A CAMPAIGN TO NOWHERE: Be afraid; be VERY afraid!
In response to Steve's last post, I found this little tidbit in The New York Times today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/opinion/13sat1.html?hp
Barack Obama and Joe Biden have their work cut out for them. Four years ago it was Swift Boat Politics; now it is victim gate. Anyone who takes a swipe at the Alaskan senator is obviously a sexist.
If the democrats are to take back the White House they (the Obama campaign) will have to change the way they are going about things. Here are some suggestions:
1. Take the GOP seriously. Hillary Clinton has nothing on the Republicans. Any party that can tolerate the likes of Karl Rove has no scruples about getting down and dirty. While I agree that Obama can't afford to be seen as just another mud-slinging politician, he must wake up to the fact that allowing Republicans to hammer him is no way to win the White House.
2. KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid! I watched Obama on Countdown with Keith Obermann and almost threw something at the T.V. Obama is sounding more and more like John Kerry every day. While John McCain makes claims that are not substantiated by facts, he has done so with simple, easy to remember slogans, like: "Country First" and "The Original Maverick". He has even managed to co-opt Obama's Change message. Taking a sentence and turning it into a paragraph maybe the purview of college professors, but it is political suicide for a presidential candidate. Sadly, the minions still prefer someone they can have a beer with. If Obama can't lower himself to accept that, he will be the most eloquent footnote in political history.
3. Get Back on Message. It's time for Obama to remember what got him to this point. John McCain has successfully turned this campaign from the ineptitude of the Republicans to the "readiness" of Barack Obama. Obama needs to remind the country and then drive it home that the country has been going in the wrong direction for the last eight years. At their convention in Denver, the Democrats coined the slogan: "Eight is Enough!" We have not heard it since. The message has to be about McCain's vision against Obama's vision.
Obama has squandered a substantial lead and is now on the defensive. It is late in the fourth quater and, to use a football analogy, it is time for the 2-minute offense to take the field. The nation clearly wants change; now is the time for Barack Obama to convince them he is the agent of change.
1 comment:
Obama is brilliant but can appear a little abstruse. He showed that at Saddleback and blew a good opportunity. He's also being pulled in several directions at once by the powers that be. I agree he needs to keep it simple and decide who he is. All he has to do is point to the obvious. If you just look at this country, what have four decades of the GOP done? The ecomony is in shambles, as is our image abroad, the rich have gotten richer, the poor poorer, corporate greed is out of control, and the world is a much more dangerous place. Anyone can see this. C'mon, Barak.
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