The Common Good  Columbus Day, Wall Street, and Alabama
Immigrants: "It's About Power, Stupid"  In 1992, political
strategist James Carville coined the catchphrase that won Bill
Clinton the presidency: "It's the economy, stupid."  Clinton
made good on his word to address the deficit and high
unemployment and through both skill and luck, presided over
unprecedented economic growth and prosperity.  The two wars
started by his successor, along with the financial meltdown
precipitated by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, eroded
all such gains and any optimism about America's short- and long-
term economic future.  So Carville's slogan is as timely as
ever, though now it's been distilled into the panicky particular
of "Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!" Pundits and politicians of all stripes
reflexively chant the mantra and everyone knows that the
presidency will be won next year by the candidate with the most
compelling plan for tackling the nation's high unemployment.  In
the soundbyte world we live in, pithy slogans alwa