Originally Posted By Mr X <a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-243-Progressive-Politics-Examiner~y2008m8d10-Is-McCain-fit-to-be-president" target="_blank">http://www.examiner.com/x-243-...resident</a> A hatchet job, to be sure. But still, an interesting read. Seems like Obama isn't the only candidate for which "hands off" seems to be the order of the day. Looking at McCain's "maverick" record in more detail is quite telling. Interesting that he's pitching it so much in his ads...I hope Obama takes the time to point out how ineffective that has been, during the debates (unless there were lies in this piece that I'm not aware of?). Very, very interesting (I don't appreciate the slams on his military record, however...I'm more interested in the second half of the commentary, the part that I think IS of importance going forward).
Originally Posted By Mr X <a href="http://www.swimmingfreestyle.net/swimming_freestyle/2008/08/obama-needs-to-step-it-up.html" target="_blank">http://www.swimmingfreestyle.n...-up.html</a> Even more interesting (I thought of starting a topic on this one, as it is very much on my mind (what Obama needs to do moving forward), but I thought I'd put it here now for comments. Thoughts?
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I agree with the second article that Obama needs to hit back more strongly than he has so far; not with slime or innuendo a la the current McCain ads, but simply by focusing on McCain's record, which is fair game.
Originally Posted By gadzuux From the first link - >> While John McCain now feels no compulsion to be decent and no reticence about attacking Obama's character, my sense is Obama will hold back and not want to destroy McCain's reputation and status. << I agree with this. This is the "high road/low road" approach we talked about on the other thread. Candidate Obama needs to be very careful not to be seen or perceived as mudslinging and engaging in gutter politics. Candidate McCain doesn't have the same constraints against him - he doesn't really carry the aura of "new and different" and certainly not "change" or "fresh". He's old-school politics all the way, so he can say or do any slimy thing he wants. It's crystal clear that GOP voters will forgive even the most egregious outrages from their candidate, and adopt a "win at any cost" strategy. They invented the "southern strategy" which makes subtle appeals to racial divisions in the south to serve their political ends. This strategy isn't only cynical, but it exploits internal american racism to deliberately divide us as a nation. The republican party has been succeeding with this 'divide and conquer' tactic ever since the civil rights act under LBJ, and it needs to end. It depends on vast numbers of dumb and frightened white people to make it work. Obama can be THE ONE to bring an end to this kind of cynical and divisive politics. But to do so, he must take the 'high-road' approach - he cannot participate in politics of destruction while espousing his campaign message of unity and integrity. And change. This is a critical part of the change I want, and McCain couldn't deliver on this even if he wanted to. But what concerns me is that the weight of the GOP political machine will fall in behind candidate McCain - not because of their respect for him but because they're genuinely frightened by the prospect of a president Obama and the accountability for their past history that comes with him. Obama is not beholden to the existing system - McCain is. Under his administration, the whole can of worms will be uncovered and investigated. With McCain, everything stays under wraps and the perpetrators of crimes against the american people are safe and secure. So for that reason alone McCain is unfit to be president - he's compromised in his ability to act in the best interests of our nation and it's citizens. He'll act in the best interests of the people that put him in the chair - just like bush.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 < but simply by focusing on McCain's record, which is fair game.< or by continually portraying McCain as 4 more years of Bush, then showing any photo op of McCain and Bush they can find...but yeah, that Obama campaign is just the sweetest bunch of nice people
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder Well, I'm hard pressed to see where McCain WON'T be four more years of Bush. He's succumbed to the negative ads already, and frankly, more and more his policies look like Bush's (that is, when he does talk about policy instead of bashing Obama).
Originally Posted By vbdad55 except try as one might he can't be connected to the far right - and that is a good thing
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder Agreed, and while I do think he's sold his soul for this election because he wants it SO bad, he and the far right will never be synonomous.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 no they're having a fit, and to me that is step one to getting my party back -
Originally Posted By vbdad55 My fear is that if McCain losers, the far right becomes even more powerful in the elections 2 years later.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << My fear is that if McCain losers, the far right becomes even more powerful in the elections 2 years later. >> The far right stand a chance of being more powerful if McCain wins. Neither candidate has any chance of being a successful president based on the total mess that the Bush administration is leaving them with. The economy, in particular, is being propped up artifically to a point that the consequences will probably be more severe a year from now after Bush leaves office than under the scenario where economic downtrends were allowed to run their course. If McCain wins, and stumbles greatly in trying to achieve success out of the messes created by Bush, the far right gets the opportunity to say "i told you so," and nominate one of their own candidates to run in four years. The far right would love nothing more than to have a "moderate" Republican candidate be a miserable failure in office.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< My fear is that if McCain losers, the far right becomes even more powerful in the elections 2 years later. >>> It all depends on how close McCain gets to the far right between now and the election, including the choice of VP. If he turns his back on them and and then loses the election, then what you say is a very real concern. In that situation, I can already hear what would be said: "You can't win without us!" But if he turns his back on the far right and wins, that's hopefully a good sign at getting the party back on track.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 The problem is that McCain hasn't turned his back on the far right. He's actively courted and kowtowed to them already, in many important ways. This is one of my big disappointments with him. And if he wins, having kowtowed to them, they get to say "you see, you need us to win." If he LOSES, however, they lose a lot of their mystique and the next Republican candidates in 2012 may say "McCain cozied up to them and lost anyway - why should I do that?" < <but simply by focusing on McCain's record, which is fair game.<> <or by continually portraying McCain as 4 more years of Bush, then showing any photo op of McCain and Bush they can find...but yeah, that Obama campaign is just the sweetest bunch of nice people> But that's not the same as assailing his character. McCain has fallen in lockstep behind Bush on tax policy (when he once opposed it), on Iraq, on privatizing Social Security, on energy policy, on embracing people he once called "agents of intolerance..." and it's fair to point that out.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< The problem is that McCain hasn't turned his back on the far right. He's actively courted and kowtowed to them already, in many important ways. This is one of my big disappointments with him. >>> It seems that he's increasingly doing so, while perhaps at the same time trying to not appear as if that's what he's doing. Certainly, within the past month, he's adopted their campaign tactics, but that could just be coincidence in hiring the same campaign advisers without necessarily implying that the policies will be the same.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 I don't see this increasing panderingto the far right -- but I am sure you guys are scutinizing it more closely than I - however if he picks a VP candidate even remotely tied to that group - then he loses my vote...it's that simple
Originally Posted By SuperDry If Huckabee gets on the Straight Talk Express, I'll be getting off at the next stop.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <So, Huckabee is a no-go?< he is for me - not the direction I want to see the GOP veer towards again - ever
