Some of the blame goes to McCain, too; he has been ineffective on the national stage at explaining his plan.

In a phone interview last week with the Trib's David M. Brown, McCain was asked to explain some of the fundamentals of what he would do to fix this mess. He emphasized job creation, making sure that people do not lose their homes so that their neighborhoods’ values continue to grow, and investing in our own natural resources, especially coal.

He proposed doubling the federal tax exemption of every child and family. He said his fundamentals also include keeping taxes low and stopping Washington’s spending spree.

All of it is a very appealing yet responsible populist message -- the polar opposite of Obama’s “spread the wealth” message.

McCain’s plans are about equal opportunity, not equal outcomes; he does not propose that politicians have some inherent right to confiscate our hard-earned incomes and to give those to others. Individual effort should be rewarded, not penalized.

That’s the essence of the “American dream” -- it’s why millions of people around the globe fight to become citizens of this country. Anyone who works hard enough can make it. We’re not a country bound by bloodlines or centuries of tradition; we’re a country that is bound by an ideal.

Yet the Obama-Biden way is all about equal distribution. That much was evident in one of Obama's presidential-debate responses: Asked why he supports increasing capital-gains taxes, when cutting them has been shown to increase revenue, he replied that it is a “fairness” question.

McCain has become “John the Populist.”

Too bad too few hear him.