The race has changed, now what? All reports indicate that the Obama camp is rife with confusion about where they stand in the face of the meteoric rise of Sarah Palin and John McCain's ability to bring the Republican Party together. Neither one was remotely anticipated. This is more than a bump. I think Obama needs to recognize that the tide has decisively turned in McCain's favor. Palin is shooting down the turnpike, and unless Obama puts up a big hand to stop her, McCain is going to ride her coattails to the White House. The tire is deflating on the Democrats, and once enthusiastic supporters are becoming disheartened.
Right now, complacency is the enemy. The Democratic leadership in the House and Senate have been quiescent for more than a year, on the assumption that letting George Bush hang himself would be enough. It wasn't, and as a result public disapproval of Congress is as high or higher, than disapproval of the President. Obama can't afford to rest on his past message. Right-thinking Democrats view Palin as absurd and obnoxious, but she isn't going to hang herself, anymore than Bush did. Kerry showed himself to be sorely lacking at just this juncture in the 2004 campaign. He had every reason to win, but he didn't find the means to turn those reasons into a win. He wasn't alert and flexible in the face of change, and he acted like Gentleman Jim in the face of Swift-boating instead of fighting back with honest outrage.
McCain made two brilliant changes at the convention. He energized the radical right, knowing that he couldn't win without them. Palin isn't a joke to a sizable swath of the electorate; she's a champ. Second, he pretended to repudiate Republican corruption, in essence slapping the party in the face. Everyone with an ounce of sense knows that they deserved it, so in one stroke McCain appeared more honest; he signalled that integrity trumped party loyalty. Independents liked that, and now they are trending toward him.
From the beginning, Obama has had two prongs to his campaign strategy. The first was change, the second was throwing out the scoundrels. McCain has undercut both quite effectively. Therefore, Obama is unlikely to win by repeating the same message, that McCain is basically a third term for Bush, since Independents don't yet trust Obama to be their alternative to Bush. Obama has to be as flexible in his message as McCain has been.
He needs to show genuine outrage at the Republican smear campaign and call McCain to task personally for allowing it.
He has to unleash a woman like Hillary Clinton to attack Palin as a huge step backward for women. The Hillary camp needs a strong motivation to back Obama, not a grudging one.
He or Joe Biden must forcefully make Palin look extremist.
He needs to run on more than vague optimism. I don't think that means handing out policy statements, which are as bloodless as planks in the party platform. It means more emotion and visceral opposition to everything Bush stands for.
The bottom line is that for America to turn the page, Obama has to turn the page on his campaign first. As a general call to the troops, asking for change worked in the primaries; it woke people up. But Hillary Clinton's momentum in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia showed that a more visceral appeal was needed, and will work. At this moment McCain looks plausibly like a change candidate, and so Obama must fight against him and look like he's fighting. The essential problem which runs deep, is that Republicans operate on the assumption that Democrats will lose, while Democrats operate on the fear that Republicans can't be beaten. That has to turn around or we will be handed a self-fulfilling prophecy in November.
Although I agree with the idea that Obama should be angry, it is shooting ourselves in the foot to focus unduely on Mrs. Palin. She is chicken feed for all of us- it has worked brilliantly- and takes us from the main message that Obama (and all of us) has. She is a tactic. If she is attacked by anyone, it has to be folded into the main message of "Enough!".
We need to fight against the McCain/Bush Republican policies of the last 8 years and threaten to take us into a black hole of another 8 at this time of crises.
We (Obama is our voice!) are in this place after 8 years of abuse of our constitution, rape of our National Treasure and Blood, and fundamental mismanagement of our economy, infrastructure, and future generations. This has generating a downward economic spiral of our poor and middle class with less hope for the future. The lack of investing in this country infrastructure, energy independence and fundamentally in our children is a travesty. The 8 years of partisanship and wars is a travesty.
The bickering over lipstick, lies, patriotism, and sexism is a travesty. Obama should voice our indignation and articulate change, the way forward, and do what he does so well, inspire us all.
Angry is the last word. Obama must have a bit of righteous anger about what Bush and the Republican policies have done to our nation.
Enough desecration of the Constitution! Enough pandering to the corporations and big oil with corporate welfare! Enough of selling our indebted souls to the Chinese through unfair trade deals and deficits! Enough of tax breaks for the rich! Enough of empire-building, bring the troops home, cut the defense budget in half or more and spend it on developing American infrastructure and human capital! Enough with letting pharmaceuticals and insurance companies take 15% or more of every healthcare dollar spent for administation, advertising and profit !
This has to be backed up with no-backpedaling - no more FISA deals, no compromises on all of the Constitution from the 4th Amendment protections (from search and seizure) to the Separation of Church and State (and let them have their guns under Amend 2 as well). No oil drilling compromises. No extension of Bush tax cuts for the richest - We mean Action for, by and of the American people for the greater good of America. I think that Obama can do it, if he would only, indeed, get a little
" Who are they kidding???"
P.S Do send him a little note. Even he needs inspiration at times from the maestro himself.
Come on Dems rally round Barack!