TO: Barack H. Obama, Presumptive Nominee, Democratic Party. FROM: Ernest Partridge, Philosopher at Large, Incorrigible Gadfly.
RE: The Campaign: How to Learn from the Past and Avoid Repeating It.
Congratulations on your long, hard-fought and well-executed (presumptive) victory in the pre-convention campaign!
You will need all that energy, endurance, and strategic intelligence if you are to prevail against John McCain and the Republican Party in November.
And even so, if you regard McCain and the GOP as the extent of your opposition, you will surely lose. For you are up against a hostile corporate media, the United States Department of Justice, and a rigged vote-counting system that is secret, privately owned, and in the pocket of the Republican Party.
Clearly, Al Gore and John Kerry were defeated, not by the voters, but by the corrupted voting machines and compilers and by a hostile media. You will be too, unless you acknowledge and deal with these adversaries directly and decisively. The Democratic Party apparatus, which has hitherto ignored these threats, will be of no use to you unless you counteract the Republican campaign to strike Democrats from the voting rolls, and unless you mobilize the Party against the media and the privatized voting system.
In short: on the merits of your qualifications and those of your opponent, and on the salience of the issues, you should be headed toward an easy victory in November. The public is fed-up with Bush and Cheney, as Bush is the now the most despised President in the history of public opinion polling. The media gloss on the Iraq War and Occupation has worn-off and two-thirds of the voters want us out, now! The vast majority of the population is being devastated by Bushenomics, sees no prospect for relief, and knows full well who is responsible for their plight.
Accordingly, the captive corporate media will steadfastly direct public attention away from the public discontent and the compelling issues and will instead direct that attention toward trivial distractions: lapel pins, retired ministers, "elitism," and, surreptitiously, race, loyalty, and Islam. They did so in the past, with great success: Willie Horton in 1988, "inventing the internet," serial exaggerations, earth tones in 2000, swift boats, wind surfing, "the French look" in 2004.
Treat such distractions with the bemused contempt that they deserve. Brush them aside, and direct attention back to the issues. You have reason to believe that, at long last, the public is on to the GOP's "weapons of mass distraction."
Because your qualifications and the relevant issues will not suffice, due to the added obstacles of a hostile media and election fraud, you must disarm the media, alert the public to the threat to its franchise, and, above all, run up a victory margin so massive that it can not be denied.
The Bush/Cheney Albatross.
George Bush, with his unprecedented 71% disapproval rating, is the millstone that can sink the candidacy of John McCain. Just last week, an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that 43% of a registered voters "have major concerns that McCain is too closely aligned with the current administration." John McCain can be expected to do his utmost to cast off this millstone. But his record will betray him, and only serve to undermine the message that he is a "maverick" and a "straight-talker."
As an astute and spectacularly successful politician, you are surely aware that repetition is the key to successful propaganda. So the figurative and literal Bush-Cheney embrace must be reiterated, endlessly. like the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky rope-line scene, . And because a picture is worth a thousand words, and a repeated picture worth a million, the image below should be displayed on TV spots, campaign literature, etc., at every possible opportunity, like the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky rope-line scene and the photo of Willie Horton, until it is imprinted on the mind of every voter.
McCain Bush Hug
Dealing with the Corporate Media.
After eight years of shameless shilling for the GOP, the corporate news media have, at last, lost the trust of the American public. And so today, as Tony Dokoupil reports in Newsweek, "less than one person in five believes what he reads in print... and nearly nine of ten Americans believe that journalists are actively biased." Add to this, the decline in circulation and ad revenues of major newspapers, and network newscasts' loss of half their audience since 1980, then it becomes abundantly clear that the right-ward political bias of the corporate media is hitting the sponsors, the management and the stockholders where it hurts the most: in the bottom line. Here is a lever that you and the Democratic Party can apply to your advantage: demand authentically "fair and balanced" reporting and analysis, and when you get less than that, complain in the media – especially, the broadcast media, where they simply must give you the "face time" that allows you to speak candidly.
Dr. Ernest Partridge is a consultant, writer and lecturer in the field of Environmental Ethics and Public Policy. Partridge has taught philosophy at the University of California, and in Utah, Colorado and Wisconsin. He publishes the website, "The Online Gadfly" (www.igc.org/gadfly) and co-edits the progressive website, "The Crisis Papers" (www.crisispapers.org). His book in progress, "Conscience of a Progressive," can be seen at www.igc.org/gadfly/progressive/^toc.htm .
I disagree with your view that Obama is "up against a hostile corporate media." To the contrary, he has been treated with kid gloves and anyone who digs deep into his Chicago background will learn a mountain of facts that totally undercut his cleverly crafted image that he is no ordinary politician. I believe the fundamental reason for the mainstream corporate media giving Obama a largely free ride is because of his race and the media's desire not to look racist. Anyway, most of the corporate media is left-leaning, NOT right-leaning. As to positions, for me Obama is a fraud on the universal health care issue because he does not support a single payer system. And he certainly has not advocated major systemic political system reforms.
If McCain wins against Obama it will be because massive amounts of negative information on Obama finally come out and millions of liberal, progressive and indepenent voters will not vote for anyone for president -- though I will work towards getting them to vote for Ralph Nader.
by
Joel S. Hirschhorn (113 articles, 20 quicklinks, 46 diaries, 428 comments)
on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 9:31:42 AM
Senator Obama and the American people shall overcome the media and the bogus election systems - We will take this country back and the tide shall turn- Never lose hope- never stop fighting- and always stand up for truth and justice- Thanks for the great op/ed-
by
Brent Turner (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 54 comments)
on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 11:27:49 AM
Brent can you imagine where we would be at right now if it were not for the internet? History will have judged this period of time as a critical junction in our democracy and freedoms. The neocons came very close to pulling off the greatest power grab in our lifetimes and possibly in the past few centuries. I strongly believe the internet has played a key role in allowing an alternative voice to the propaganda of the major news sources that are much easier to control and manipulate. The internet is the wild west of information good and bad. But at least no single one person or company can control it ..... and that is what will give us our freedom back and keep the democracy that our founding fathers created in place.
My hat is off to the people who started websites like this one, like media matters, moveon.org and to the people who took huge chances and risks to start progressive radio talk shows to give an alternative voice to the neonuts in this country.
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E. Nelson (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 37 comments)
on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 11:53:11 AM
Clearly you're an Obama fan. The trouble with an Obama fan giving advise to Obama is: It's not much use to Obama. You're more credible if you're a McCain fan and know a thing or two about his strategy.
I'm no McCain fan. McCain is a tired old horse. But I do predict McCain will win over Obama in a general election, even without dirty tricks. Even when the 'tired of Bush' symdrome continue. I know this is shocking to Democrats. This will also surprise McCain. But not Hillary, whose 'desperation' is not about her normination but about the Democrat loosing this election - because that will mean the destruction of the party. The reason is simple: Obama fans have lost sight of the big picture and cannot see beyond their delusions.
In the end it doesn't matter between Obama or McCain. Four years after either of their presidency, America's descend from superpower to merely 'just another power' will be cemented into concrete. They would have simply presided over a historical decline. A very boring job.
by
TomK (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 194 comments)
on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 8:17:55 PM
