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HALPERIN’S TAKE: Things McCain Can Do to Try to Beat Obama That Clinton Cannot
by Mark Halperin
Nomination fights are tribal matters. There are certain lines candidates from the same party cannot cross when trying to win. In general election battles, there are fewer rules and constraints.
If Clinton is not able to come back and beat Obama, there will be a fair amount of (to borrow one of her phrases) coulda-shoulda-woulda on behalf of her campaign: things she could have done that she chose not to do -– or was not able to do.
The McCain campaign is staffed with savvy, experienced operatives who have closely watched the rise of Obama, and they have learned from Clinton’s failure to take down her Democratic rival.
Things McCain can do when running against Obama that Clinton has been unable to do well or at all:
1. Play the national security card without hesitation.
2. Talk about the Iraq War without apologies or perceived contradiction.
3. Go at Obama unambiguously from the right.
4. Encourage interest groups, bloggers, and right-leaning media to explore Obama’s past.
5. Make an issue of Obama’s acknowledged drug use.
6. Allow some supporters to risk being accused of using the race card when criticizing Obama.
7. Exploit Michelle Obama’s mistakes and address her controversial remarks with unrestricted censure.
8. Play dirty without alienating his party.
9. Dismiss Obama’s brief national tenure from his own lofty platform of decades in the Senate – there will be no ambiguity about who has more experience as conventionally defined.
10. Use his sterling war record to reinforce his image of patriotism and valor – and contrast it with his opponent’s.
11. Emphasize Barack Hussein Obama’s unusual name and exotic background through a Manchurian Candidate prism.
12. Employ third party groups like the NRA to hit Obama on issues that might turn off general election voters. Perhaps an ad such as this will run in Ohio: “So, what do you really know about Barack Obama? Did you know he supports meeting with the head of terrorist states? Do you know he wants to get rid of your right to own a handgun? Do you know he is calling for the repeal of the law preventing gay marriage? Do you know he is for a trillion-dollar tax increase? What do you really know about Barack Obama?”
13. Face an electorate less consumed with “change change change” (the main priority for Democratic voters) and keenly interested in “ready from day one” as an equally important ideal.
14. Link biography (experience/courage) and leadership (straight talk) to a vision animated by detail – accentuating Obama’s relative lack of specificity.
15. Give Obama his first real race against a credible Republican. (Clinton has always asserted that Obama would wilt before a fierce Republican assault.)
16. Confront Obama with a united, focused campaign absent of second-guessing, which hits the same themes and message every day.
Note: This is analysis, not advice.
What a piece of crap Halpirn is...
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Gee... if I were McCain, I'd be careful about that 'Manchurian Candidate' prism thing...
__________________
oderint dum metuant (Latin for 'let them hate, so long as they fear').
Well, in truth I'm actually not a total hawk, but I'm not a dove either -- I'm more like an angry pigeon flying over the political arena after a really big meal. -Abba Gav
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Army chief of staff Gen. George Casey, testifying on troop strain before the Senate Armed Forces Committee Tuesday, said there is "no reason to doubt" Sen. Barack Obama's military shortage story during CNN's debate in Austin, Texas, last week.
Sen. Barack Obama says he knows of a platoon sent to Afghanistan with a shortage of personnel and equipment.
"You know, I've heard from an Army captain who was the head of a rifle platoon -- supposed to have 39 men in a rifle platoon. Ended up being sent to Afghanistan with 24 because 15 of those soldiers had been sent to Iraq," Obama told CNN moderator Campbell Brown.
"And as a consequence, they didn't have enough ammunition, they didn't have enough Humvees. They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief," he added.
War supporters have challenged the story, but Casey said he had "no reason to doubt what it is the captain says."
"We acknowledged and we all worked together to correct the deficiencies with equipment that we saw during that period, not only Afghanistan but in Iraq," he said in response to the question posed by Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham, a longtime supporter of GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.
__________________
oderint dum metuant (Latin for 'let them hate, so long as they fear').
Well, in truth I'm actually not a total hawk, but I'm not a dove either -- I'm more like an angry pigeon flying over the political arena after a really big meal. -Abba Gav
The Barack Hussein Obama thing was done last night at a McCain rally. Of course McCain wasn't present at the time and scolded the guy upon finding out. But it's going to continue to run its course.
The Barack Hussein Obama thing was done last night at a McCain rally. Of course McCain wasn't present at the time and scolded the guy upon finding out. But it's going to continue to run its course.
Heard that jackass last night - like other rightwing morons, will be using that all campaign long.
The fact that the guy's NAME can even be made an issue of - a name that his PARENTS gave him - speaks to the lack of sophistication of our population.
This whole election makes me think more of American Idol than American President.
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"Seachicken - it's what's for dinner" - me (until the 'Hawks sweep the Cards)
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Army chief of staff Gen. George Casey, testifying on troop strain before the Senate Armed Forces Committee Tuesday, said there is "no reason to doubt" Sen. Barack Obama's military shortage story during CNN's debate in Austin, Texas, last week.
Sen. Barack Obama says he knows of a platoon sent to Afghanistan with a shortage of personnel and equipment.
"You know, I've heard from an Army captain who was the head of a rifle platoon -- supposed to have 39 men in a rifle platoon. Ended up being sent to Afghanistan with 24 because 15 of those soldiers had been sent to Iraq," Obama told CNN moderator Campbell Brown.
"And as a consequence, they didn't have enough ammunition, they didn't have enough Humvees. They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief," he added.
War supporters have challenged the story, but Casey said he had "no reason to doubt what it is the captain says."
"We acknowledged and we all worked together to correct the deficiencies with equipment that we saw during that period, not only Afghanistan but in Iraq," he said in response to the question posed by Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham, a longtime supporter of GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.
What was the excuse from 85-89 when I was in and we didn't get the stuff we need? I agree we need more troops but the military has always been under manned, under equipped, and under payed...
__________________ All Hell is breakin loose!!!!!
An unarmed person is a subject. An armed person is a citizen.
What was the excuse from 85-89 when I was in and we didn't get the stuff we need? I agree we need more troops but the military has always been under manned, under equipped, and under payed...
It was all of those things before Iraq / Afghanistan started when I was in as well.
__________________ "I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy".
The fact that the guy's NAME can even be made an issue of - a name that his PARENTS gave him - speaks to the lack of sophistication of our population.
This whole election makes me think more of American Idol than American President.
No question.
Sadly enough, more people pay close attention to American Idol than they do the Presidential campaign.
__________________
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please."
-Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Moon Lander Champion!
All Hell is breakin loose!!!!!
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