Note to Obama Campaign (Why, After Bill Clinton, Don't They Know This?): It's the FACTS, Stupid

by Damozel | Gaaaah.  So far, only lame, spluttery responses from Obama and his guys. Why doesn't Obama know the reason that his speech went down so well is that---speaking of Change---he (for once) stuck to explaining specifically how he plans to make the future less harrowing than the one the GOP and their theocratic pals have in mind for us?  He limited his attacks to calling out the Republicans on their lack of any plan of any sort other than the same old one. He finished by roaring, "Enough!" 

That's the stuff to give 'em.  That's what swing voters need to hear  Otherwise they'll pick the grandfatherly old man who is promising that if they just put him in charge, he'll high-school-principal us all back to security and prosperity. Forget John Kerry.  That was then; this is now.  Obama has facts to back up his arguments about failed policies and the need for a new way.

At least Hillary knows what harried, frightened voters need to hear.  Go, Hill!  She said:

The two party conventions showcased vastly different directions for our country. Senator Obama and Senator Biden offered the new ideas and positive change America needs and deserves after eight years of failed Republican leadership. Senator McCain and Governor Palin did not.

After listening to all of the speeches this week, I heard nothing that suggests the Republicans are ready to fix the economy for middle class families, provide quality affordable health care for all Americans, guarantee equal pay for equal work for women, restore our nation's leadership in a complex world or tackle the myriad of challenges our country faces.

So, to slightly amend my comments from Denver: NO WAY, NO HOW, NO McCAIN-PALIN. (Salon War Room)

He should so have given her the VP slot, regardless of how much he might need to reassure us and himself that Biden was the right pick.

It's probably a good thing that the Dems are a reportedly a bit flustered.  Palin's speech was viewed by nearly as many as Obama's.  "Palin nearly hit Obama's record 38.4 million viewers for his Denver acceptance speech. The Nielsen ratings show she drew 37.2 million viewers, despite being shown on six networks to Obama's 10."  (SFGate)  If they play by the McCain rule of attacking the other party, they're going to lose the ballgame to McCranky and "Sarah Barracuda."  People need to start hearing why the Dems will be better better for them. 

Axelrod may be Chicago's answer to Karl Rove, but Karl Rove is Karl Rove's answer, and he's assisting McCain.  Obama's response was kind of lame.

Obama's hackles were clearly raised by Palin's dismissal of his community organizing --a response to his earlier dismissal of her record as a small-town mayor. "Why would that kind of work be ridiculed?" Obama said. "Who are they fighting for?" The idea that community organizing is not relevant to the presidency, he said, just shows why Republicans "are out of touch and don't get it." ....

Obama said the "essential question" of the campaign is "who's got a better plan and agenda to move this country forward and fundamentally change it from the economic and foreign policy failures we've seen for the last eight years."

"The American people need change and want change and I'm in the best position to do it," Obama said.

Obama brushed off the attacks with, "I've been called worse on the basketball courts," and said all Republicans have done so far is dwell on "attacking me or extolling John McCain's biography."(SFGate)

The evangelical vote is one thing, as our dear friend "Mrs. Anna Hosanna" demonstrates. 

But if Obama and McCain don't want swing voters to be seduced by Sarah's "fresh face," it looks as if they had better get down to brass tacks sooner rather than later. Make them see how picking Ms. Alaska will make their own lives worse and picking Obama will make them better.  Self-interest is an even more compelling argument than values if the facts back you up.

I've heard good suggestions elsewhere---all more on point than anything coming out of the obama campaign. 

For example:

We're seven and a half years on into a Republican administration. How are you better off?  (IDYI)

As to the "community organizer" riposte, that's rather easily deflected, though Obama did a poor job of it. I mean, if you're going to dis her for being the mayor of a small town, you've got to expect a response.  Why engage on this?  A few weeks ago, ol' Sarah didn't even know what the Vice President does. 

Obama is better off leaving out the whole experience argument anyway.  He's running against McCain, not Palin.  Ignore her, I say.

But if the Dems must continue this ridiculous discussion, try this comment from the Alaskan blog Mudflats on on for size:

“Jesus was a Community Organizer, and Pontias Pilate was a Governor.”

That should give the Evangelicals pause. 

At any rate, the Obama campaign needs to get back on task and to continue pointing it out all the ways that Democratic policies will make people's lives better and all the ways John McCain's will make them worse.  Bill Clinton knew that.  Hillary knows it.  Why doesn't David Axelrod?

Here's the Obama campaign's statement via Bill Burton.  Still too vague, still not issuing directly from Obama:

Tonight, John McCain said that his party was elected to change Washington, but that they let Washington change them. He's right. He admonished the 'old, do-nothing crowd' in Washington, but ignored the fact that he's been part of that crowd for twenty-six years, opposing solutions on health care, energy, and education. He talked about bipartisanship, but didn't mention that he's been a Bush partisan 90% of the time, that he's run a Karl Rove campaign, and that he wants to continue this President's disastrous economic and foreign policies for another four years. With John McCain, it's more of the same.

That's not the change Americans need. Barack Obama has taken on the special interests and the lobbyists in Illinois and in Washington, and he's won. As President, he'll cut taxes for 95% of all working families, provide affordable health care to every American, end the tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas, and eliminate the oil we import from the Middle East in ten years. . (Salon War Room)

Better...better...but still not focused enough.  Hold back the snark; just point out the facts.

By all means, do all them out on their promise to let things continue going downhill the same old way! Explain why your way works better!  Forget John Kerry's battle against an incumbent who hadn't yet proved to be a catastrophic failure of a president, things are exponentially worse than they were in 2004. 

We've had Katrina and the ongoing failure of compassion for its victims; we've had the Iraq war going on and on and hemorrhaging money; we've had the war profiteering by Cheney's pals;  we've had the falling economy; the falling dollar; the accelerated melting of the Arctic ice caps; and skyrocketing gasoline and energy costs. 

Harken back to the 1992 campaign of Bill Clinton! Or maybe I could write the damn speeches. 

Point out the facts---all of which are completely against McCain---and keep on pointing them out.  John Kerry tried to talk to people about the projected future under Bush, but Obama---unlike Kerry---has the FACTS to back him.  Karl Rove knows this, which is why Karl Rove won't let McCain engage on the issues.

I do feel a bit of deja vu now, and it's not pleasant.  I know what I need to hear Obama say and I'm not yet hearing it.  Nails digging into palms....teeth gritted....answer them; answer them!

For more, see Memeorandum.

CLOSELY RELATED: "Connect the Dots": Rising Unemployment & Record Foreclosures Demonstrate to Voters Real-World Consequences of GOP Policies

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Comments

[PSoTD]

A couple of points:

TV shows in general have higher ratings this week than last. The industry knows this, that's why the fall season never started before Labor Day. Surprisingly, neither does the NFL. Last week was out of school week, last of week of summer vacation for parents and kids throughout the nation. This week, it's back to school and give over the TV to the parents by mid-evening. The comparison of ratings and views really isn't up to snuff.

Secondly, if the SFGate "writer" had bothered to watch Obama's trip in Lancaster, she would have realized it wasn't angry - he was making fun of the Republicans. Musing. And they were good points.

[Bob Finkle]

Palin is just a Dick Cheney in drag...lip stick and all

[Bob Finkle]

Palin is fainin and just another Dick Cheney in Drag...lipstick and all.