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Can Palin Take Up the People's Cause?

I don't know about you, but I lost thousands of dollars Monday as Wall Street freaked out over the defeat of the $700 bailout for the nation's financial system.

And I am thrilled.

Sure, TV newscasts could have been filled with bipartisan backslapping - House leaders Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner high-fiving each other as President Bush fielded congratulatory phone calls from John McCain and Barack Obama.

Instead, the American people intervened, and the nation is far better for it.

No matter how much hand wringing and fear mongering you may have heard since the 228-205 vote, what we saw was real bipartisanship based on genuine public sentiment, rather than the usual kowtowing to moneyed special interests.

Wall Street's cliff dive was all the evidence anyone needed that the vote was exactly the right thing to do.

The stock market is a cauldron of business sentiment, geared to the short-term feelings of Wall Street luminaries. They are properly shell-shocked. Horrible business decisions, often prodded by horrible government decisions, got us into this. Real voters would have nothing to do with a hideous plan that saddled responsible Americans with the unwise dealings of lenders and citizens drunk on decades of an I-want-it-now credit binge.

I know full well that as an "investment," as described by bailout proponents and their media allies, the assumption of billions in bad debt may well have yielded a decent return two or 20 years down the road.

But the point is that there are areas where quick government fixes are a bad idea. This was a prime example, and when Congress actually listened to the people, you could feel the shockwaves rippling from Washington across every time zone.

Bathe luxuriously in this, because it won't happen often. A fat, lazy public that usually loves government rescues actually recoiled at the notion of nationalizing every bad mortgage in America.

The only thing that would make me happier is a president or candidate genuinely in touch with this righteous anger.

Dream on. Mr. Bush swims every day in the confusing pool of "big-government conservatism," his oxymoronic guiding philosophy. And you could feel Sens. McCain and Obama squirm as they dog-paddled through these treacherous waters at their debate.

Mr. Obama dared not reveal his fondness for the bailout, lest voters confirm the big-government altar where he worships. Mr. McCain dared not reveal too much skepticism for fear of being labeled as "doing nothing."

Into that vacuum marched 133 Republicans and 95 Democrats with the guts to say no. The responsibility now falls to them to chart a course to financial stability that places the burden on Washington and Wall Street, rather than a mostly blameless public.

With Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain choosing to enjoy the warm cocoon of pandering, those Americans bold enough to withstand a rough patch to get to a better solution have only one potential champion, and she takes the debate stage tomorrow night.

Let Tina Fey have her fun. The next thing she should imitate is Sarah Palin shedding the shroud McCain handlers have wrapped her in since the convention. If the man at the top can't stake out a difference with Democrats on the financial crisis, maybe his running mate can.

Ms. Palin should wrap this credit mess right around Joe Biden's neck. His party's Clinton-era fetish for extending unwise home loans to undercapitalized applicants - a craven link in the Democratic myth of caring more for minorities - dug the biggest part of this hole.

Ms. Palin can stand alone as the candidate who looks into the camera and say: "America has spoken. No government bailouts. We hear you."

I only hope the McCain handlers unshackle her and allow it.

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