You must fight your political enemies on their terms, and, hopefully, on their terrain. If you do not rebut the opponent’s accusations, it is assumed that you agree with them.
It was the Democrats who played the race card and the sexism card in this election. Obama’s only two qualifications are his dark skin and his far left politics. He and Hillary tried to savage each other using Saul Alinski’s “Rules for Radicles.” And Hillary found out, to her dismay, that skin color trumps sex in Leftist politics.
We are moving now into the General Election where a candidate must take over the center to garner the votes of moderate Americans.
Obama is a far left candidate who has to hang onto his Daily Kos/ George Soros voters because they have the money, but he must also appeal to the center left to win. Hence, the Obama/Biden ticket represents a far left/center left fusion ticket. The only people left out are Hillary supporters who are furious at Obama. They will either vote for McCain or not vote at all.
McCain is a centrist candidate; his voting record and political positions, through-out his long career, have been difficult for Social Conservatives to swallow. Many Social Conservatives have vowed to sit this election out. If they do, he cannot win.
Palin is far to the right of McCain. As the successful reform Mayor and Alaskan governor, she has many more years in political leadership than Obama, Biden or McCain. Senators must build a consensus; so there is something slimy about legislators: you can never pin them down.
Governors or Presidents, if they are to accomplish anything, must lead. They must take actions which invite attacks. McCain, besides his liberalism, has to address his age, He needed to have a VP who was presidential in case he died in office and was conservative enough to shore up his base. There were many fine Conservatives who would have done this job well: Pawlenty, Jindal, Thompson, Romney, Giuliani, etc.
What the McCain/Palin ticket does is make it harder for Obama to play the Identity Politics game. That is why the Democrat Party policy gurus are running scared and, consequently, making such extreme accusations. They have a very weak hand against Palin.
The Democrat policy gurus must say that Palin has only seven years executive experience at leading a town or state. Obama and Biden have none.
The policy gurus must say that Palin has no foreign policy experience, but Obama has none, either. They must say that Palin is a political outsider to Washington, while Obama with Biden’s help is the ultimate insider.
What is the next attack on Palin? That her Husband is in a trade Union. That her husband and son are registered Democrats? This is very weak attack, because it shows that Palin is gracious and tactful enough to get along with Democrats. She can even marry and give birth to one.
It is amazing how this election has turned typical partizan politics upside down. Al Gore, at the convention, identified Obama with Abraham Lincoln, a Republican.
Each party is fighting on the other’s traditional turf. This is vastly amusing to us political buffs, but is apt to be confusing to the moderates who have not been paying attention during the election. Many moderate and independent voters do not make up their mind until the last month before November. What are they to make of this?
What the Palin candidacy is, is a game changer. It scraps all the plans that Obama’s advisors had for attacking McCain. They are likely to have no backup plans.
If they use Identity Politics, as planned, on McCain/Pailn, they will lose the debate and perhaps the election. They will appear mean spirited, strident, doctrinaire and out of touch. Those positions do not gain the votes of moderates.
