Comments on: Obama Hits Back http://commentsfromleftfield.com/2008/06/obama-hits-back Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:11:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Kyle E. Moore http://commentsfromleftfield.com/2008/06/obama-hits-back/comment-page-1#comment-38455 Kyle E. Moore Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:28:20 +0000 http://commentsfromleftfield.com/?p=4430#comment-38455 Love the analogy, and yes, this is exactly one of the key reasons why this candidacy has gotten me so excited. Here's a guy who is basically not going to fall into the same trap that Kerry fell into where, when push came to shove, it was all, "I can be a tough guy too." And that's exactly why the McCain camp and the Republicans are going to do what they're going to do. If people feel they have an actual choice on foreign policy, they're going to make a decision. As long as McCain and Co. try to make it look like the only thing that Obama brings to the game is a bunch of lily-livered stupid, they're going to choose McCain. Right now, polls show that McCain is still strongly favored on foreign policy and anti-terrorism, but I think that if Obama continues to push against this, and refuses to get bandied about by the same old Republican talking points, I think those numbers are going to shift drastically between now and November. Love the analogy, and yes, this is exactly one of the key reasons why this candidacy has gotten me so excited. Here’s a guy who is basically not going to fall into the same trap that Kerry fell into where, when push came to shove, it was all, “I can be a tough guy too.”

And that’s exactly why the McCain camp and the Republicans are going to do what they’re going to do. If people feel they have an actual choice on foreign policy, they’re going to make a decision. As long as McCain and Co. try to make it look like the only thing that Obama brings to the game is a bunch of lily-livered stupid, they’re going to choose McCain.

Right now, polls show that McCain is still strongly favored on foreign policy and anti-terrorism, but I think that if Obama continues to push against this, and refuses to get bandied about by the same old Republican talking points, I think those numbers are going to shift drastically between now and November.

]]> By: Mark http://commentsfromleftfield.com/2008/06/obama-hits-back/comment-page-1#comment-38454 Mark Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:52:14 +0000 http://commentsfromleftfield.com/?p=4430#comment-38454 As soon as I saw his response on this, I said to my wife that this was the first time in ages that I had seen a Dem politician actually recognize that the Dems can have the better of the debate on foreign policy - as long as they actually fight back rather than just trying to be Republican-lite. Not only is Obama right on this issue, this is also a politically smart move - by not conceding the issue of "anti-terrorism," he is actually offering the voters a choice on the issue. This is closely connected to the "political branding" we discussed back in February, but to go back to that discussion: the Dems in recent years have mostly just tried to sell the American public RC cola on foreign policy and 'fighting terrorism" against the Republican Coca-Cola classic. In that debate, the Dems were always going to lose - even if most Americans thought the Republicans were screwing up royally with their policies, they didn't want to give the Dems a chance since all the Dems were selling was a half-a$$ed version of the Republican foreign policy. But this time, Obama has decided to sell Dr. Pepper, Sprite, and Mountain Dew on foreign policy and terrorism, in the process telling voters who are tired of cola that they now have a real choice while also calling the marketers of Coca-Cola a bunch of charlatans who want you to believe that cola is the only soda around (and that you are naive to believe otherwise). As soon as I saw his response on this, I said to my wife that this was the first time in ages that I had seen a Dem politician actually recognize that the Dems can have the better of the debate on foreign policy – as long as they actually fight back rather than just trying to be Republican-lite. Not only is Obama right on this issue, this is also a politically smart move – by not conceding the issue of “anti-terrorism,” he is actually offering the voters a choice on the issue. This is closely connected to the “political branding” we discussed back in February, but to go back to that discussion: the Dems in recent years have mostly just tried to sell the American public RC cola on foreign policy and ‘fighting terrorism” against the Republican Coca-Cola classic. In that debate, the Dems were always going to lose – even if most Americans thought the Republicans were screwing up royally with their policies, they didn’t want to give the Dems a chance since all the Dems were selling was a half-a$$ed version of the Republican foreign policy. But this time, Obama has decided to sell Dr. Pepper, Sprite, and Mountain Dew on foreign policy and terrorism, in the process telling voters who are tired of cola that they now have a real choice while also calling the marketers of Coca-Cola a bunch of charlatans who want you to believe that cola is the only soda around (and that you are naive to believe otherwise).

]]> By: Five Minutes | Comments from Left Field http://commentsfromleftfield.com/2008/06/obama-hits-back/comment-page-1#comment-38451 Five Minutes | Comments from Left Field Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:41:32 +0000 http://commentsfromleftfield.com/?p=4430#comment-38451 [...] Contact Subscribe Browse > Home / media / Five Minutes « Previous Post [...] [...] Contact Subscribe Browse > Home / media / Five Minutes « Previous Post [...]

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