Voters face sacrifice. You'd never know

by William Neikirk

One thing that has bothered me about this presidential race is that neither candidate has been sufficiently forceful about the sacrifices likely awaiting the American people.

Certainly Sen. Barack Obama and John McCain have vaguely talked about possible tough times ahead, and a lot of Americans certainly know that for a fact. But the campaigns have been mostly about tax cuts and other goodies designed to make things better.

You can't blame them much. No candidate wants to dwell on sacrifices and belt-buckling in a nation accustomed to a long period of relatively good times. When Jimmy Carter delivered his famous "malaise" speech during the energy crisis in the 1970s, it hurt his re-election chances.

Both have talked about creating jobs, knowing that job creation is going to difficult over the next year or two. In fact, it could be very severe if the economy goes into an even worst spiral.

Meantime, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the terrorism threat are huge dangers. Their own plans to combat global warming will call for great sacrifices by the American people, but the "sacrifice" part is hardly mentioned.

The deficit could hit record levels. Medicare is in trouble, and so is Social Security. Poverty is likely to be on the increase. And the housing mess is still with us, and the credit crunch isn't solved. Our banking system is fragile. Economically, we rely heavily on other countries to bankroll our standard of living.

The candidates have generally acknowledged that some of their ideas may have to be postponed because of the economic situation. But they are pretty vague about that.

People I speak with all understand the risks ahead, and I think most of the American people do as well. I think we are all ready for some tough, frank talk.

As he took over as prime minister in 1940 with war on the way, Winston Churchill told the British people: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering."

Obama and McCain don't have to go that far, perhaps, but we certainly do have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering that should be mentioned more forcefully.