My take on President Barack Obama's second press conference, first posted at MotherJones.com....

At the second press conference of his two-month-old presidency, Barack Obama sent a clear signal: I'm an establishment progressive, not an angry populist.

Before taking questions from reporters, Obama read a statement--a sort of mini-speech--off a teleprompter and recounted all the economic measures he has put into play: the stimulus package, a mortgage crisis plan, various plans to unclog credit within the financial system (including the toxic assets buy-back program), and his proposed budget.

Only after he explained how all this will help the economy recover did he note that was "as angry as anyone" about the bonuses paid to executives of AIG, the bailed-out insurance giant. Obama noted that the bonuses were another "symptom" of the culture of greed that allowed Wall Streeters to bring down the rest of the economy. Corporate executives, he warned, must realize that they cannot enrich "themselves on taxpayer's dime" and engage in "reckless speculation that puts us all at risk." But, he added, the "rest of us can't afford to demonize every investor and entrepreneur."

For months, I've been waiting for populist rage at the economic collapse and the subsequent bailouts to explode and cause political fallout. In fact last September I thought there was a chance John McCain, looking for a game-changer, would oppose the (first) Wall Street bailout as a conservative populist and reboot and reenergize his campaign. McCain made a few head fakes in that direction, but ultimately he chickened out.

In the months since, politicians on both sides of the aisle have bitched and moaned about Wall Street and the assorted bailouts under way, but no one has truly ignited a populist crusade against those big-money players who have ruined the economy and their pals in Congress. In January, a consultant told me that he had conducted focus groups with Americans of different economic standing, different party affiliations, and different levels of education, and that he had found that few of them were willing to express any anger at either Washington or Wall Street. Many, he noted, had said that perhaps they had spent too much money on things they really didn't need. He was quite surprised by this. No matter how hard he tried to stir up populist resentment--with loaded questions--he couldn't get that sort of a rise of these people.

So where's all the outrage? MSNBC's First Read newsletter has an interesting take on this:

Rage Against The Machine: Anger at Wall Street and at America's financial institutions has been simmering for a while now -- the numerous bailouts, Bernie Madoff, and Jon Stewart vs. CNBC have been just a few examples. But with the news over the weekend that AIG, 80% of which is now owned by the federal government, is awarding millions in bonuses to executives has most likely turned that anger into a furious boil. As the New York Times' Nagourney writes, this populist backlash presents a huge challenge for an Obama administration that might have to hand out additional bailouts to further stabilize the banking industry. ("The biggest risk is that we don't have the political will," Fed chairman Ben Bernanke warned last night on "60 Minutes." "We don't have the commitment to solve this problem, and that we let it just continue.") But the populist rage also might present a bigger challenge to the political party that's more associated with big business, less regulation, and tax cuts for the wealthy. In fact, if there was a time for the Obama administration and Democrats to push to let the Bush tax cuts to expire, to press for the Employee Free Choice Act (or "card check"), or to institute new regulations, this is the time, right? Still, now's a time when everyone in Washington is suddenly going to be channeling his/her inner-populist. Who will have the most credibility doing it? As for the short term, Congress is going to want a pound of flesh (and then some) from AIG. Obama also will discuss AIG during his remarks today.

The White House does have to make a careful calculation. It does not want to end up on the wrong side of a populist wave. And Obama and his aides know this; recall his not-yet-detailed proposal to cap executive compensation and perks. But at the same time, Obama has to fix the system--which means he has to work with the institutions that caused the damage. It's tough to bash and build at the same time. (Obama, no doubt, will be slamming AIG for awarding bonuses to the execs who lead the company to ruin.) The Obama gang has demonstrated that it can thread political needles. But this will continue to be a tough one. Moreover, there will continue to be an opening for Republicans--if any have the spine to go for it.

If the "fundamentals" of this economy are strong, why then is President Bush proposing a $500 billion bailout of financial firms?

Even though John McCain cannot answer that question, he still bangs his fist and decries Wall Street greed-meisters and Washington influence peddlers (the same sort of people who are working for his campaign). And, as I wrote elsewhere, he may be out-populisting Barack Obama.

The economic crisis under way surely is scaring voters and pissing off many of them. How dare these Wall Streeters and their lobbyist pals game the system and put our economy in peril? How many of them will be losing their second homes (with heated pools)? At this stage, McCain is expressing some of that anger, though he goes back and forth on the substance. (First, don't take over AIG; then, hooray for the take-over of AIG.) Obama has reacted more coolly. And he better watch out. Many voters freaked out by the economic meltdown do not want only calmly-delivered policy proposals. They want to see someone voice their own worries and feelings--as in outrage. In fact, I would bet that many of those still-undecided voters care more about how a candidate reacts than what a candidate proposes.

Democrats usually have the edge over Republicans when it comes to voters' perceptions of who would best deal with economic matters. But in a crisis, many voters are going to look for leadership, not policy details. So McCain may not have to answer the above question. He just has to stop making stupid comments and come on strong, decisive and mad. And Obama should ponder how to prevent himself from winding up on the wrong end of an anger gap.

After all, Americans have a right to be livid with the screw-ups of Big Finance, the deregulators of Washington, and the game-riggers of K Street. And they are entitled to a president who feels not only their pain, but their anger.

As regular readers can tell from the past few days, I've been fixated on a point: as mega-finance firms fail, it's absurd for McCain to beat on Wall Street when his campaign is chockfull of corporate lobbyists (past and present) who have been paid lots of money to rig the system for Big Finance firms. And that includes UBS executive and McCain adviser Phil Gramm, who, as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, pulled a backroom legislative stunt in 2000 to make sure that credit default swaps--a certain financial instrument that helped pave the way to the subprime meltdown--would remain completely unregulated.

The nice thing about having an obsession and being head of a Washington bureau is that you can assign reporters to stories. So I asked Jonathan Stein and Nick Baumann, two colleagues of mine at Mother Jones, to go through a list of 177 lobbyists working for the McCain campaign and find those who have been influence-peddlers for financial firms. They did and discovered that over 80 of these lobbyists have been game-riggers for financial corporations. Consequently, we had a story to post:

In the past few days, as the economic crisis has deepened, Senator John McCain has been decrying the excesses of Wall Street. At a campaign rally in Tampa on Tuesday, he vowed that he and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, if elected, "are going to put an end to the reckless conduct, corruption, and unbridled greed that have caused a crisis on Wall Street." He noted that the "foundation of our economy...has been put at risk by the greed and mismanagement of Wall Street and Washington."

He blasted CEOs who "seem to escape the consequences." He denounced Wall Streeters who "dreamed up investment schemes that they themselves don't even understand" and who used "derivatives, credit default swaps, and mortgage-backed securities" to try "to make their own rules." He excoriated Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for gaming the system. And he slammed financial industry lobbyists for misguiding members of Congress. "I can promise you the days of dealing and special favors will soon be over in Washington." On Wednesday morning, after the federal government committed $85 billion to prevent the collapse of the American International Group (AIG) insurance conglomerate, McCain again assailed irresponsible corporate executives. "We need to change the way Washington and Wall Street does business," he proclaimed.

McCain has been quick with fiery, populist-tinged speeches. But one thing has been missing: any acknowledgment that McCain's own campaign has been loaded with the type of people he's been denouncing. As Mother Jones previously reported, former Senator Phil Gramm, McCain's onetime campaign chairman, used a backroom maneuver in late 2000 to slip into law a bill that kept credit default swaps unregulated. These financial instruments greased the way to the subprime meltdown that has led to today's economic crisis. Several of McCain's most senior campaign aides have lobbied for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And the Democratic National Committee, using publicly available records, has identified 177 lobbyists working for the McCain campaign as either aides, policy advisers, or fundraisers.

Of those 177 lobbyists, according to a Mother Jones review of Senate and House records, at least 83 have in recent years lobbied for the financial industry McCain now attacks. These are high-paid influence-peddlers who have been working the corridors of the nation's capital to win favors and special treatment for investment banks, securities firms, hedge funds, accounting outfits, and insurance companies. Their clients have included AIG, the newest symbol of corporate excess; Lehman Brothers, which filed for bankruptcy on Monday sending the stock market into a tailspin; Merrill Lynch, which was bought out by Bank of America this week; and Washington Mutual, the banking giant that could be the next to fall. Among these 83 lobbyists are McCain's chief political adviser, Charlie Black (JP Morgan, Washington Mutual Bank,, Freddie Mac, Mortgage Bankers Association of America); McCain's national finance co-chairman, Wayne Berman (AIG, Blackstone, Credit Suisse, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac); the campaign's congressional liaison, John Green (Carlyle Group, Citigroup, Icahn Associates, Fannie Mae); McCain's veep vetter, Arthur Culvahouse (Fannie Mae); and McCain's transition planning chief, William Timmons Sr. (Citigroup, Freddie Mac, Vanguard Group).

When cable news shows air footage of McCain railing against greedy execs and the lobbyists who rig the rules for the benefit of Wall Street dealmakers, there ought to be a crawl beneath him listing these lobbyists. (Talk about a fair and balanced presentation.) Short of that, here's the list of the McCain aides and bundlers who have worked for the high-finance greed-mongers McCain has pledged to take on. So far, it seems, none of them have been cast out of the campaign. If McCain were serious about his outrage, he might throw these money-changers out of his own temple.

To see that list, click here.

Pennsylvania? Predictions? I don't do predictions. But I will hazard this guess: the race will not be over after the Pennsylvania results are posted. In fact, I think Hillary Clinton is in the race--no matter what--until at least the end of the primaries in early June. And perhaps longer. If she does not fare well in Pennsylvania and the next primaries, the call for her to quit will get louder within the Democratic Party. But my hunch is this: she won't listen. Now on to today's posting....

On Monday, John McCain tried to expropriate the glory of a civil rights hero. On Tuesday, he stuck his head in the sand.

As part of his so-called "Time for Action" speaking tour, McCain on Tuesday rolled into Youngstown, Ohio, to give a speech at a local university. In the address--according to a text released before the event by his campaign--McCain tried to empathize with the displaced workers of the Rust Belt:

We hear people talking a lot these days about new industries on the rise and new skills in demand. But they're not the industries you grew up with, and they're not the skills many workers have spent twenty or thirty years learning on the job. People in the know like to discourse about the new global economy -- it's always "global" this and "global" that. But sometimes it seems that the map of the world they are using has only capitals, financial centers, and port cities. And where are the places like Canton, and Lima, and Akron, and Youngstown? Where's the heartland, where men and women know how to make things, and how to do the job with pride?

So what's he gonna do? McCain talked about the usual Republican fare: cutting taxes. He also touted his plan to make health care "more portable and affordable with generous tax credits." (Jonathan Gruber, a professor of economics at M.I.T. says that McCain's proposal is "fine except for the poor and the sick.") And McCain hyped his modest plan for helping "responsible sub-prime borrowers who played by the rules." He declared he would cut wasteful government spending and go after corporate welfare. He mentioned reforming the unemployment insurance system and job training programs.

But he ignored one critical matter: trade. There was not one word in the speech about trade agreements. He tried to sound the populist, bashing those who use the word "global" without paying attention to Middle America. But McCain said nothing about job dislocation caused by trade deals. Nor did he say anything about outsourcing and runaway factories. There was little in his speech that would discomfort the corporate class. Sure, tax cuts and better job-training programs. Who's against that?

McCain's speech was artfully crafted. But when he has to go up against a Democrat who does recognize that trade deals, overseas outsourcing, and runaway factories are part of the problem, McCain, with this narrow approach, is going to look more like a corporate-class Republican than a heartland populist. One wonders why McCain even bothered trekking to Youngstown to woo "the men and women of Youngstown [who] know what it feels like to be counted out," if he counts out big chunks of the crisis they face.