With a burst of pre-holiday news regarding job losses (the U.S. economy is in "terrible shape," McCain said yesterday) and foreclosures ("the foreclosure chart for Los Angeles is unfortunately starting to look like a ski jump," reports Bloomberg), the economy once again takes center stage:

Both presidential candidates used Thursday's news that 62,000 jobs were lost last month to proclaim that they are the right choice to help the economy regain footing...

Both sought to paint the other party as responsible for the woes.

"The American people are paying the price for the failed economic policies of the past eight years, and we can't afford four more years of more of the same," Obama stated. "That is the essential issue of this campaign because Sen. McCain has fully embraced the Bush economic agenda."

Meantime, McCain hopes to place the blame for high gas prices at the doorstep of a Democratic-led Congress.

"The American people cannot afford an economic agenda that will take our country in the wrong direction and cost jobs," he said. "At a time when our small businesses need support from Washington, we cannot raise taxes, increase regulation and isolate ourselves from foreign markets. These are the same old siren songs that have failed the American people time and time again."

With all of that bearishness, it's nice to see that the most-e-mailed story at the New York Times today is one of hope: "The Luckiest Girl," about the life-changing potential of, yes, a $120 goat. Worth a read.