Here's what we still need to hear

We are in the midst of the scariest financial crisis since the Great Depression. We're wondering about the stability of our jobs and our homes, our ability to get college loans, whether we can finance a car if ours breaks down.

We're at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden and his minions surely still are out to get us. The stakes could not be higher.

And yet, try as they did at the latest debate, we're left with the sense that our presidential candidates still don't quite get it. They don't feel our pain. Neither convincingly has persuaded us that they have the plan and the vision to lead us out of our current sorry state.

Republican nominee John McCain did offer up a $300 billion plan to buy bad mortgages so people can stay in their foreclosed homes, but isn't that a goal of the plan Congress just passed?

Mostly, McCain and Obama still debate the same economic ideas they offered before their conventions. At both debates they were asked what spending plans have to fall by the wayside as a result of this credit crisis and still there have been no specific, satisfactory answers.

The attempt at a town-hall meeting in Tennessee Tuesday night was a solid one. Many of the questions from the audience and e-mailers Tuesday night were pointed, poignant and profound.

"How can we trust either of you with our money when both parties got us into this global economic crisis?"

"As president, what sacrifices will you ask every American to make to help restore the American dream and to get out of the economic morass that we're now in?"

"What don't you know and how will you learn it?"

If only the answers were as pointed and poignant.

Both men tried. Obama showed he knew the price of a gallon of gas in Nashville. McCain told us he knows were upset and fearful.

But, time and again, the two reverted to the talking points we've heard for weeks, despite our deepening worry. And too many of those talking points really were about finger pointing and one upmanship.

Outside the debate halls, the politics as usual is sadly as awful as in previous years. We don't see the ads in Illinois too much unless we seek them out, but McCain and Obama both are lowering themselves to name calling and guilt by old association when what we need are new, specific answers and ideas. What we need is a much stronger sense they understand the financial foundation is shaking beneath us all.

Tuesday night, the men who would lead us fell short.

The forum largely was a missed opportunity. To show us how exactly they will work across parties to find solutions. To demonstrate they're above negativity. To truly connect with us. To talk with us rather than at us.

They have another chance next Wednesday and in the last few weeks before Nov. 4 to grab us. Let's hope they finally do it. Please, gentlemen, we're listening.