All eyes are on Barack Obama - some people hoping he won’t stumble other hoping he will. If we assume he is the Democratic Nominee, which right now it looks like it’s his to lose - what will democrats including HRC do to ensure they get into the White House this year?
Here is a short list:
[ul]
[li]George W. Bush[/li][li]Arrogant Disdain for Civil Liberties[/li][li]Paving the Environment[/li][li]Call on people to see how Iraq was handled.[/li][li]Look at our spending habits in the last 8 years[/li][/ul]
Maybe they’ll campaign on how they successfully got us out of Iraq after the 2006 election, which is largely what they were elected to do. That might not work so well, though…
Democrats are squeaky-clean little angels, not like those nasty brutes of Republicans. Count on a positive and shiny campaign, without any dodging on issues or ignorant-populist appeals.
You’ll hear that McCain wanted to keep troops in Iraq for 100 years and wants to continue any other Bush policies he’s voiced some support for. Some quotes from 2004 might show up. They’ll also say McCain doesn’t want healthcare for people in need. I’m not sure what his position on the tax cuts is, but if he wants to continue those, there’s that, too.
[ul]
[li]Going for the middle - sometimes referred to as “triangulation.” [/li][li]Running as a referendum on Iraq. If a voter believes that Iraq was a good idea poorly executed then McCain may be theri man. If they think it was flawed from the start then Obama it is.[/li][li]“Turn the page.” People are tired of what “experience” has wrought. He’ll ride the “change” theme. [/li][/ul]
[QUOTE=DSeid]
[ul]
[li]Going for the middle - sometimes referred to as “triangulation.”[/ul][/li][/quote]
The Clintons made that term famous. While everybody does that in the general election, I don’t think Obama is going to do it the same way Clinton would.
If Obama gets the nod, he won’t have to go negative. His allies in the press will do it for him, along with Soros and the MoveOn crowd. Obama can be above it all.
If McCain looks to be pulling even in the polls, look for more Halperin memos or forged documents to surface.
Given that voters rank the economy as their number one concern this election cycle…
The issue of economics is something that I’ve really never understood as well as I should. I understand the basics, the fundamentals, the vision, all that kind of stuff. – John McCain, December 18, 2007
I’m sure they’ll do their best to chain him to Bush, which should work since if McCain rejects Bush he pisses off the righties, and if he defends Bush he pisses off the independents.
I’m sure McCain’s new support for the tax cuts for the rich will be brought up. Obama can promise cuts for the middle class by repealing these.
Health insurance will be big, since doing something about that seems to be getting more and more support, and tax credits and the complicated stuff the Republicans propose just doesn’t seem to be getting any traction.
It will be interesting to see if the far right keeps attacking.
Why is it ok for the Republicans to behave reprehensibly, but when the Democrats do the same thing they are dirty? Seriously, Bush gets elected on the back of swiftboating. It is obviously a good strategy. So the Democrats can not fight back in the same way?
The original source was the Chicago Tribune, by the way. I doubt the original article is still available for free on the website but Googling the quote will turn up plenty of sources.
A very interesting take on NPR tonight on Clinton’s lack of funds and the new 527 doing things mirroring some of the past pubs dirty tricks. Clinton is running out of places to get money so all of a sudden a 527 opens up and is financing a commercial playing in TX and Ohio stating how Hillary Clinton is going to keep jobs in the US blahh, blah, blahh…
It’s illegal for the American Leadership Project to run campaign ads…oh but that’s not a campaign ad her campaign says :rolleyes: Whatever !
It amuses me how relentlessly the media has pounded the idea that the media is liberal into the minds of the gullible. The McCain incident illustrates how effective it is – when something ugly about a Republican emerges, even something known largely to be true about a candidate a lot of people dislike, the reaction is to blame the media. It’s brilliant pre-emptive damage control, though it doesn’t work on everyone.
Not saying I like it, but I have seen too many elections given away by Democrats because they won’t fight. This is about the best part of Clinton’s campaign, it is also the part I dislike the most. I want to see the Dems fight fire with fire this time. If the candidate is accused of being inexperienced, fight back against the charge (just to pick a random possibility). If the 527’s are legal, use them. We need a well-thought out and planned constitutional amendment on campaigning to fix all of this (I expect it as soon as I get my unicorn)
She’s toast, Lou Dobbs is on right now with a Latino Leader from Texas who is urging latinos to vote for the person who has never wavered in this campaign, the one who has never changed his mind about licenses, and that’s senator Obama.
I haven’t seen the guys name pop up on the screen yet, but if Lou Dobb’s Pundits are calling it Obama’s campaign to lose and how unlikely that is…she’s got a bigger mountain than I thought to climb.
