OTTUMWA — Iowa Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald wasn’t supposed to be quite this well positioned as a Democratic campaigner in the final weeks before election day.

Yes, the economy is always an issue. And, yes, you could expect a state treasurer to have some ideas about it. But no one expected massive 700-point plunges on Wall Street or daily doses of triple-digit drops.

Fitzgerald thinks Iowa’s growing ethanol and biofuels economy has helped the state withstand the first blows from the national economic crisis. But even those areas are feeling the pinch as lending dries up and businesses find it next to impossible to launch or expand. And Fitzgerald thinks that places a profound emphasis on the need for leadership that can inspire.

“This crisis we’re going through is more a crisis of confidence than anything else,” he said.

Getting through a crisis of confidence requires something more than an economic crunch or a financial slowdown. Style matters along with substance. People remember Franklin Roosevelt’s Depression-era “fireside chats,” even though he averaged fewer than three per year between 1933 and 1944. But Roosevelt used those occasions to project a reassuring presence.

All of this explains why Fitzgerald is spending time out on the road, campaigning for Barack Obama’s presidential bid. He says Obama has presented a consistent concern for the economy and has the ability to better work with Congress.

And Fitzgerald says Obama will be better positioned after November than he was the first time he tried to address U.S. lending regulations. Both Obama and John McCain introduced Senate bills to restrict the riskiest home loans. Neither bill went anywhere.

Fitzgerald sees a fundamental difference between Obama’s first attempt and one made as president. Presidents are de facto leaders of their party, and Obama would receive a mandate by winning the election. Both of those factors lend a proposal more weight than that given to a freshman senator’s suggestion.

Obama currently enjoys a solid lead in Iowa. Many experts don’t even consider the Iowa a swing state anymore. But there’s still three weeks worth of campaign left. And no one on either side is taking anything for granted.

That, after all, is why Fitzgerald was barnstorming southeast Iowa on Friday.

Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com