The Wall Street Journal-20080205-Campaign -08- McCain Placing Increased Focus On the Economy

Return to: The_Wall_Street_Journal-20080205

Campaign '08: McCain Placing Increased Focus On the Economy

Full Text (261  words)

Sen. John McCain seems to be shoring up his economic policies for after Super Tuesday, sensing that the economy -- not national security -- might be the dominant issue of the general election in November.

At Boston's historic Faneuil Hall, Mr. McCain said he would "be coming out with more specific proposals," on the economy. "They will be based not on big government interventions and not on raising your taxes and not on increasing government," he said.

Mr. McCain's current economic plan centers around making permanent the Bush tax cuts and cutting corporate taxes and government spending. He has yet to make a specific housing-policy plan other than saying he supports President Bush.

Mr. McCain has portrayed himself on the campaign trail as a Reaganomics conservative, against government spending, taxes and regulation. But his record reflects Teddy Roosevelt's brand of government regulation, which serves the consumer to the benefit of no specific industry or company.

His record in the Senate has left some specific business interests unenthusiastic about his candidacy. He opposed the pharmaceutical industry on the Medicare prescription-drug bill; voted against the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, saying they favored the rich and were imprudent during wartime; and has opposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

"Unfettered capitalism is not something that I said I support," Mr. McCain said. "I support capitalism and the free-enterprise system, and that's why we have various agencies of government to bring these things under control. And from time to time throughout our history, there are excesses, and we have to fix them."