has to do with finances,” said Mr. Wood, as he grabbed a sandwich at Uncle’s Deli in Darien Center. “I don’t think anyone has an answer on the economy, but I’d rather let the free markettake care of it.”

In Hartford, a state worker who said he has consistently voted Republican in the past said he was leaning toward the Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama, because he thought Mr. Obama would do a better job addressing his concerns about layoffs amid climbing gas and grocery prices.

“It’s been eight years of damage by what Bush has done,” said Jason Purslow, 41, a Cheshire resident who works for the State Department of Revenue Services.

Mr. Purslow, who is married and has one child, said that while he originally supported the war in Iraq and considers himself anti-abortion, the state of the economy is trumping all of that as he heads into the voting booth, prepared to cast a ballot for Mr. Obama, who opposed the war from the start and supports abortion rights.

In a state that has been decidedly blue since 1992 in presidential elections, but where unaffiliated voters outnumber Democrats and Republicans, many said this was one of the toughest election decisions they’ve ever had to make. The secretary of the state’s office reported last week that 845,311 out of 2,021,749 registered voters called themselves unaffiliated.

But as in the rest of the country, voters in Connecticut appear to be poised to go to the polls in droves. The secretary of the state also reported that huge numbers of voters have registered, including more than 50,000 just in October.

In interviews, voters across the state talked about the tangled mix of issues they were sorting through as they prepared to cast their ballots on Nov. 4: the war in Iraq, the cost of health care and the experience that they believe each candidate has — or lacks — to lead the country through its troubles. Some said they worried the country was not ready for an African-American president; others said they were favoring McCain, until he picked Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as his running mate.

Tonja Bailey, 47, a freelance court stenographer from Stamford, said the cost of health care was a main issue for her. As she headed into the Ferguson Library last week in this Democratic-leaning city, walking past signs for an upcoming Obama rally, Ms. Bailey said it was time for a change in leadership. Ms. Bailey, who is African-American, said she was voting for Mr. Obama not because he is black, but because he understands her financial concerns.

“We need a change but it’s not about color. I agree with Obama that health care is a right,” said Ms. Bailey, who is spending more than $500 a month on health insurance that just covers the basics. “It’s tough right now. It’s very, very hard.”

In Bridgeport, Lamicha Murphy, 40, a packer in a warehouse, said she was voting for Mr. Obama because she was turned off by Ms. Palin, who she said was too inexperienced to be president. But Ms. Murphy, who is African-American, said she worried about whether the country was ready for a black president and was concerned that harm might come to him if he is elected.

Others seem so stumped by the choices — or dissatisfied with both candidates — that they said they were not voting at all. Carley Andrews Brown, 32, who was strolling in downtown Stamford with her 7-month old son, said she felt neither candidate understood her financial situation. This will be the first presidential election in which she said she doesn’t plan to vote at all."

MY TAKE : IT'S TOTAL CONFUSION...GLOBAL ECONOMIC MELTDOWN SHOULD BE THE AGENDA NUMBER 1 FOR ANY PARTY...WHICH PARTY CAPITALIZES ON IT WINS.

I KNOW IT SOUNDS BAD.....BUT THAT'S THE REALITY OF POLITICS.