Blog Stage Four

In the editorial Is It the Economy (Again), Stupid? written by Janine Davidson, the reader's attention is again brought to the upcoming election. In this article, the author suggests that the economic dilemma is the most important issue in this election, when more focus should really be given to foreign policy and national security.

This author is targeting potential voters, people who are really concerned about the upcoming election and the issues that are being focused on. The author appeals to the emotions of the reader by referring to 9/11. Davidson says that this election is unlike the 1992 election of Bill Clinton, where the economy was the main issue, because "We hadn't experienced a major terrorist attack on American soil" then. She reasons that in this day and age, where everyone is, at least on some subconscious level, on alert to terrorist attacks, that national security should be the major issue.

Davidson establishes her authority on this subject by letting the reader know that she is a "national security scholar" and this is obviously her area of expertise.

I both agree and disagree with this author. On the one hand, I do feel that national security is a major issue that needs to be addressed; after all, it's the safety of our country we're talking about here! But on the other hand, we as Americans find ourselves in an economic situation that we haven't been in for quite some time. Many Americans feel insecure about the economy, and this is on their frontburners. Both Obama and McCain know this, and so of course they are going to make it the main issue that they focus on; it's what all of their voters are concerned about. It's an issue that is pressing upon everyone's minds because it affects everyone more directly and personally than national security does, because terrorist attacks don't just happen every day. But bankruptcy, foreclosures, and drops in stock market values do happen every day, and they affect the lives of Americans everywhere. That is why the economy is on the frontburner in this election: it's what everyone's most concerned about, and so while I agree that national security needs to be addressed, I think that McCain and Obama know what they're doing when they focus on the economic problem at hand.