The economic meltdown of the past few weeks has made it clear that our nation is in crisis.

The United States is more than $10 trillion in debt. Washington has agreed to a hugely expensive credit-market recovery plan - many call it simply a Wall Street bailout - because our leaders didn't see any other choice. More people are losing homes to foreclosure every day. We're fighting two wars at once, further draining our resources.

We're in a crisis of confidence in this country. We need a new direction, because where we've been headed is not good. What people need most right now is hope.

That's why Sen. Barack Obama is the best choice for the next president of the United States.

Obama has the ability to restore America's confidence and get people excited about working our way back to prosperity. He inspires the younger generation like no political figure since President John F. Kennedy.

Just as importantly, he has the smarts needed to run the country. It's crucial now to have a president who can take an informed and nuanced approach to the nation's and world's increasingly complex and interrelated problems.

We must elect a president who embraces adaptability and resourcefulness.

Obama would give the nation both.

Neither Obama nor Sen. John McCain has fully come to grips with the economic crisis so far in their campaigning and debating. Obama has taken a steadier, more presidential approach to the meltdown than McCain, who bounces from one position to another.

We like Obama's emphasis on tax relief for the middle class instead of continuing the Bush tax cuts for wealthier Americans; and achieving energy independence by putting Americans to work on alternative energy solutions.

The Bush tax cuts have inflated the budget deficit, but it's hard to say they have worked as intended to improve the economy. It would behoove the nation right now to rebuild its middle class rather than continuing to rely on high-income tax cuts to produce jobs.

McCain says Obama's tax plan, which would hike taxes on incomes over $250,000 and reduce them for most below that level, will kill small businesses. But only 3 percent of small-business owners report incomes over a quarter-million dollars, so most of them would see taxes reduced under the Obama plan.

Despite the effort McCain is making to distance himself from unpopular President Bush, we don't see huge differences in their approaches to the economy. When deregulation and inattention to Wall Street's excesses is resulting in a form of socialization of much of the economy, it's time for the clean break that an Obama administration would provide.

We think Obama would put the nation more soundly on the road to energy independence. McCain talks a good game there, but his record doesn't support it. Obama would promote investment in green technologies, contributing to a rebound of the economy by producing new jobs that would at the same time begin to wean us from our oil dependence.

McCain, whose strengths obviously are not in the economic realm, lays claim to clear superiority on national defense. But our observation is that Obama holds his own with the more experienced McCain even in that arena.

McCain's recklessness, which in our opinion is evidenced by his selection of the unworldly Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice president, makes us uneasy. We view the selection of Palin as putting cynical politics ahead of the national interest.

We have great respect for Sen. McCain, especially for his heroism as a POW during the Vietnam War and his 26 years of service in the Senate. Our editorial board was not unanimous in support for Obama. But the consensus was that Obama is the candidate who has the intelligence, the temperament, the resourcefulness and the leadership qualities to get the nation back on track.

The Sun supports Sen. Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States.