The McCain Trap and Obama's Debate Challenge
Co-authored by Kathleen Frumkin
John McCain knew that there would be no bailout agreement before he announced that he would go to Washington, supposedly to help promote such an agreement in the spirit of bipartisanship. We smell a trap. Bush, Paulson, and the Congressional Republicans lure the Democrats (and Obama) into supporting a proposal based on a taxpayer bailout of Wall Street. The Congressional Republicans then come out as apparent populists riding the wave of a taxpayer revolt against Wall Street and they identify the Democrats and Obama as supporters of Wall Street. McCain can then come to the debate and say:
1. that he is a maverick for not supporting the Bush proposal,
2. that he is a populist for being against a bailout by taxpayers,
3. that real populism is cutting taxes and getting rid of regulation, which is the Republican proposal, and
4. that this is "real reform".
If Obama just says the Republican proposal won't work (following Paulson and Bernanke), he will still be tagged as an elitist friend of Wall Street. The debate will not have time to go into the details of why economists say it won't work, and McCain can emerge smelling like a populist rose.
Of course, Obama is the real populist here, insisting on conditions to help homeowners and to return the money to taxpayers by giving the government equity in the corporations. McCain can simply call this socialism and more big government.
Obama has to undercut this possibility from the start. He has to come out with the populist proposals as central and the question of who pays and how as a technical economic question that cannot be solved by partisan ideology. He also has to characterize the Republican proposal to cut regulation and corporate taxes as even more as more of what got us into this mess. And he has to say out loud that McCain knew about the breakdown of negotiations before he went to Washington, and that the trip was an attempt to revive a failing campaign.
In the foreign policy segment, Obama has to avoid helping McCain. McCain will claim that "the surge worked." Obama should come out calling the surge from the start of the discussion "a political failure", and later mention that it has been only a partial security success -- partial because, in any other country, over 100 attacks a month would be called impermissible violence, and that's how many attacks the surge has resulted in. Given that we have 12 times the population of Iraq, that would be like having 1200 bombings a month in America. Would you call that "working" if it occurred here?
Obama needs a response to McCain's call for "victory." A possible response is "Victory over who?" "What enemies would you sign a peace treaty with?" The people of Iraq? They mostly want us to leave, as does the elected government.
Obama also has to take the foreign policy debate out of the purely military arena, and talk about the hardest problems in the world that cannot be solved by military means: global warming, global economic issues and poverty, hunger, the oppression of women, ethic cleansing, water, and so on. Our troops, as great as they are, cannot solve most foreign policy problems. Foreign policy requires president with vision in all these areas.
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
Prof. Lakoff,
Am a long-time fan of your work and a former MIT Press acquisitions editor - in the cognitive sciences. Thank you for your always astute and timely analysis.
What post-debate thoughts do you have? (If you haven't posted them yet.)
It was a curiosity that the economy was discussed in such vague terms, but I think that Obama had a fine showing and did take your lead with regard to pushing back on the surge meme.
BTW: I posted this piece on HuffPo this past Friday:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-weinstein/the-palin-doctrine-the-cu_b_129549.html
Cheers.
Uh, I don't think so.
McCain should've had THE STUFFING BEAT OUT OF HIM by Obama.
Over and over and over again. McCain deserves that. No more Mr. Polite, Obama!
We're fed up with SMIRKING & DISRESPECTFUL, FRAT-BRAT REPUBLICANS.
8 years is enough of THAT. Bush, Rove, Cheney and now WHAT--McCain??
NO THANKS.
We cannot afford any more REPUBLICAN LIARS, THIEVES billing the diminishing Middle Class Americans.
We can't afford Republicans any more!
NO MORE YEARS for Republican CORRUPTION, DECEPTION, DEREGULATION and ENRICHING THEIR NANNY STATE FOR THE RICH and their corporate welfare queens.
Enough already.
my vote's for common sense, reason, responsibility, Obama-Biden.
You're overcooking it, George!
If anything I learned from the debate that McCain is still stuck in the cold war. Same mentality from the 80's. He called the mujahadeen led by Bin Laden, who drove the Russians out of Afghanistan Freedom Fighters wow
Read About it Here
http://newsone.com/elections/article/mccain-called-bin-laden-a-freedom-fighters
I am pleased with the results of the debate, and the soundbite that McCain is using from the debate will only help Obama in these perilous economic times.
I do have to say that McCain showed that his attempt to show leadership by "suspending" his campaign failed and Obama clearly did not fall into a trap. Not delaying or canceling the debate forced McCain to show up for the debate and he was clearly mad at Obama for winning that point and making him come. If McCain had used his speach at the Clinton Initiative meeting to announce his "suspension" he clearly would have been able to walk the walk. The biggest trap failed because of their own timing, that we can see clearly now.
The next debate is the VP debate and I was delighted to hear Biden last night explain that it is about telling the American people who is best to lead this Nation. I do not think attacking Palin will get him anywhere and would hurt him more and he knows that. I know that we all want to see him rip her apart but she is clearly able to do that herself without Biden attacking her.
We all know McCain declared VICTORY before the debate had taken place so we also are confused by what he will call victory in Iraq. There is only so much time allotted, but it gives ammo for later.
Obama won. McCain looked like he hated Obama and wished he could go somewhere else.
In past speeches, Obama started talking about the Bush 'policy' failure. Obama has recently started talking about the failure of Bush's ideology, the ideology that McCain shares.
George, 'calling the surge from the start of the discussion "a political failure",' is also a good idea. Constantly attacking the Bush and especially the conservative failures is a good idea. However, I would say we need to expand and deepen the attack. It's not just Bush's ideology that's a failure, it Bush's 'Conservative ideology' that has failed. Go even deeper with the attack, it's Conservatives 'principles' that have failed.
Then go for the jugular, it's the conservative VALUES that have failed. I've interviewed, on camera, over 250 progressives talking about their values and how conservative values have failed, you can see their comments at this url. http://ProgressiveSpirit.com
here's just a few of the interviews.
Failed Conservative Values: They're Not Working - George Lakoff
Lipsticked Hydra at Failed Conservative 'Value Voters Summit'Â
Failed Conservatives Values: Jim Hightower on Grasping Greed
Failed Conservative Values: Gavin Newsom on Division & Schizophrenic Tasmanian Devils
Presidential Candidate Bob Barr on the Failure of Conservative Values
Failed Conservative Values: Congresswoman Maxine Waters on Blame, Hate & Lying
Failed Conservative Values: Arianna Huffington on Family Values Hypocrisy
Failed Conservative Values: David Sirota on Economic Darwinism
Failed Conservative Values: Jim Dean on CorruptionÂ
Daily Show Coverage: GOPÂ RNC Conservatives Failed to Remember Small Town Values
Debate's over. Obama won.
McCain announciate! Go Obama
Here is a simple thing that the moderator did to make them all look like complete fools . . .
Where do you stand on the bailout?
Obama: tap dance followed by nonsense
McCain: tap dance followed by nonsense
He asked 3 times, no answers from either.
We wouldn't have needed a MILITARILY/FINANCIALLY back breaking "surge" if we had stayed out of Iraq in the first place and kept our eyes on target in Afghanistan. MCCAIN STILL SUPPORTS THE DECISION TO ENTER IRAQ. That makes him dangerously stubborn and obtuse, IMO.
How can the troops have confidence in a "Commander in Chief" like that?? That idea just flies in the face of reason. And I believe that the campaign contribution tally evidences the fact that the troops haven't lost their reasoning skills.
What Barack and all Dems should do is gather footage of all these Repub leaders and pundits advocating various failed Bush policies and decisions. It's easy to criticize Bush now and try to distance themselves. What were they saying when it really mattered?
And, yes, many Dems bought in to the WMD argument and voted for the iraq war. Most citizens did so as well and that was placing trust in their leadership, which is something they should be able to do and shouldn't be criticized for. The important thing at this juncture is that at least most have been men and women enough to admit their mistake and advocate for fixing the mess that we've made and moving forward.
We can't move on effectively if we follow the lead of someone who does not have the capacity to admit a mistake. That is basic integrity.
OBAMA/BIDEN '08 LEADERSHIP THAT WE CAN TRUST.
Americanium said:
"Too late...The Bailout Bill is already being called the Bush/ Obama Plan."
Only by tr0lls.
But George, "who pays and how" is the pseudo-populist cause of choice of the congressional Republicans because it is the most salient part of this crisis with the public. It resonates with a public that despises the economic elites that will benefit from this bailout. The public does not yet see the "cut off your nose to spite your face" aspect of preventing any government intervention to neutralize the credit freezing potential of the subprime mortgage-backed bonds.
The public, left, right and center just sees red. And John McCain is counting on being able to wave that red flag of elite resentment to victory.
John McCain is playing a strategic game of chicken with American (maybe the world) economy.
What Obama needs to do is hold him responsible for his "country last" brinksmanship without getting sucked into appearing to support in any way an economic elite.
Americanium
Too late...The Bailout Bill is already being called the Bush/ Obama Plan.
Nice try! If only Obama was actually involved in the discussion (which he quite wisely left to Dodd and Schumer).
No tr0ll tactics here.
By the way, are Republicans secret Buddhists? Because they seem to be obsessed with repeating falsehoods over and over, almost like a chanting mantra.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
