Barack Obama has to hit back against John McCain, because if he doesn't, he appears weak, but the truth is, Obama's always been right - it's about the issues, and particularly the economy, stupid. Not just focusing on the negative.
Obama has released some great anti-Obama ads in the last few days, but I would suggest that the team not just focus on the negative ads, but to put out an even ratio. If you put out an ad about McCain being dishonorable, you also put out an ad that talks about Obama's plans for the economy, how he will get things working again, how he has ideas to grow the middle class.
Both at the same time. This is the very thing the McCain campaign has been doing - they don't rely on just one ad, they rely on two types, and this allows them to get a message across while also hitting their opponent where their opponent can be hit. Even if it's with erroneous claims of sexism and disrespect.
This election is about REVOLUTION. About changing America - not on the small scale, but on the large scale. About helping the American people see that there is flow to the Government of the Republicans, and the way it works, and how it doesn't change, it doesn't differ, no matter which person sits in the Oval Office. It's the world of big business, of tax breaks for the rich, of the belief-that-no-one-really-believes that if you give the rich a significant amount of money, why, their crumbs will fall into the gaping, open mouths of the middle and lower classes in America.
Obama, you've got to do both here. Your message of HOPE and CHANGE has resonated for over a year, and has made you a phenom, and the worst thing that McCain can do to you is have you abandon that message. He wants you to, they want you to become negative full-time, to be in reaction mode constantly. You can't do that. You have to attack him and then attack the current situation in America with HOPE and CHANGE and yes, REVOLUTION.
Because that's where we're at, Obama. We're at that point where America needs more than a little nugget of change, where we don't simple steer our rudder to the left a little bit. We need to make a full-course change, head in the exact opposite direction we've been going, and rebuild America from the ground up.
You get this concept - the ground up to make America better - way of governing. You've got to hit this message loud, clear, and let people know it's their REVOLUTION. The CHANGE is them, not you, and it's never been about you. You're our Ambassador of Change, our Duke of Revolution, but you're not going to do it alone, and you never will be able to. You get this, but sometimes you have to remind the American populace that you get it.
So keep fighting back, please, but don't lose your core message. Don't let John McCain destroy what all of us have built. Keep being optimistic, keep being wide-eyed.
Now that the Leman Brothers et al. situation has happened, don't let this make your brow furrow and your scowl come out. No, instead, let this be the moment that you seize on our desire to make it better, not wallow in the sorrow of a crashing economy. Remind us all that we can change this, that this isn't how it has to be, we only need to move forward and trust in our leaders who do have our best interests at heart.
Keep it optimistic, Barack Obama. And you'll win this thing.
This is the message.
Learn it. Live it. Love it. Hate it. But espouse it everytime you get the chance. Push it to everyone you know. Back it up with the facts, about McCain's flip-flopping record. About Palin's corruption in Alaska that has shown she's not a reformer.
How John McCain stated Palin sold a jet on eBay for a profit when in truth it never sold on eBay and was sold to a broker for a loss. How McCain was against the Bush tax plan that hasn't helped during the last 8 years, and is now suddenly for it. How Palin asked for money for that Bridge to Nowhere, then realized Alaska would have to foot some of the bill, and went against it, but made sure to keep the money that was already given to her.
On and on and on the lies happen. The Republicans do not want to run on the issues, so we have to make them. We have to push how they lie, how they're spinning, and let people know they're misrepresenting their records as well as Barack and Biden's.
It's Simple. John McCain and Sarah Palin Lie.
This is a simple one, and it's one that seems so easy to understand, but yet, continually eludes the left:
IF SOMEONE PUNCHES YOU, PUNCH BACK. IF SOMEONE KICKS YOU, KICK BACK.
The concept of turning the other cheek, of not 'sinking to their level' does not, and has not ever worked, in American Politics in the 20th and now the 21st centuries. Americans don't research, they don't pay attention, they don't know what's really going on with their candidates. Instead, they pay attention to sound bytes, to news reporters, and to blog writers.
But for many independent or undecided voters, these people aren't well-versed in what is good and bad about a campaign. And like any other voter, they are able to be swayed by the continuing barrage of negative campaigning.
Which is a necessity, especially at this stage in the game, especially with the Swift-Boat/Karl Rove tactics the right continually utilizes to pounce and attack Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
John McCain is lying about his record. He has no plan, and he has voted against things he helped to foster. Sarah Palin has no record, and she's already lying on the little bit we know about her.
So why is the Obama/Biden campaign just letting things slide? People believe the crap they are told by candidates, until another candidate tells them its wrong.
If Palin & McCain claim she's a reformer who took on the Bridge to Nowhere, then the Obama & Biden campaign need to release news footage of her supporting the bridge. If she says she sold a jet on eBay, then she needs to be called out on it.
Not just in the blogosphere, but by the candidates and their surrogates.
We cannot let another election slip through our fingers just because there is some ideal about 'doing things right' and not sinking to a low level. It comes across as weak and powerless, not smart and honorable.
