The title of the piece is “Two Inescapable Truths” which are:
- The economy is the “only” issue right now in the presidential election.
- The public does not understand or trust the solutions being put forward to the current economic crisis.
In a way Medved does a great job of outlining what McCain must do to defeat Sen Obama and win the presidential election. (Notice how I phrased that. Defeat and win.) The heart of Medved’s argument (which he then develops and which I will summarize below) is this:
Each of the candidates will concentrate on warning the public about his opponent. They will make mirror image arguments: yes, current conditions are terrible and alarming—and, as a matter of fact, my opponent and his pals played a big role in creating this mess. What’s more, if he gets his hands on the White House, a bad situation will get far, far worse, bringing unimaginable pain to the American people.
Whichever candidate makes this argument most convincingly will win the election.
Despite the messianic expectations that earlier attended the Obama campaign, the people won’t vote this time on glittering visions of hope and change. They will vote for the candidate who scares them least, and who provides the best indication of allowing the normal processes of recovery to take their course.
What this boils down to specifically for Sen McCain is this:
- Counter Sen Obama’s advantage first by pointing out how the current economic situation is at least as much the fault of Democrats as of Republicans. (Even Saturday Night Live despite its clear pro-Democrat bias could not help admitting as much in one of their recent spoofs.)
- By remininding voters how he differs from President Bush. (Conservative Republicans were not pleased when it became clear Sen McCain would be the Republican candidate. Remember?)
- It is not enough to assert Sen Obama is “untested and inexperienced” – Sen McCain must explain why Obama is “scary and dangerous” in three key ways:
More taxes, runaway budgets, and resulting deficits (his promises sound great – even to me – but what will they cost?);
- Bad character and bad values (who – really – is Barack Obama?);
- Obama is unpredictable and extremely partisan (the most liberal voting record in the Senate – and usually voted against bipartisan efforts which McCain either supported or helped initiate).
Read the whole thing at Townhall.Com. You do not need to register.
Although Medved’s intent is to outline a strategy for a McCain victory in November, what I found valuable was a clear and concise summary of the case against (voting for) Sen Obama.
