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Loose ChangeWhy bad economic news doesn't hurt McCain, or help Obama, as much as you think.

By John DickersonPosted Monday, Sept. 15, 2008, at 7:12 PM ET

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And yet voters have been remarkably forgiving of Republican economic stewardship. In mid-July, Obama held a 17-point lead over McCain when voters were asked which candidate they trusted to handle the economy. Now he has only a five-point lead. This tightening has been reflected in the other polls, too.

Why isn't Obama killing McCain on this issue? Part of the answer may be that polls have narrowed across the board as McCain has solidified his base. (Voters like McCain better, so they like his ability to handle the economy better—even though they may have no idea what his policies are.)

Some portion of the tightening also comes from McCain's advocacy of oil drilling. High gas prices have been voters' No. 1 concern for some time, and McCain's plan for drilling is popular. "Drill, baby, drill!" may be intellectually infuriating, but it's working for McCain among voters who are looking for some kind of solution.

McCain's other economic plans also have a similar action-oriented feel. He's going to cut earmarks! Cutting earmarks isn't going to do much to improve people's lives (in fact, if you benefit from them, your life could get worse) because they're only a small portion of the budget, and it'll be hard for McCain to cut what's left. But McCain can sound like he's going to take action when action is what voters want, and it's an issue with which he has a record.

What about McCain's policies on the specific topic of the recent market turmoil? He's going to clean the mess up, he promises. If voters see him as the action candidate, perhaps they'll take his word for it. On the specifics, though, he's not in a very strong position. Though he offered a new ad today touting his "experience" to handle the crisis, he doesn't have much of a record at all. When McCain talks about eliminating earmarks, his record is a mile long. When he talks about cutting CEO pay and regulating the financial industry, his aides can provide only one amendment to an accounting-reform bill to show his history on the issue. He offered it six years ago.

Still, Obama can be pushed around on the economy because voters don't know what he's for. Yes, he's for change—but what does that mean when it comes to their daily lives? Yes, he's for a middle-class tax cut—but a July poll showed that nearly 50 percent of the country was unfamiliar with his economic policies. In this vacuum, McCain has been able to mischaracterize Obama's position on taxes. McCain says Obama will raise taxes, which isn't true for the majority of Americans. Yet in a recent ABC/Washington Post poll, 51 percent of respondents said Obama would raise their taxes, while only 34 percent said McCain would.

If Obama can't get anything more out of the McCain-is-out-of-touch strategy, then a day full of lampooning McCain may not do much to help Obama. Voters would miss any programs he was offering to fix the crisis in the blizzard of McCain mocking. Obama has struggled throughout his campaign to show that he has both a plan and the ability to execute it. That's why last week he was at pains in New Hampshire to walk voters through exactly what his tax-cut plan would deliver for them. It was not his most stirring performance, but it may be one Obama needs to deliver more often.