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Forget Iraq, US Is in Need of Nation-Building

Healing country is top priority in November, Friedman writes

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 29, 2008 12:54 PM CDT
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(Newser) – The key issue in the presidential election won’t be national security or Iraq, as many once believed—it will be how to fix our ailing nation at home, writes Thomas Friedman in the New York Times. “We are a country in debt and in decline—not terminal, not irreversible, but in decline,” Friedman notes. What we need is a president who can restore a broken political system.

Though we’re facing serious issues—bank bailouts, surging fuel and food prices, and climbing unemployment—Washington seems incapable of moving to fix them. Friedman cites Wall Street Journal columnist Gerald Seib, who noted last week, “America and its political leaders, after two decades of failing to come together to solve big problems, seem to have lost faith in their ability to do so.” “We need nation-building at home,” Friedman writes. “Vote for the candidate who will do that best. Nothing else matters.”

A real estate sign advertising a reduced price is seen in Camp Hill, Pa., Tuesday, June 24, 2008. Home prices have been falling, Friedman notes.
A real estate sign advertising a reduced price is seen in Camp Hill, Pa., Tuesday, June 24, 2008. Home prices have been falling, Friedman notes.   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The June 16, 2008 issue of Newsweek.
The June 16, 2008 issue of Newsweek.   (AP Photo)
In this file photo from Jan. 30, 2007, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. greet each other on Capitol Hill.
In this file photo from Jan. 30, 2007, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. greet each other on Capitol Hill.   (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)
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Barack Obama • John McCain • recession • Thomas Friedman • Iraq mess • Election 2008 • presidential election • economy

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