Dear Barack: Stop the Bleeding!

Dear Barack,

I tried to warn you about the media in my last letter and I hope the experience of seeing Sean Hannity feeding George Shortandstupidus his script during the debate got the message across. You're being played and a wimp and that bullshit notion -- introduced by your opponents and fomented with the profit-lusty collusion of the media -- is starting to take root.

In the same way John Kerry (who actually got his ass shot at while his opponent was AWOL and drunk) was played as a wimp last time, and Gore was played as a liar, the time before that. It's offensive and disgusting, but please stop acting offended. This is how elections are rigged in this country and you need to address that fact head-on in a speech. You need to show voters that there's some heat beneath the cool exterior -- not the heat of political panic, but legitimate moral outrage.

The media has finally started to recognize that Hillary has nothing to offer but the politics of personal destruction. Now is the moment that requires you to re-emphasize your desire to remove yourself from this disastrous pattern.

Please (I beg of you) deliver a major address in which you:

1. Start by pledging to refuse to do any more negative campaigning. Any criticism of your opponents will involve their stance on significant issues, period. Apologize to Hillary for the comments about Annie Oakley -- show honest contrition -- praise her dedication, and implore her to turn away from the attacks she sees as her only path to victory. This goes for you and your staff. Any staffer who engages in character assassination will be fired.

2. Praise John McCain as a man of honor and ask him to agree that the campaign he wages -- including his staff -- will be based on a discussion of the issues that affect voters.

3. Emphasize that you're taking this measure because the fate of the country depends on abandoning the old politics of antagonism and distortion that the media feeds on. More than 80 percent of Americans feel the country is headed in the wrong direction. More than 4000 soldiers have died in Iraq. The economy is faltering. People are losing their homes and jobs. The Vice President has been busy discussing methods of torture in the White House. The country is in moral ruin. We must heal ourselves.

4. Tell the voters that you know the pundits will tag this pledge as a political tactic. Remind voters that it is the pundits' job to do so. They have become deeply invested in this cynical brand of politics, which solves nothing but their rating woes. It is a corruption of our democracy, and an abandonment of the hope for change that led you into politics.

5. Pledge to speak in detail, in the coming days, about a plan to end the war in Iraq, to address the crises of climate change and health care, to stimulate a green economy, and to rebuild the public trust in Washington.

Better to lose on your own terms than to win as someone you're not.

Steve

Comments

[MariaHopeful]

Your argument seems to be that Americans are sophisticated enough to see through all of the obfuscation. If that is so then we do not deserve a President Obama. If we cannot see all the lying and nonsense for what it is then we deserve another 4 years of a Bush-lite presidency - Clinton or McCain.

[stageplay]

Let's see here. Mr. Almond, you are saying that the media et al are painting Obama as a "wimp". Then you are telling him that in order to solve this problem he must do things that in the end are definitely going to make him look like a wimp. When he is attacked, he must immediately respond to those attacks. One of the biggest mistakes John Kerry made was that he did not immediately and strongly repond to the "swift boat" attacks! Remember that? Barack Obama needs to respond immediately and strongly to any of the gutter attacks from Hillary and the Republicans or else he will indeed come off as wimpy. He is walking a fine line. He is not getting into the gutter with them, but he is defending himself against gutter attacks...this is very difficult when one is trying to raise the level of discourse. Hillary is desperate and will continue wallowing in the gutter and throwing out any gutter attack she can. He MUST respond while trying to remain out of the her gutter.

[mindact]

that will be amount to political sucide. One of the things Hillary's smaer campaign has done is show that Obama is vulnerable to swiftboating based on his current strategy. negative campaigning has be proven to work by the Hillary camp. I say this as a staunch Obama supporter. What Obama needs to do is be very quick to respond, but while responding link a failing of the attacker to the response, then close up by talking about the fact that americans are more concerned about issues of substance. That way, in one offering you defend yourself, attack the opponent and then take the high road. This will be somewhat effective with Hillary, but very effective on John McCain. The idea that pledging not to run a negative campaign by Obama elevates him is a dangerous proposition, we can see the republicans revving up their engines to start attacking next monday. He has to respond with fire. John McCain is ultimately responsible for those ads and hence he has to pay the price

[Charmed]

Why are some people so hung up on telling Obama what to do...it seems he's doing pretty good from where I'm sitting......He doesn't need to give another speech, go tell hillary and mccain to give a speech.

[doc1400]

Me. Almond I agree with you. Obama must refuse to do any more negative campaigning becauase the politics of change requires it and that is his brand. He must be seen as "walking the walk" in applying the politics of change. It is his strength and I have written his campaign stating same.
However it will be difficult to do but achievable during this election cycle now that the bigoted states of Ohio and Pennsylvania are in the past.
I disagree however, that "The media has finally started to recognize that Hillary has nothing to offer but the politics of personal destruction". As long as the press practices supermarket tabloid journalism, Hillary's brand of slash and burn politics of personal destruction will get coverage. Remember, the Clinton's are animals and have been animals for thirty years. If the media were ever to recognize this fact, they would have recognized it years ago. The only way to destroy the Clinton monster is to defeat it at the polls. It is a cancer growing on our political system that must be cut out and thown away with the rest of the waste material.

[army193]

Obama was not going to win PA...Hillary lost 10 to 21% depending on what polls you want to count...Obama had a great showing. PA went for Gore and Kerry it will be larger in Nov 2008 than Gore or Kerry got. Obama is our candidate.

[stageplay]

You are absolutely right. Anyone who thought Obama could win Pennsylvania was deluding himself. Hillary had PA sewn up from the start. The fact that she could not win it by at least a 15 point margin of victory shows great weakness on her part. The media is ignoring this fact because they want a horse race as that's what brings in more viewers. Hillary wants us to ignore this fact, because she wants to win by any means possible. She is not going to win the nomination, but she will do anything she possibly can to gain as much power in the party as possible.

[katefranklin]

I would frame the argument as "what is a fighter?" Show that a truly courageous warrior challenges the old conventional politics to bring about change. A true fighter does not tear down, exploit, divide, and conquer their own comrades; but fights against the divisions that serve to arrest all progress in this country. Wax on, wax off ...

[CesarPx]

Exactly, tactically Hillary is terrible. She only has one mode: full bore, tooth and nail, go for the throat. It has only been working against Barack because he's shown a limited willingness to get into it with her. But against a stronger, more vicious opponent like the Republicans 1994-2000, all the Clintons managed to do was stay in power. The only impressive maneuver the Clintons have come up with, used by Bill during his Presidency and Hillary to gain the middle ground between McCain and Obama, has been triangulation. Unfortunately, while this has saved their asses, it has been a real retreat on the issues.

[qwr]

The advice given in this post is: praise your opponents. This is not a good strategy.

[qwr]

And please, don't "praise John McCain as a man of honor." You've already said this at least a thousand times. If you say something a thousand times, people will start to believe it. You think it makes you look generous, but it helps McCain a whole lot more than it helps you by saying it.

[qwr]

One more bit of advice from a citizen:
Clinton won the recent debate because she did one thing for a brief time: she spoke about specifics. Sure the ideas have been around forever, and sure we can't believe her. But in trying to be folksy, Obama has come off as less intelligent and informed. It's not "the war," Obama should be talking about, it's the Levin Amendment. And if the people don't know what that is, explain it to them clearly. Obama has gotten this far because he is an academic overachiever. And now, he is trying to jettison his strength, and he is eroding confidence. He probably doesn't want to admit this, but it is the Punahou--C­olumbia--U­niv. of Chicago--Obama that has gotten him this far, what has made him acceptable to the white community. Hillary Clinton can afford to be folksy, because people assume competence. Obama does not have this luxury. I know this might be counterintuitive, but it is the best advice: stop trying so hard to be folksy, and stop making the race about personality. That is engaging Clinton on her own turf.

[qwr]

There is a way to be aggressive without being underhanded. And Clinton provides all the ammunition you need: go over her voting record and point out the bad votes (and go ahead and admit that you were not in the Senate during most of them), go to her record as first lady and show where she was during the major crises (nowhere near Washington). Replay her appalling speeches to Congress. These are ISSUES, things we care about. In my view, there has been too much Hollywood--("Annie Oakley") and not enough real politics. Use a substantive attack and stop the calling Clinton Annie Oakley and brushing dirt off your shoulder. If the country knew Clinton's record, the distrust the country feels (already her greatest weakness) will increase and her candidacy will end.

IMHO, Obama has been thinking too much about race. He probably thinks that he has to be super gentle because he is a black man and she is a white woman. Forget about that. If we aren't beyond that, Obama has already lost. Clinton is the weakest candidate in my lifetime, but no one wants to point it out. Clinton's sins and failures are OVERWHELMINGLY greater than her minor accomplishments.

[ProudLiberalDan]

This nonsense of "rising above" attacks may be admirable in real life, but it is an election loser. Instead, use the model of Clinton's 1992 "Rapid Response War Room." It worked.

The American people do want a President who is a fighter and will stand up for himself. That doesn't mean playing on the Rovian level. It means showing a spine.

George W. Bush may be delusional, dishonest and incompetent, but he got away with looking and posing like a leader.

Obama doesn't have to pose. He's the real deal.

[grendl]

Precisely. Barack has seemed all too comfortable striking a pose on that pedestal of his constituency's building. His Messianic following, and their instantaneous rallying to his defense, with a counteroffensive has left Barack standing on a pedestal alone, seemingly vulnerable and exposed. Even besieged as he was in that debate, without his followers to help him.

We want to see our leaders take it to the enemy, whether its Hillary, or McCain, or some foreign threat. And the suggestion that those tactics are barbaric, and not the way this country needs to go contradicts where this country has been headed since its inception.

It is survival of the fittest in today's political climate. And winning and losing, has become the new right and wrong. The ends justifies the means. Somewhere, in some dark corner of what Hillary might consider her soul she'll rationalize her horrible tactics as ones of necessity. She played the race card, and destroyed a budding politicians good name so she could save America.

Of course should she win that way, it will only confirm whats wrong with America.

[Softnsweet]

OMG, I wish that someone could get this letter to that stupid Obama. This is perfect and will work. Please someone get this to that MAN!!!

[MPeter]

For some reason I agree with you. Obama also needs to say that he will not engage in any televised debates after what we saw with ABC. He has already been ambushed more than once by pro-Clinton networks that either plant questioners or try to destroy him; the likes of Wolfie, Gibson or midget George. No more debates. If a given state wants a serious policy presentation, each candidate should buy an hour of unmoderated TV time to deliver a detailed presentation, with questions offered by either a University Professor or a panel of everyday Americans. No more CNN, ABC, MSNBC and all the rest of them.

[grendl]

Wait a minute. I thought the Annie Oakley was one of the few times Barack actually showed some backbone in this race.

He hasn't taken the offensive once. he's been besieged, beleaguered, inundated by a non stop barage of these ridiculous allegations. They don't go away by ignoring them. Kerry tried that.

You're proposing the Democratic wimpiness of old, not the new more proactive style Hillary has affected. It's working.

She's not a racist. Everyone knows that. She's an opportunist though. If she were running against a midget, this country would be arguing over what constitutes shortness, and if short people are in fact ready to lead this nation if they can't reach the podium.

He's not doing what it takes to win. He's not offering up solutions to our economic woes, he's sitting there like a duck in shooting gallery letting George and Hillary and Lanny Davis ( who should really be selling used cars ) get off their pot shots.

I want to see more backbone not less. More off the cuff wit, not scripted Monday morning whining. For chrissakes be a hero Barack , stand up and hit her where it counts. NAFTA. The vote for the war. Bosnian lies.And endorsing the enemy John McCain.

[jade7243]

I agree... I liked the Annie Oakley comment. It was funny without being meanspirited. It was appropriate to what she had claimed. And it showed the right amout of pushback.

I think refusing to fight back or pushback is WIMPY. And Barack is not a wimp. He has a "real person" quality about him that Hillary doesn't have. And he can connect with voters. As someone who saw him in person and got that smile and a handshake -- along with a spontaneous comment to my 78 year old mom, I can tell you that he is not "manufactured." The smile is not just showing his teeth. I get that feeling from Hillary. Her expressions are contrived.

But to the issue at hand: Barack, do not take this advice. Instead. let your surrogates do the smackdown and let THEM do their job. Do not back down from the edgier statements your team makes cause they are right on. Let them rip her to shreds. Do not let anyone else go from the campaign, no matter how much the Clintons doth protest. Know that she is going to go even nastier and make sure that you are winning the news cycles. More surrogates on the air all the time.

In the words of Vince Lombardi: Win, damn it!