Newsweek October 27, 2008 [antikvár]

Periscope HURT BY THE CREDIT CRUNCH: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper campaigned as maritets crashed POLITICAL FALLOUT How the Crisis Some Leaders, Is Reviving Not Others The coming g8 summit on the col-lapsing global financial system will bring together a surprising number of recovering leaders. Hard times have been particularly good to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was widely expected to lose his job only two months ago, but whose sober demeanor and astute bailout plan for Britain's banks—emulated in Europe and America—has helped him back into favor with the public and his own party. Unflappability has also helped German Chancellor Angela Merkel bolster flagging ratings. Latest polls suggest that SO percent of Germans favor her as chancellor, compared with 24 percent for Social Democrat rival Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Merkel had been criticized until recendy for backing off free-market reform, but now that puts her more in tune with global economic thinking. Merkel and Brown are trying to ride a backlash against free-market orthodoxy that is likely to prove decisive in elections, worldwide, for the foreseeable future. The American presidential campaign enters its final weeks focused on Barack Obama's charge tiiat his conservative rival stands for more of the deregulation widely blamed for the financial meltdown, and John McCain's increasingly desperate efibrts to change the subject. Polls show the race tipping toward Obama. Canada may offer a sign of what's to come: Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper was on a roll when he called early elections sbi weeks ago, days before the crisis struck. The Tbronto stock market fell 20 percent during the campaign, and Harper tried to make the best of it by telling nervous voters to watch for "great buying opportunities." His approval rating fell fi-om 60 to 40 percent. Last week the Conservatives, who expected big gains in the 308-seat Fariia-ment, instead managed just 19 extra seats, leaving them short of the absolute majority they'd sought. The U.S. Democrats now think a rock-solid 60-40 majority may be vrithin reach. In France the signs are not quite so clear, in part because President Nicolas Sarkozy is sometimes for the free market, sometimes not. Latest polls suggest 60 percent of voters believe Sarkozy is handling the crisis well, and most believe that the president played an important role in framing the EU's common response. But an eariier survey found that what the French people worry about most is declining purchasing power, and Sarkozy won office promising to be the "purchasing-power president." But he's relatively immune from the political contagion: he doesn't have to face election until 2012. -WU.LIAM UNDERHILL CAMPAIGN '08 Don't Say The 1-Word During the u.s. presi-dential debates, the word "immigration" was mentioned oiJy once, odd for a time of steep job losses, when bashing foreign workers might normally sell. Why the high road? One reason: John McCain, who has a pro-immigration record, hardened his stance for the election but may not want to highlight his flip-flop. Barack Obama, for his part, favors a path to citizenship—not exactly grist for a populist crusade. Finally, while immigration was a hot issue in the 2006 elections, it's not anymore because migrants aren't flocking to the U.S. The housing-market slide has gutted jobs in construction, a crucial sector for immigrants. The household income of noncitizen foreigners sank 7 percent in 2007. As a result, Mexican immigration fell by 25 percent last year, and Central American by SO percent. The challenge for the next president may be how to lure them back. -Adam B. Kushner STAYING SILENT: The candidates aren't hammering immigration THE DIGIT The 2008 Global Hunger Index found that 87% of the 88 countries surveyed have improved food security since 1990, but that hunger is still a "meuor threat" in 37% of them. i.k.ttorig1it=toi,ukoroi.-reuters. brendan smialovvski-l ken cenena-ri.oomiierg neivs-landov. oloor