Roy Oppenheim’s commentary was originally published on Yahoo! Homes and is being republished on South Florida Law Blog with their permission.
Last week a reporter asked me whether or not I thought President Barack Obama had done enough during the foreclosure crisis.
I told him no, of course, and that if Obama does not win a second term, it would be because of housing. When Obama campaigned back in 2008, he campaigned as a populist, yet that did not hold over once he took office. He has at times seemed more interested in bailing out banks than homeowners.
If Gov. Mitt Romney had more strongly positioned himself as the candidate for Main Street, rather than as an advocate for big business, then perhaps this election would not be as close as it is.
But he too has failed to realize the importance of housing as a political issue. The folks in foreclosure and its impact on the real estate market, even days before the election, just is not being talked about by both political parties.
Most homeowners I have come across are keenly aware of this fact. So if neither candidate has done enough to address how to stabilize the housing market, then who wins?
I wasn’t certain before Hurricane Sandy wrecked havoc on the Northeast. But now in the storm’s aftermath, we are seeing a president who is taking charge, and as they say, being presidential. And when you have staunch Republicans like Gov. Chris Christie singing the president’s praises, you have to wonder if Romney’s window of opportunity has closed.
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