How Obama got elected

Recently a number of people have asked me how Obama ever got elected and I was surprised to find out how soon people forget. Obama held a steady lead in the polls over McCain all during the spring and summer leading up to the election in November. Then in August things began to change and on August 29th he selected Palin as his running mate and the polls turned sharply in favor of McCain. By mid-September the McCain-Palin ticket held a firm 5 point lead and the momentum swung in their favor. Then on September 15th the Treasury headed by Paulson and the NY Fed headed by Geithner refused to come to the aid of Lehman Brothers and they filed for bankruptcy and that ended the McCain chances, as the polls reversed the trend and he fell five points behind within a few days. Since then many people have asked why Lehman was allowed to fail but other banks were bailed. Most experts agree that Lehman should have been bailed and the panic that followed could have been avoided. The overnight drop in the market and the concern of other banks which were in trouble, contributed to the downward economic spiral, that ensued. Some conspiracy theorist point out, that Geithner became Obama’s Secretary of the Treasury and imply a connection between that and the election results. That may have happened but Obama likely had nothing to do with it. It could be that the money lenders felt more comfortable with an amateur like Obama vs an Washington insider like McCain. In any event, the presence of Wall Streeters in Obama’s cabinet, are about the same as the Bush Administration and in both cases almost too many to count.