That's sadly the base of the mountain of our troubled politics: Candidates think they have to offer an answer to a problem rather than simply be able to explain the problem and strategize ways to alleviate the fallout - and let's face it, for most people recession is a real problem.

But who will vote for the person who says, "This is the way things work, folks, so hang on for about a year and a half, use gov't dole to get a degree or some skills, and when you go back you'll do much better than you would have if nothing had happened."