BlackPerspective.net
Discussing the Diaspora as seen through an internal Black lens
Obama Needs to Go After McCain and Palin
September 11th, 2008
Why Punking Out Isn’t A Good Campaign Strategy
I responded in the comments of one of my other post to a blogging pal of mine about taking on Sarah Palin, and not allowing the Republican’s false narrative of a more experienced reformer to go free, saying “If Dems ever want to win the white house they better learn how to get a backbone, take on republicans, and strongly call them on their bull—-. Running away from this blatant red meat would be another case of weak Democrats running from another fight. It didn’t work for John Kerry 4 years ago in an election he otherwise would have won.”
Barack Obama and Democrats constantly take it on the chin without a solid retort; and without strongly weighing in on what becomes the narrative of the election and their candidacy.
I wrote about this problem during the primary in a piece called “Obamanites Do Barack’s Candidacy A Big Disservice”
I wrote in April as the primary’s conditions had shifted and Hillary Clinton had resurged that:
“The conditions are different when you’re the national frontrunner versus when you were 30 points behind. Different tactics are called for when no one is laying a glove on you versus when you’re being hammered. Which does not call for a complete overhaul of what he’s been doing, indeed what’s still effective should be accentuated; but what no longer quite works under new conditions should be shifted (for instance, ignoring or only lightly responding to attacks. Might work when you’re barely being attacked; doesn’t work when there’s a constant torrent of attacks.)
Obamanites will have none of this talk though. A one to three percent shrinking lead is a massive success to them. Going into June having eeked out a bare minimum win to them is evidence of perfection, though he’s had opportunity to bury his opponent; yet instead has allowed her to define him to the public and raise his negatives going into the general.”
Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”; but more importantly, former Florida Representative to the U.S. Congress; noted on his show a few months ago that the most important and effective thing you can do in a campaign is define the other guy to the public.
Sen. Obama perpetually allows a salacious driven, intimidated media; and the Republican Party to perpetually define him with little response and timid rebuttals; while letting his opponent’s campaign write the media’s news story about John McCain for them.
I already know what the Obamanite response is: “it worked to get him this far, no need to change a thing now”.
Yet, this response is quite shortsighted and simplistic. It completely ignores the fact that a once steaming rolling campaign barely stumbled across the finish line ahead in the primaries; while as I predicted in April, seeing Obama’s negatives continually raised going into the general election.
This notion is akin to a football game where running a certain play or two allowed your team to dominate in the first half of the game. But if you’re opponent has figured out and adjusted to what you’re doing, and you’re running back is now consistently getting smacked in the mouth in the backfield every time you run that play now; don’t tell me that it worked great in the first half. What the hell does that have to do with right now - especially when it left you with barely a smidge of a lead at halftime?
I noted back in the spring that the Obamanites were doing Obama a disservice by creating an echo-chamber of “you’re perfect, you need not adjust a thing”, as he fail backwards across the finish line – that it made no sense to believe stumbling into the general election was no problem and that nothing should be changed.
Going back to the sports analogy; it is always talked about that no matter how good a team has been all season, if they don’t have momentum going into the playoffs, they can be in big trouble. Mike and Mike were just talking about that via the Cubs this morning. It worked out in the N.Y. Giants favor last January as they got hot going into the playoffs and upset the then up-to-then perfect 18 and 0 Patriots in the super bowl.
You can tell me all day how great Obama’s campaign performed in most of the primaries, and it means JACK SQUAT if the performance is not up to par these last two months. This is the play offs; this is it! Two months is not a lot of time.
Democrats need to get a backbone and stop being such mumbled mouth, lily livered, pansies. And you’re damn right; I said pansies and mean it.
They let the other side continually write the narrative. The Obama campaign let Clinton do it in the primaries; and the whole party, just as four years ago, are letting the republicans do it the general. The democrats constantly submit to bullying by the republicans and the media.
The republicans come out, take a strong stand, paint a situation in certain terms; and stick to it with assurance and fortitude. Obama and the Democrats stammer and stutter, hedging by always responding with “look”, instead of just coming out and emphatically stating whatthey think. They look and sound unsure and afraid; and the electorate picks up on it; and most of America simply does not like that in leadership.
There are a few exceptions such as M.O. Senator Claire McCaskill (who
needs to be back out there more) and Joe Biden: note how he took Tom Brokaw’s false narrative lased questions on Meet the Press and threw
them back at him, correcting him with assured sounding responses.
Particularly check at the 4:35 mark an beyond
Democrats keep following the same punk-ass play book, and you keep losing, and you don’t learn a lesson. Not even when your own nominee admits it, and tells you he should have done differently, and would do so now.
If you think I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, at long last; will you please listen to Michael Dukakis - he tried this roses, daffodils, and sugar drops approach already, and it didn’t work. John Kerry didn’t listen, and sat back thinking the American public wouldn’t fall for the attacks and he got swiftboated out of an election in which the war was going terrible and he handily won all three debates.
That’s why in the last 40 years you’ve had 28 years of republican presidents; and for all that I can say bad about Bill Clinton, 8 of the 12 years you did have a Democratic President was the 1 Democrat who fought back.
Wake up Already!
Obama needs to go after McCain and Palin and fight for the election; not with scourlous attacks; but simply punching back with facts, and illuminating legitimate issues – doing so with confidence and self-assurance, not with what’s been the retorting: the slight mealy-mouthed, almost apologetic anemia.
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Yobachi Boswell is creator and publisher of BlackPerspecitve.net. I’m a writer, activist and political watcher based in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve also been know to do some spoken word and MCing in my day.
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I hate to say this but the strategy of the MccAIN camp was brilliant, they haul out Palin make it impossible for anyone to attack her, cut the press corp off for the most part and limit interviews and even the press doesn’t question it, make her the only thing keeping McCain viable making it necessary for both Obama and Biden to fight Palin because McCain is a non issue, but making them look like fools because they are going after the VP instead of the presidential candidate.
Unless the media stops playing along this is not going to be pretty for Obama.
Cooper, NBC is admitting it now, just as you and I said last night. They let the McCain campaign writer their stories, even when they know them to be false:
“NBC Washington bureau chief suggests media powerless in face of McCain campaign’s ability to “driv[e] the news cycle”http://mediamatters.org/items/200809100029
This is way Barack needs to get off his ass and start trying to “drive the story” or define his opponent as I was saying.
How do you think we got into war in Iraq? All the media did was regurgitate White House press releases with little to no examination of the accuracy; and despite the readily apparent contradictions and lack of evidence. Despite all the handwring around it, they haven’t changed one bit.
OT. Have you checked out an Afrospear blog called “Make It Plain ?”Who approved her? How can someone so anit-Obama get approved?Just sayin’.
I believe Obama will save his best attacks for the nationally televised debates.
That’s when the undecideds usually make up their minds on things.
I’m not sure whether he should go into attack mode or just play it cool a little bit longer. I’m thinking like some of the other opinions I’ve listened to, read, etc. ….she’s going to fizzle out. I don’t know if it will be something that the media uncovers, her inability to handle the press, Joe Biden…but surely this cannot last…
Jarret, it’s not something that can be simple and packaged. Most people do not really just go by the debates or any other one thing. It’s a composite. If the energy and air around Obama for the next 2 months is negative, and everything around McCain is shiny for 2 months; minus the 3 days of the debates, Obama will be mopped up.
Kerry won all three debate, didn’t get him over the top as he sat back quietly while being labeled a flip flop, elitist and fake solider.