|
|
Add to My Group
A couple of days ago, while John McCain was behind closed doors raising funds with the help of George W. Bush, Obama delivered a fine speech. In this speech --which I commend to your attention at www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/27/bush-fundraises-for-mccai_n_103688.html-- Obama declares that McCain is hiding his event with the president, to which he goes hat in hand for money, not wanting to be seen with Bush, because all McCain represents is more of the same while the American people are “ready to turn the page.” This speech lays the foundation for a still-more-effective approach to this issue --the issue of McCain and Bush-- one that will up the ante and put McCain more fully on the defensive. The speech Obama gave DECLARES that McCain represents a third Bushite term. Upping the ante would be to CHALLENGE McCain with questions that force him into the politically awkward position of either DEFENDING Bush or REPUDIATING him.
For Mccain to repudiate Bush risks alienating the GOP base, while defending him is to tie himself to policies that the American people now overwhelmingly reject. A mere declaration that McCain equals Bush (as in the recent speech) can be ignored, but pointed challenges --specific questions asked of John McCain by the Democratic nominee publicly and directly-- will be more difficult for McCain to just disregard. The challenge creates the very kind of confrontational drama that the media crave, and therefore the media will likely become the carriers of the challenge. McCain will not be able to dodge those questions so easily. Obama has not up till now had much of an offense against McCain. He's had to play defense, for example against the ridiculous charges from McCain, Bush, and the GOP that a willingness to TALK to enemies equates to a propensity to APPEASE them. Obama has counterpunched well on this issue, but nonetheless this issue of alleged "weakness" on national security is not the terrain on which Obama wants this campaign to be fought on. This strategy of pointedly challenging McCain to repudiate Bushite policies IS an advantageous terrain for Obama. Not only does it put McCain in a political dilemma, but it also fortifies Obama's own core message: that it is HE who offers America the possibility of genuine change.
It is a strategy that puts CHANGE front and center, and we know that 80 percent of the American people think that America is "heading in the wrong direction."
Andrew Bard Schmookler's website www.nonesoblind.org is devoted to understanding the roots of America's present moral crisis and the means by which the urgent challenge of this dangerous moment can be met. Dr. Schmookler is also the author of such books as The Parable of the Tribes: The Problem of Power in Social Evolution (SUNY Press) and Debating the Good Society: A Quest to Bridge America's Moral Divide (M.I.T. Press). He also conducts regular talk-radio conversations in both red and blue states.
Copyright © OpEdNews, 2002-2008 |
|
