The Candidates' Plans to Fix the Economy

With a recent flurry of speeches, the Presidential contenders aim to convince voters each is the best prepared to lead the country out of a downturn

by Jane Sasseen

If there was ever any doubt the economy has moved to center stage in the Presidential campaign, this was the week that dispelled it. Coming on the heels of the Bear Stearns (BSC) rescue and deepening worries about the state of the housing and financial markets, all three contenders in the race, Senators Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) hit the hustings to give major speeches outlining their views on what needs to be done to revive the economy.

"It's getting to the point where I can't keep up anymore," says Daniel Clifton, head of Washington research for investment firm Strategas Research.

Indeed, in the rhetorical equivalent of one-upsmanship, Clinton gave not one but two major addresses. After a speech she gave on Mar. 24 in Philadelphia on the housing crisis, Obama was in lower New York on Mar. 27, at the Cooper Union, to offer his views on how to improve the broad regulatory structure governing the financial markets and stem the problems in the housing markets. And just a few hours later, Clinton was back again, this time outlining her plan to bolster training and education programs for workers who lose their jobs.

In between, McCain also laid out his views on the crisis hitting housing and the financial markets.

"The No. 1 Issue"

"They are all trying to have an 'I feel your pain' moment with voters, although they're going about it in somewhat different ways," says Ann Mathias, the head of Washington research for the Stanford Group, an investment adviser.

The shift into high gear on the economy should come as little surprise: With each passing day, pollsters say, voters are becoming increasingly worried. "First and foremost, the economy is the No. 1 issue now," says Democratic pollster Peter Hart. And he argues it's no longer just a long-term or vague worry. Not only does the majority of the country believe the U.S. will go into a recession, if it is not there already, about 55% of those surveyed in March say the slowing economy has already affected them in a major way. Sixty-five percent say they have been greatly affected by rising gasoline and home heating oil prices, for instance, and 33% say the economy is having an impact on their retirement savings. "The problems are impacting real people's lives in real ways," says Hart.

Clinton's Plan to Help the Unemployed

Those issues clearly play to Clinton's strengths with struggling working- and middle-class voters—a key reason she has upped the ante with a handful of proposals aimed at showing her leadership and command of policy detail. Analysts say such an emphasis could help increase her lead in the critical Apr. 22 Pennsylvania primary. If successful, that message could provide some momentum going into Indiana, North Carolina, and the other remaining states. While that alone wouldn't be enough to win her the delegates needed to beat Obama, Clinton is clearly counting on it to help in her fight to win superdelegates to back her campaign.

"For Hillary the economic issue is obviously a godsend," says Hart. "It gives her a way of relating to the voters she's done best with, a way of talking about their concrete problems."

That aim was on full display in her Mar. 27 speech. Having devoted her earlier talk to the housing crisis, this time Clinton used a broad speech on the economy to introduce new proposals to spend $10 billion over five years on improving education and training programs, particularly for displaced workers. Clinton pledged to expand current government retraining programs, which are now targeted only to those who lose their jobs due to trade, to be available to all workers, regardless of how they ended up unemployed.

Every dislocated worker would be eligible for basic training, job search benefits, and other assistance. Clinton also promised to expand the existing Pell Grant program, which provides federal financial aid to students, to workers who enroll in education or training programs to bolster their skills after losing their jobs.