It seems to be me that Obama is arriving at the same time that Hoover arrived. Whatever he does, my crystal ball says that in 4 years he will be seen as the worst prez ever by the populace (because he will suffer the most of the unwinding of 30 years of trickle-down economics on his term). If you want to compare in terms of timelines to crisis, compare it also to Carter.
Continuing the high speculation, the question is what comes next. Another Reagan is impossible as the model is, literally, bankrupt.
And I sure hope he can teach old dogs new tricks (being the old dogs most of the people that surround him in economic terms), but I am not holding my breath. </pure_speculation> Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness - Bertrand Russell
Hoover may not have been directly responsible, as he inherited the conditions, but it was his party held responsible too. Dems, right or wrong, won't be held reponsible like that. But, if the crisis does not have a positive outcome as seen through the prism of the average American's eyes, they won't get any credit either, and neither party will have any credibility. The backlash of political cynicism will be pretty impressive if "Hope" shifts to "Hope and a Prayer" to a "Holy Prayer" to "Holy Shit!".
And it could very well happen.
But Hoover didn't even try to use the State to make things better. I think he did more for Russian famine victims in the 1920's than US famine victims in the early 1930's.
On another front, the amount of Bob Rubin drones around Obama makes me think that there is a possibility that the next administration will be part of the problem, not of the solution. But lets see... Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness - Bertrand Russell
