JOBS SPEECH: THE ONLY PROBLEM

Nice speech last night. The whole public works thing, in my opinion, is all right as long as it isn't committed for a decade of public improvements. The "do well by doing good" is an OK theme. Setting up the Harry Truman "Do Nothing Congress" campaign is a time-honored political gambit.

The trouble with the damn speech is that it was given about a year too late. The people are pretty well convinced this administration doesn't understand the common businessman or wage earner and that it dithers over almost everything. Every day this speech wasn't given was another day the disheartened American confirmed this impression.

We probably have to add that the whole Martha's Vineyard vacation thing is necessarily going to be seen as part of the reason for the near term delay and that isn't going down too well with a lot of independent voters.

All told, pretty much a no-hitter.