Hillary Clinton, in what may be a final desperate bid to reel in an endorsement from John Edwards, makes a pitch for a “Poverty Czar.”Because the one thing we know is that adding another bureaucratic structure will end poverty. Forget all that stuff about behavioral attitudes and life choices having more to do with eliminating poverty than anything else–what we need is another cabinet official.

Meanwhile, the awful jobs numbers confirm that this will be an uphill fight for John McCain. Incumbent parties tend to lose (1980 and 1992 spring to mind) when the economy is skidding downhill. So it’s not surprising that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama put out statements linking McCain to President Bush.

McCain has learned now to express concern for those who are “hurting” (a small but needed step in anticipating his opponent’s sure-to-come effort to paint the cartoon-like picture of an uncaring Republican). He also takes it to the Democrats for “anti-growth” policies. Frankly, he will need to be a lot more graphic than that. I’m not sure the average voter would have a clue what that means. This is clearer: “They are going to raise your taxes and choke off trade which is a recipe for making the depression into a Great Depression.”