A serious reason why Obama COULD be the best against McCain IMO

[Armstead]

The public is ready for change. Things have gone into the dumpster.

But the issue will become what type of "change." With McCain, the GOP is actually in a position to sell themselves as the "party of change."

Once he makes a truce with the right wing of his party, John McCain will be in the catbird's seat.

He'll be cast as an appealing to many hybrid of true conservatism, moderation and "change as a maverick with integrity."

More important, he'll be the salesman for a "new" Reagan Revolution that will further cut taxes on the corporations and the wealthy to "stimulate the economy" and create opportunities for all. That will be sold as the solution, both to quietly shake the image of Bushist big spending and "Democrat liberalism."

So what to the Democrats do to counter this new version of GOP snake oil?

IMO, we need to provide an actual version of change. Not just change from Bush, but a larger change that shakes off the destructive economic assumptions that have driven this country into the ditch over the last 35 years.

That means going after the core issue of Wealth and Power, and the roots of the philosophy that has hollowed out the economy, placed civil society at the mercy of Big Global Capital and has replaced truly competative free enterprise with Monopolistic Corporations and a new generation of Robber Barons.

Personally, I still wish to hell that the Democratic Party had rallied behind John Edwards, because that is eactly what he was going for. However, since there's no use crying over spilled milk, in the current context, Obama has the potential to take on that role, and restore the Democrats as the party of true progressive populism.

Whatever other merits of flaws she has, Hillary Clinton can't fill that role. She is too familiar, and she is too associated with the same Wall St./Corporate/Elite crowd that is responsible for the nations woes. She does not represent change.

Obama so far has been timid, compared to Edwards, in shining the light on the real core issue of Wealth and Power. However, he is a fresh face and has not been tainted by the shackles of the special interests and destructive economic policies to the extent Hillary is.

Plus he is an inspirational politician, and that is a good thing.

Obama could kick McCains ass if he were to use his personal political skills, and the enthusiasm his message of hope and change has generated AND TAKE THE NEXT STEP and articulate a concrete break from the Markets Over All mindset. he is in a position to harness the populist anger many people feel, and channel it into a momentum that actually can promise and deliver on the desire for change.

If he were to do that leap of faith (and it would not have to be a big stretch), he could truly revitalize the Democratic Party, deliver the blow to the GOP that they are vulnerable to, and do the nation a lot of good.

[maddiejoan]

1. Obaba??

Who is Obaba?

[Armstead]

3. Ali Obaba and the 40 Thieves?

Okay sorry...

Changed it

[splat]

5. He's the Irish candidate

[Armstead]

6. Maybe he should have changed his name to Barry O'Bama

[splat]

7. It does have a certain lilt

[Yael]

18. LOL!

:rofl:

[Pathwalker]

2. Please edit to spell Obama's name correctly.

[Armstead]

4. Done

[griffi94]

8. obama is not going to win on the things

you posted....let him try going after the core of wealth and power...and you'll see him left with the same minority of really committed supporters that any other crusading true believer has.
the majority in the country are already uneasy with their choices...my bet is they break for the known moderate....and that will most likely be mccain.
also i'm not convinced that should obama win the white house he won't turn out to be another go along to get along politician. he's got no long term record of his positions.....nobody has any idea what he will or won't do....
sad to say i'm expecting most of the independents and moderates to go to mccain....

[Armstead]

10. It's not a question of moderate

He could chart a clear course that is moderate as well as strong.

McCain's philosophy is the one that is extreme. More tax breaks for corporations while we are going broke to pay for a war of unknown duration?

[Stop Cornyn]

9. A serious reason why Obama COULD be the worst against McCain IMO

Obama has received almost universally positive news coverage. There has been almost no serious consideration of the dark alleys in his career. When the media talks shit about Hillary, it will be 99% old news, but when they finally come 'round to critical reporting about Obama, it will all be fresh news.

Don't get me wrong, I still think Obama has a slight general election advantage over Hillary, but the impact of the MSM revelations about Obama is unquantifiable and so it is a risk of unknowable proportions.

[Armstead]

12. All a matter of perspective

We can assume that the GOP and MSM will go digging against any Democratic nominee. Even if St. Francis of Assisi were running, that is something that will have to be faced and dealt with.

Both candidates are a gamble.

First of all there are no guarantees there isn't new stuff in Hillary's dark alleys that could come out.

Second, even if there are no new revelations about her, the stuff that is already know can create a preconceived image that already turns voters off, or could remind them of what they didn't like about the Clintons.

[The_Casual_Observer]

11. I'm series!!11!!!111!!!

[Armstead]

13. Got anything worthwhile to say, or just playing with your flame thrower?

[snappyturtle]

14. Kick! K&R n/t

[tinrobot]

15. It's marketing 101

Obama is fresh and new, Clinton has been around for a while and is familiar.

If you're trying to sell a candidate on "change" then fresh and new beats familiar. Not that "change" is the only issue in the campaign, but it's definitely one factor that favors Obama.

[Armstead]

16. That's a succinct version of what I'm saying

...although I'd add that Obama may actually be more receptive to new perspectives too.

[WillyT]

17. Hey Armstead !!! - Have You Seen This ???

Kinda goes along the same lines.

Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=4329388

:hi:

[Armstead]

24. I did and I agree

[Riley133]

19. 95% of Republicans I know want a personnel change, not a party change n/t

[BeyondGeography]

20. If HRC's the nominee, McCain can position himself as anti-Clinton and anti-Bush

for anyone who doubts the latter, he can point to the resistance he has faced from the conservative wing of his own party.

Being anti-Clinton and anti-Bush could give him the change mantle in a change election. That's dangerous.

The obvious problem for McCain is Iraq, but in a race against HRC he can defuse potential problems by pointing to Clinton's early support for the war. And, make no mistake, IWR will be successfully billed as support for the war.

[TeamJordan23]

21. Agree. Also the GOP base will get fired up against HRC; I don't think feel the same about Obama. nm

[hedgehog]

22. I think the GOP base will come out to vote against Hillary but if

it's a choice between Obama and McCain they just might stay home rather than vote for McCain. They might even come out to vote for Obama!

[nonconformist]

23. I think a lot of people remember how Bush viciously destroyed McCain in the 2000 primary

And then, we have this from 2004:



Which made him lose respect on BOTH sides.

That's the image I hope sticks.

[Armstead]

25. Jeeze that's a creepy picture

McCain looks like a little baby holding onto his parent

[BeyondGeography]

26. You raise a good point about 2000, though

Whatever one thinks about his policies, McCain has never stooped to that level. In this crazy world of ours, he can use that photo and the specter of what was done to him in 2000 to show his ability to rise above partisanship and portray himself as someone who can unify. Might sound far-fetched, but I've seen sillier things become the CW.

[Armstead]

27. A reprise of "I'm a Uniter not a divider" perhaps.

[BeyondGeography]

28. Yeah...that's been known to fly before

And, one month after the inauguration, poor Jim Jeffords was being dragged into Dick Cheney's torture chamber and being told, "squander the surplus with these tax cuts or else we'll kill your cute little special ed programs."

That said, I'm an Obama partisan, but I don't think it should be lost on the Dems that the country is ready to be sold the unity line again and McCain is exponentially better positioned to do this than Hillary.

[thoughtcrime1984]

29. I heard a Repub strategist recently say

that McCain will try to paint Obama as too liberal, and basically try to flesh him out for the public, because many still do not know how he stands on a variety of issues. I hope Obama can get more specific when he is doing his rallies, and he will have to remain consistent in the GE campaign to avoid being stuck with the embarrassing "flip-flopper" commercials that are a result of playing to the Dem base in the Primaries and then more to the center in the GE. Of course some would say he has played a bit to the center in the Primaries, so maybe that won't be such a problem. More specific, though, and talk about some things, such as agriculture and education, that have taken a back seat to immigration, health care, and the war.

[Armstead]

30. Personally, I'd like to see the Democrats head on by defending liberalism

Liberal policies are the logical answer to the disaster that Bush has left us with, and the longer disaster that the whole conservative philosophy has created.

That's why I liked Edwards. He was telling it like it is.

I dont know that Obama would do that, but I agree that he should bring more issues to the table.

[eridani]

31. The old vs new thing is more obvious with Obama

Also, he isn't lugging an IWR vote around like a radioactive sore.

[Armstead]

32. Therre's a lot to be said for a fresh start