The refrain I always hear from Dems ‘they’ve got to fight back’. But once you’re ‘fighting back’ you’re at best holding your own and probably losing. You have start the fight. Let the other guy fight back.
Is she ready to be Commander-in-Chief? Too late to ask now – Sarah Palin is already the vice presidential nominee for the man who would be the oldest first-term president in American history.
Full-size video at TPMtv.com.
From TPM Reader JA …
Josh, in dismissing the Gallup poll this morning, you describe the Obama campaign as reactive and “unwilling or unable to take the initiative.” Huh? We just watched a GOP convention in which the nominee for the incumbent party agreed the election was about change. In the major speeches given by Republicans, speakers used the word “change” 30 times–more than any other theme, including “reform.”
The McCain campaign wanted to frame this election on experience, but had to abandon that when the polls didn’t move. The surge issue has likewise attracted no great interest. Although McCain continues to discuss it, as a theme, he has ditched it in favor of this murky “change/reform” theme. (By selecting Sarah Palin, the campaign has officially ceded the point.) This all works to Obama’s advantage because if the discussion becomes one of change, it must necessarily shift to policy–the last place McCain wants to go. But he’s backed himself into a corner.
Obama has run his general campaign with exactly the kind of pacing he ran the primary. It’s not always clear why he’s doing certain things because they don’t correspond to the daily news cycle. That’s because he has planned the entire campaign in advance. You can see how he’s hit his marks as he’s gone along: after he won the primary, he immediately tacked right and demonstrated his “working across the aisles” theme. The trip abroad was designed to elevate him to a presidential figure and deflate the claims of his inexperience. The convention was a way to simultaneously build momentum among the base and lay a foundation for elevating the discussion above Rovian BS and placing it directly on issues via the change argument.
We exit the convention right on schedule. Obama has set the table, and the Republicans have come to dine. I have little doubt but that the Obama camp feels it’s right where it wants to be.
I don’t think this negates my point about taking and holding the initiative. But I do think this is a very good point. And I was thinking along these same lines over the weekend. Embracing the idea that this is a change election puts McCain in a possibly winning but also extremely perilous position because the claim to represent change is inherently preposterous. The Obama camp should grab onto this concession, bank it and fight the rest of the election on these terms. How can a senator who’s been in Washington for 26 six years and embraces all the policies of the president of the last eight years be change? It answers itself.
Prosecutors have unsealed the long-awaited indictment against Abramoff crony Kevin Ring, according to the AP. Ring is charged with 10 counts of conspiring with Abramoff to bribe congressmen and their aides.
Bernard Avishai joins us at TPMCafe Book Club for a discussion of his latest book, The Hebrew Republic: How Secular Democracy and Global Enterprise Will Bring Israel Peace At Last.
Discussing with him are Yoram Peri, head of the Rothschild Caesarea School of Communication and professor of political Sociology and communication at Tel Aviv University, Hendrik Hertzberg, senior editor and staff writer at The New Yorker. Sherman Teichman, Director of the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University will also be participating along with Dov Frohman, founding CEO of Intel-Israel, and Charles Glass, freelance journalist, broadcaster and author most recently of The Northern Front (2006). Last, but certainly not least, Ambassador Alvaro de Soto, Peruvian diplomat and former UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process will be adding his seasoned voice to the mix.
Bernie’s first post is here. Should be a great week– drop by and weigh in!
AP: “John McCain and Sarah Palin criticized Democrat Barack Obama over the amount of money he has requested for his home state of Illinois, even though Alaska under Palin’s leadership has asked Washington for 10 times more money per citizen for pet projects.”
Sarah Palin and John McCain are going all over the country saying how Sarah Palin killed the Bridge to Nowhere (not true) and that she said “No Thanks” to the Feds when presented with the money.
Really?
What happened to the $223 million Palin is saying she said “No Thanks” to?
She kept it. Once it was no longer earmarked for the Bridge, Palin kept it for other pork barrel projects of her own choosing.