Race card or not, why is this thing still as close as it is?
Here’s the ad Obama was referring to and yes, McCain’s camp did put his face on currency. That wasn’t an Obama quip. (Take a chill, Nose). But here’s the other question, the one that still baffles me, and that is why is this damned thing still really close–even a week or so after Obama’s Euro tour de force?. There’s either something about McCain that’s resonating or something about Obama that is repellent. My fear is that it might be the latter.
Here’s what I’d do about it: Make this all about linking McCain and Bush. Period. Stop the preening and parading around. Stop role-playing so voters can see whether or not you’re presidential enough. Modulate the bombastic speeches that do little but reinforce the base and push the arrogance factor to the ceiling among the uncommitted. Make this campaign about kitchen table issues and become America’s champion. Here’s how (strategy statements, not real language for those of you who are a bit too literal):
1) Tell voters what they already know, but seem to want to avoid: For the past 8 years you’ve been fucked raw by Bushco. McCain just going to keep giving it to you.
2) Slam home the fact that this is a make-or-break pivot point in our history: Unless we reverse the Bush (fill in the blank) foreign policy, economy, energy policy, social security, tax breaks, you’re going to lose everything you love about America as you know it. Voting for McCain means you liked the past eight years so much that you want eight more.
3) Tell it like it is: John McCain and the Pug party hate you and the country you love. Our worst enemies could not have done more damage to America, across the board, than this band of thieves has done.
4) For chrissakes, make a speech when it’s appropriate and talk in a conversational tone when it’s appropriate. Obama is stilted and stentorian even in small groups–it feels really artificial. He needs to modulate his style according to the environment. Even I’m having trouble listening to him and I’m a committed voter.
Attack. Attack. Attack. That’s what Obama needs to do if he’s going to flatten this doddering hypocrite. Maybe that’s the plan. Maybe that’s what’s going to happen in the debates. But given what I know about Obama, he’s a go-along-to-get-along kind of guy–he doesn’t connect or confront in a debate, even though he can be articulate, even eloquent. For all of his fire, there’s no fury, which is why for some of us, his rhetoric can ring hollow.
But if that’s the plan, I think it’s a big mistake to wait until the the last quarter to put on a tough 2-minute offense. Obama is an acquired taste for many voters and given the premise of a quick choice, they’ll run to the guy they know, which ain’t the multi-culti black dude with the funny name. McCain’s banking on it.
Posted: August 1st, 2008 under Best of the Blogs.
Comments: 9
Comments
Comment from Sandy
Time: August 1, 2008, 5:26 pm
LC, I couldn’t agree more. Obama can attack MCbush and the repubs without being nasty; all he has to do is speak to us about the truth that IS NOW in America instead of “speeching” to us about what CAN BE THE FUTURE in America.
Comment from Sasha
Time: August 1, 2008, 7:18 pm
It isn’t close. It appears to be close because you are hearing national statistics — a single vote number — when the election is by electoral vote. That “close” number has no meaning except to folks who want something to talk about in the media. Instead of falling into the clutches of the media talkers, check out the current electoral vote projections which show Obama with 307 and McCain with 231.
Comment from Sandy
Time: August 1, 2008, 8:14 pm
Sasha, you need to read the whole site. Obama’s lead is diminishing the the crucial swing states.
Comment from Sasha
Time: August 1, 2008, 9:04 pm
I have read the site. I track it every day. It is the first of August. Nobody is paying attention outside of us. The Congressional races aren’t in gear. There are no Vice Presidential nominees. And the pollsters haven’t figured out that their “likely voter” pool is a total mess given new young voters and cell phones. I won’t worry until the middle of September unless the spread is double digits.
Comment from Leftcoast
Time: August 2, 2008, 9:11 am
Sasha, I read the site as well and while you are correct about the current electoral college numbers, they are not trending in a way that gives me any comfort at all. My point is really simple, while McCain seems to be pointing a gun at his own head, help him pull the trigger now. It is a typical Dem conceit to claim that no one is paying attention, just wait until the convention, blah, blah, blah. Dems are crappy closers. Worrying mid-September is too damned late.
Comment from timr
Time: August 2, 2008, 10:33 am
LC, great comments, but what is needed is not to just let us pat ourselves on our backs about how we can fix the Obama strategy, but to get the suggestions to someone in the Obama campaign who can bring them to the attention of someone in the upper levels where they can be looked at and at the very least discussed. Those of us who want to see Obama win, and see a problem with the current campaign, need to get the attention of someone, even if we have to do the same thing that you do to mules when you want them to listen. Hit them upside the head with a 2×4.
Comment from Leftcoast
Time: August 3, 2008, 9:07 am
Timr, it’s almost impossible to get high enough up in a national campaign to get your ideas heard by anyone who can do anything about it, no matter how connect, how smart, or right you might be. I got waaaaaay high up in the Hillary camp these past months and similarly in the Kerry 04 campaign (won’t name drop here, but trust me, just about as high as you can go without sitting down face to face with the candidate). Here’s the deal, the internal politics of a campaign are far more vicious than anything you see on the floor of the senate, especially with Dems. Why? There’s literally hundreds of millions of dollars in fees, referrals, and lobbying interests attached with winning (or even losing, ask Shrum). The consultant core’s objectives are not directly aligned with the candidates–that’s because the Dems compensate their consultants differently than the Pugs and spend a helluva a lot more (ask Mark Penn). Until that’s changed, no one in the inner circle gives a shit…
Comment from timr
Time: August 3, 2008, 1:38 pm
LC, what do you think about this article? Could the fate of the US be more like that of Yugoslavia than what we have considered?
http://firedoglake.com/2008/08/03/how-genre-politics-hurts-progressives/
Reply to your last. Is that why the dems have been losing what seemed to be an excellent shot at victory for all these elections? Is Obama the next in line to be shrumed? Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?Word in my local paper is that Obamas camp is going to “sit on their lead” instead of going all out for victory. Why on earth-going by your inside knowledge-do the dems cripple themselves this way?
Also, you should write a book and let the light shine into the politics of profit. Like you said-Mark Penn, BTW, isn’t he the vendor that HRC owes so much money to? If he is, I say screw him!- It was mostly his ideas that led to her defeat. But as always, the buck stops with the candidate, and I have heard mentioned that some salaries were way out of bounds, paying the top people-like Terry and Mark-hundreds of thousands per month.
Comment from Leftcoast
Time: August 3, 2008, 4:07 pm
TimR: You’re right, Penn is the vendor to which HRC owes $10 million. The reason Dems lose is because they exist in a parallel universe, as witnessed by some of the writing here. It’s by no means limited to this blog, but Dems want to run on and argue the merits of policy, the Pugs just want to win and they fight a brand war. The Dems don’t understand the impact the sound bite media climate has had on our “discourse,” the Pugs are masters of it. It’s that simple. That’s why I flip out when I see Obama acting like an ignorant pre-Reagan Dem, not understanding the brand implications of running to the center, even if from a policy standpoint, that might be the right place to be. He’s a much better candidate and running a bit better campaign than Kerry, but we haven’t had the conventions yet, nor has McCain unleashed the 250Million advantage he has over Obama. I’m hoping for the best, but I’m not encouraged to tell you the truth. Will check out your link–sounds interesting…
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