I want to introduce you to a guy named Chris Deaton. He writes a blog called “A Firebrand Something“, which is just getting started, but is really quite good. After reading his work, I am impressed with his writing and I have asked Chris to become an occasional contributor to All American Blogger. I think our regular readers will enjoy reading his articles, and I believe his writing will be a great addition. So look for something from Chris every week or so on this site, and if you like what you see, be sure and click over to his site for more.
Obama Plays As If He’s In The Minor Leagues
by Chris Deaton
You have to hand it to Obama. For months and months and months, he spoke in high tongues and warded the typical politics. His was a message of inspiration. Of hope. Of change.
Was.
You’ll have to forgive his naivety in thinking that he could be “different”. This is politics and no one is different. To be certain, any candidate is to be lauded for setting a tone that is uncharacteristic of the venom and vehemence that has always characterized the presidential election process, from the days of Adams vs. Jefferson to now. But trying to win the White House without playing politics is akin to a boxer trying to win a fight without throwing punches. This is hardball, and the Republicans have understood the game better than the Democrats for the last eight years. To this point, at least, it’s “more of the same”.
The McCain campaign has been swinging for the fences. It took a cut when Sarah Palin was tapped for VP. It took a cut when its mantra shifted from experience to reform. It took a cut when it went on the offensive, challenging Obama to town-hall debates at every turn and slamming him when he declined, prompting McCain to explain: “If we had done what I asked Senator Obama to do … I don’t think you’d see the tenor of this campaign.” The Republicans will continue to take as many cuts as are needed to hit a homerun, because they get the proverbial “it” — the end goal of a campaign is victory, not popularity.
That’s something Barack Obama has been reluctant to admit.
Some say he has focused too much on platitudes, but others — myself included — argue otherwise. There is no such thing as a candidate who stands before a raucous audience reciting statistics that could be retrieved from Excel spreadsheets linked on government websites. Any good speech must be accessible in its content; it must captivate people, not bore them. And whether or not his words are vapid, he has not shied away from talking shop on things ranging from energy to the economy to health care. He has held numerous town hall Q & As throughout the summer. As he has said of many issues on many occasions: “I welcome [the] debate.” The problem is that few else do.
Whether or not the American electorate admits it, we hunger for political bloodletting. The hackneyed liberal tenants of “fighting for the middle class”, preserving Social Security, and providing universal health care don’t satisfy the appetite, no more than does McCain’s country-first selflessness of “I’d rather lose an election than lose a war.” Such talk is all Charlie Brown-teacher speak: “wah wah, wah wah wah wah.” We’ve had our fill of meat and potatoes, because we’ve known Barack Obama for the duration of an über-publicized primary fight and we’ve known John McCain ten times longer. Any stump speeches and talking points provide the American public an excuse not to listen: the timeless adage, “Tell me something I don’t already know.”
As such, this notion of “substance” for which we clamor — this idea that our candidates should engage in thoughtful and civil discussion about everything policy and nothing personal — takes a backseat to the identity politics, the attack ads, the accusations, the negativity; the real “substance”. That is not an indictment of our political process, but an admission of reality. McCain has his troops, as does Obama; McCain has his tax cutters and values voters, whereas Obama has his big government advocates and bleeding-heart leftist youths. More discussion of war, peace, and economics changes none of that. Projection of image and relation to the “common man” changes everything.
That was Obama’s calling card for the bulk portion of his young political career. His soaring and sympathetic oratory made people like him, even if such people either knew little or cared little of what he stood for. He no longer has the luxury of using that as a strategy. He has to hit back at McCain hard, lest his empty liberalism become central to his campaign. And in a nation as conservative as ours, that’s a recipe for certain defeat.
The complaints of the Obama campaign that McCain is taking some sort of “low road” toward victory are woefully misguided. There is no low or high road in an election as close as this — only a winning road. McCain’s Straight Talk Express, no matter how crooked Democrats find the vehicle to be, is on it.
And that’s because the Republicans are winners.
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Chris Deaton is owner of the blog A Firebrand Something. Check out his blog, subscribe to his RSS feed, and watch for more columns from Chris here on All American Blogger very soon.
