It's hard to imagine a more moderate response to the recession. A fairly small stimulus, no major reorganization of the banking system, no regulation of derivatives, and no effort to dramatically expand the welfare state. In other words, there are an awful lot of things President Obama could have attempted (and probably have defeated by Congress). Now a Republican, such as John McCain, would have focused his stimulus around tax cuts and other supply-side doctrine. No Wall Street reform, no push for health care reform, and an earlier emphasis on fiscal conservatism. Personally, I believe that our economy would be in a much worse situation if we had followed that route.