Silver Lining in Economic Cloud

If there is one silver lining in the current cloud shrouding the United States it is that it is that that cloud has arrived at a time when two candidates are vying to fill the seat of a failed eight-year Presidency. And, under that cloud, both candidates have had an opportunity to show what makes them more or less presidential than the other.

With the direst financial crisis to hit the United States since at least the 1970s wending its way through the economic system, many American voters will be casting a ballot for President for the first time ever with something truly tangible at stake. In previous years, networks such as FOX have been able to paint the Democratic candidate as "too French" or "too green," in a coordinated, and successful, attempt to lead the voting public to vote for the Republican candidate. This year, MSNBC initially shot back at FOX, pounding the image of McCain as "too old" to lead.

Finally, it seems, Americans have had enough of being led around by the collar and have tuned out the usual suspects in search of more intelligent reporting on the campaign. At least that's what the polls suggest, as Americans now list their primary concerns being not the tired old concerns of the far left and right, but the future of the U.S. economy, writ large, the status of health care, and the U.S. commitment to Iraq.

Finally, it seems, Americans understand that there are important issues with which the President must deal. And finally, it seems, Americans are considering electing someone informed enough at least to deal with these issues.

After eight years of impotency in the Oval Office, no pun intended, there might well be a silver lining after all to the current economic turmoil.