“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from putting their country first; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and votes of man and woman. A credit crunch, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the worse the polls, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: Remember that, ye subprime lenders. It is dearness only that gives every thing its value: 700 billion? Why not 700 trillion? Heaven knows, not I, how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as THE PRESIDENCY should not be highly rated. My opponent, with the leadership of Congress to enforce his tyranny, has declared that he has a right not only to DEBATE but to FORCE me to do so; and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to MYSELF.”