A Call for Action: What Obama Has to do to Win This Election

Dear People of the Democraticunderground:

I'm a new member of the Democraticunderground, although I've been coming here for news for years, this is the first time I've really been motivated to post: I rallied behind Gore back in 2000 and was crushed when he lost. I went through it all over again with Kerry, and couldn't believe Bush got a second term. Now it's Obama's turn, and I'm praying things end differently, but with the attacks coming from Republicans, especially the commercials on TV, I can see the Republicans stealing another election, through lies, misinformation, and scare tactics.

What I haven't seen, is a response from the Obama campaign, and that too is all too reminiscent of the Gore and Kerry campaigns. Whether it is because they are taking the high road, or think it doesn't matter and that people will be convinced by the real issues, history has proven one fact to be true: if you ignore the attacks from your opponents, people will believe them, and you will lose.

Another thing I haven't seen, which is even more disconcerting, are responses from other democratic organizations such as Moveon.org either: where are the television ads? It may be that they're waiting until we get closer to the election, or that they are airing and I am simply missing them, but either way the effect is worrying: All day I see lies about Obama in commercials, most approved by McCain himself, and nothing to counter them. We need responses. I know Obama announced his campaign will be more forceful in defending against these lies, but I don't believe they can do it all by themselves, and that's why I believe that huge groups like us here at Democratic Undergound need to write to organizations like these, and the Obama campaign, and tell them to respond, to tell the truth. I truly believe that the democratic party is open-minded enough to accept a good idea from anyone, and I know we can make a difference. These are the three issues that I think we need to see in television ads over the next month: if we do, I feel certain that Obama can win this election easily. If you agree, or more importantly if you do not, please reply: let's talk about what we need to see, what the AMERICAN PUBLIC needs to see, and after that, lets start writing to organizations, and making some commercials. Anyway, here are my 3 picks:

1: Tell the truth about Palin. Republicans love her, the spinsters are heralding her as the greatest woman in politics, but what hasn't been covered by the mainstream news is that most of her "selling points", are lies: please, expose them. Being against the bridge to nowhere, being against earmarks, "standing up" to big oil, selling her plane on ebay: these are all statements Palin and McCain have repeatedly made, and they are all untrue, with plenty of damning evidence proving so: Palin campaigned by supporting the bridge to nowhere; she is on record supporting earmarks and has asked for hundreds of millions worth of earmarks, which even McCain has opposed; she has always supported drilling in the Alaskan Wildlife Preserve, and only "stood up" to big oil by asking for more money to drill; she failed to sell her plane on ebay, and hired a third party to sell it, who did so at a loss. Am I missing any?

90% of the American public do not know any of these truths: they think Palin is a "straight talker", and that she'll be different from all the other Republicans. If they knew these things, they'd know she would say anything to get elected, including lying about her past and lying to the American public, and that she is in fact, just like Bush and all the other republicans. Then she wouldn't have experience OR character. People NEED to know these things, and for that to happen, they're going to need to see it on television.

2: Alert the voting public that the McCain campaign has been sending out thousands of absentee ballots that are invalid: ballots going to purple states, targeted at democrats. This is despicable, indefensible, and ILLEGAL. People need to hear about it, and a television ad is the perfect medium: let them know that "the maverick", who has promised a change from dirty republican tactics is trying to stop thousands of people from voting for his opponent -- and disrupting the cornerstone of democracy. Bringing this to the attention of the American people goes beyond the help it would do for Obama in the polls: if people aren't alerted to this all across the nation, the problem won't be fixed, people will be duped, and their votes wont count: don't let McCain get away with this!

3: Respond to the lies of McCain's ads, specifically, that Obama will raise taxes on middle class working families. It's the same lie republicans always use, and IT'S WORKING AGAIN. Let the middle class know that they're being lied to, and for God's sake, call it a LIE: Obama will NOT raise taxes on the middle class, he will CUT them. Tell the middle class that McCain is trying to scare them with lies, and to not fall for it. This message may be best delivered directly after telling them how McCain is trying to dupe voters with phony ballots: let the people of America know that McCain is trying to win with dirty tactics, because he can't defend his record or his plans for the future with the truth.

If people knew these three things, the race wouldn't be as close as it is: people wouldn't trust Palin (which they shouldn't), they'd see the lies she's told and realize there's nothing new or revolutionary about her. They'd see that McCain isn't a maverick, but a fraud, using the underhanded tactics that republicans have used for years to disenfranchise voters. And they'd know once and for all that Obama isn't going to raise their taxes -- and with that lie out of the way the Republicans won't have a leg to stand on in a debate about the economy.

The American public needs to hear these truths: so who is going to tell them?

...please discuss.

.....and this election is Obama's to lose. You ignore her to death and continue telling people that unrestricted drilling is a pipe-dream that will cure nothing.
I'll bet 90% of Independents have no clue what Obama stands for-produce a number of compelling commercials and let them know how he will improve people's lives.

Point out that McCain's health care plan will actually RAISE TAXES on the middle class, because he wants to tax employer-provided health insurance as income. Obama could not emphasize this enough, yet to date it has been barely mentioned.

Emphasize McCain's desire to privatize Social Security. That is such an unpopular position that even Bush was hesitant to talk about it until AFTER the last election.

Play the fear card a bit. McCain's foreign policy is pretty scary, and he hasn't exactly come out against the idea of reinstating the draft.

Make sure every woman in America knows that if McCain/Palin had their way, they would be forced to have rapists' babies.

Bottom line is that it is time for Obama to go on the offensive and attack McCain on the ISSUES. If he can succeed in making this an election about the issues, we win.

They hurt. Especially the ones on raising taxes. Today Obama put out a strong statement that no one making less than $250,000 will see a tax increase. He's got to get that out, quickly. Because this "he's going to raise your taxes" line of attack is really hurting him.

I don't think it's enough to simply respond to attack ads. You have to develop some of your own. There's plenty of material out there on McCain and Palin. I'd focus in on Palin. She's riding high right now, is what's responsible for lifting that ticket. You have to take her down imo or you lose. People don't know much about her, so she's made to order for filling in the blanks. Destroy her and you destroy McCain.

Palin is vulnerable on a number of issues, but some stand out: her overall lack of experience (I'm thinking of attack ads that totally mock her so-called experience, ones preferably that are funny but destroy her); her mixing war and religion (that's also made-to-order for attacks); and her attempt to censor library books. These issues are gifts for attack ads. Also, abortion -- just present the facts on this one.

The purpose of attack ads is not only to put information out there about your opponent (filling in the blanks), but also to make him/her spend his time answering them, in other words putting him on the defensive and taking away his time for attacking. For the past two months, John McCain has been dishing it out and Barack Obama has been taking it but not dising it out. That has to change. And quickly.

One other problem Obama has to address is the war. It was his defining issue in the primaries. His position was he would get us out of Iraq. It attracted a lot of voters, independents especially. Since the primaries, he seems to have backpedaled by not being quite as firm about getting out of Iraq. Also, during this time he has allowed the surge to become the defining element of the whole war issue. He has allowed the war issue to be reduced to: is the surge working? To which he answers yes. That's a loser position. And it has weakened his appeal imo. By acknowledging the surge, he takes Iraq off the table as a winning issue for him.

He has to get back to his original position. That the war was a loser from day one, because it was based on lies and because it has been too costly in terms of lives, damage, people made homeless, and financial cost -- give the numbers. Don't acknowledge the surge, say its irrelevant in the overall picture of a war that never should have been waged. Run ads highlighting these points, and attacking McCain as someone who will keep us there indefinitely. Use Maliki's own statements that Iraq wants the US to leave. I'm guessing the turn in the polls reflects the public buying into the surge rationale. It's amazing the Republicans have been able to get the public to equate the war with the surge. It's not true of course, but someone has to say it. Hopefully, it will be our candidate.

It took Kanye West's "George Bush doesn't care about black people" for things to crystallize that had been percolating about Katrina and thus, the governance of this nation.

We need to make Sarah Palin a laughingstock whether it's through sticky memes like "In what respect, Charlie?" or the mockery of the late night comedians (Bill Maher had a really funny show about this) but we need to have it hammered through so that McCain-Palin = Bush incompetence is a byword.

I'm not so sure the Obama campaign can do that on their own. They need people like us and the Internet and "celebrities" to do this. The pushback has already started. It's just not being reported on in the news media (partly because they're always the last ones to know where a party's at).

Make her a laughingstock. There's so much good material on her. I remember when they did it to Dukakis with that ad showing him in the tank wearing a combat helmet. It was very effective. I'm thinking, do the same to Palin. Shouldn't be hard at all.

These are the same things I have been thinking. :toast:

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