Why Don't the Presidential Candidates Talk More About Housing?

Why Don't the Presidential Candidates Talk More About Housing?

Contributor Stan Humphries writes in a Forbes (10/18, 928K) piece that neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney is focusing on housing issues. He says that is mainly "because neither candidate has a politically compelling angle with which to attack the other." Humphries notes that the President has refused to implement any "radical policies" which have been proposed, instead focusing on centrist solutions. He adds, "The president also has resisted calls to sack Ed DeMarco, the head regulator overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who has thwarted administration plans to pursue principal reduction more aggressively for Fannie and Freddie mortgages." Meanwhile, Romney has been vague about his housing policies, which has allowed "him to criticize the president without having to either espouse more conservative positions, which will alienate some voters, or champion centrist positions, which will make criticism of the president appear hypocritical."