I am sure that Barack Obama's comments that the upheaval on Wall Street was "the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression" and the fact that blamed it on policies, which he said Republican rival John McCain supports, will rankle a lot of folks. He said that "this country can't afford another four years of this failed philosophy," Obama said after the shock-wave announcements that financial giant Lehman Brothers had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy while titan Merrill Lynch was being bought by Bank of America for about $50 billion. Amen to that.

Obama's statement was intended to serve two purposes: to link McCain with the unpopular presidency of George Bush and to express sympathy with the anxiety of most Americans who say the economy is issue No. 1 in the election. He said that "the challenges facing our financial system today are more evidence that too many folks in Washington and on Wall Street weren't minding the store," Obama said in a statement. "Eight years of policies that have shredded consumer protections, loosened oversight and regulation, and encouraged outsized bonuses to CEOs while ignoring middle-class Americans have brought us to the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression." "I certainly don't fault Sen. McCain for these problems," Obama said, "but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to."

In a presidential race turning increasingly negative, Obama also drew on editorial comments from U.S. newspapers and magazines to accuse McCain of running a dishonest campaign with some of the "sleaziest ads" ever seen. Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, said McCain was "launching a low blow a day" and went on to say the Republican candidate stands "with George Bush firmly in the corner of the wealthy and well-connected."

I am glad the Democrats are ratcheting up the attacks on McCain and tying him to President Bush. Joe Biden, in an appearance planned Monday in St. Clair Shores, Mich., tried to link McCain with President Bush. "If you're ready for four more years of George Bush, John McCain is your man," Biden said in prepared remarks. "Just as George Herbert Walker Bush was nicknamed `Bush 41' and his son is known as `Bush 43,' John McCain could easily become known as `Bush 44.'" Excerpts of Biden's speech also includes: A passing reference to McCain's sacrifices as a Vietnam prisoner of war and he said that "America needs more than a great solider, America needs a wise leader. Take a hard look at the positions John has taken for the past 26 years, on the economy, on health care, on foreign policy, and you'll see why I say that John McCain is just four more years of George Bush." Hello, my sentiments exactly.

I know President Bush is not the cause of what has happened on Wall Street, but it certainly happened under his watch, as has a myriad of things. The Obama campaign needs to drive that fact home and Bush should be the last person John McCain would want to align himself with. The financial turmoil in America is only going to get more dire before it gets better. We cannot afford four more years of the same. No way, no how, no McCain and certainly no Palin!

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