In policy content I found this debate largely droll and unremarkable. On the question of what we can do about gas price increases, Clinton answered that she would look into it because truckers were hurting. Call me an elitist, but you know what, truckers are a dieing breed, and if the government would stop subsidizing gasoline, this country would gain just as many jobs as it would lose through the massive effort it would take to build a new transportation infrastructure. This infrastructure will only be created if drastic steps are taken by someone with the vision to see the consequences of not making these changes. The Democrats are normally far too concerned with the current working class complaints that they ignore the need to build a new working class. And while ending gas subsidies would be unpopular and gas prices would skyrocket to $8-13 dollars a gallon, a courageous step requires a courageous politician.
Enter Barack Obama.
Obama responded to Clinton by saying that he plans on starting a transportation project on the level of the Manhattan Project or the Apollo Program, something that would revitalize the sagging blue collar workforce and chance the way all Americans live their lives. While I doubt very much that Obama’s plan takes as radical a stance as I would take, he at least has some idea of the scale of the problem.
