Sep 29 2008
On Domestic Issues McCain Needs To Listen To Bill Kristol
Bill Kristol nailed the current situation of the country and how McCain can take control of all domestic issues from Obama and the Dems (who have been screwing up our domestic policies for decades):
McCain’s impetuous decision to return to Washington was right. The agreement announced early Sunday morning is better than Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s original proposal, and better than the deal the Democrats claimed was close on Thursday. Assuming the legislation passes soon, and assuming it reassures financial markets, McCain will be able to take some credit.
But the goal shouldn’t be to return to “a normal campaign.†For these aren’t normal times.
We face a real financial crisis. Usually the candidate of the incumbent’s party minimizes the severity of the nation’s problems. McCain should break the mold and acknowledge, even emphasize the crisis. He can explain that dealing with it requires candor and leadership of the sort he’s shown in his career. McCain can tell voters we’re almost certainly in a recession, and things will likely get worse before they get better.
And McCain can note that the financial crisis isn’t going to be solved by any one piece of legislation. There are serious economists, for example, who think we could be on the verge of a huge bank run. Congress may have to act to authorize the F.D.I.C. to provide far greater deposit insurance, and the secretary of the Treasury to protect money market funds. McCain can call for Congress to stand ready to pass such legislation. He can say more generally that in the tough times ahead, we’ll need a tough president willing to make tough decisions.
Actually, the conventional wisdom is wrong here that Obama and the Dems have a natural advantage. All they have is a fantasy world built on media spin that gives the impression of an advantage. But any advantage that can be torn apart with ease and be turned into a liability is clearly not a real advantage.
The truth is the current shakey economy cannot handle any large and risky policy jolts. Obama is going to have to forget his tax hikes on corporations and small companies (those making more than 250K a year, which means all small companies with more than two people in them). McCain already started to hammer Obama on this and can continue to do so with ease. Obama’s idea of taxing oil companies is a joke – because we all know who pays the taxes at the pump.
Obama’s plans to grow the government are also now highly suspect. While the verdict is out for many Americans on who is truly responsible for the current crisis, everyone agrees the culprits are in DC and on Wall Street. It is the Political Industrial Complex of Pols, Cronies, Consultants, Lobbyists and the News Media who failed this country – again. Any plan that hands power and responsibility into the hands of the inept and the corrupt will be met with a resounding “hell no” from outside the beltway. McCain can tap into this feeling and beart Obama over the head with it.
Kritsol is right. McCain needs to take Obama head on and this financial mess has given him the beachhead he needs to take the domestic issues away from Obama. The mantra should be “no new government responsibilities until the current messes are fixed”. Â Trust me, that one will sell.
OK now explain to me again why I am supposed to vote for the guy who has never held a job and has promised to raise my taxes. Oh yeah….so I can feel good about that slavery thing that I had nothing to with.
McCain actually fight Obama?
He doesn’t seem to want to do that.
He could have slaughtered him by now, wiped the floor clean,
and put the whole stupid lying left to pasture.
Except,
He seems more content to lose.
If McCain wins it will be through no fault of his own.
dave m, I think you’re right. McCain would rather be mr nice guy than to point out many of the obvious things about obama. He doesn’t talk about his lack of experience, his associations with Ayrs, Rezko and many others. He even seems reluctant to talk about his heavy tax plans, etc. I wish he would at least act like he wants to win.
Questions McCain needs to ask Osama Obama to win:
1. Does he still supports reparations for slavery? In the not too distant past he was community organizing people to demand reparations. He has not repudiated it and needs to answer whether he still believes whitey needs to pay upl.
2. Does he still embrace Black Liberation Theology? Does he still believe Whites are responsible for the predicament blacks find themselve in? Does he intend to use the government to enslave and humiliate white males to support blacks, women and other minorities because of the “sins of the past?”
3. Does he believe in equality for all, regardless of race or will “Affirmative Action,” assuring preferential treatment for the less than best and the unqualified be the order of the day?
4. Who would he appoint to his cabinet? Will they be Carter and Clinton holdovers like Janet Reno, Madeline Albright etc. or will he appoint friends and associates like Buill Ayers, Louis Farakan, Jesse Jackson , et al to run government agencies?
4. Since he has railed about the over representation of blacks in our prisons and jails, does he plan to give pardons, commutations and/or demand lesser penalties for black law breakers? Will he appoint judges who will deal fairly with all and make decisions based on constituttional law or will he appoint people who feel it’s their duty to redress what they perceive as past grievances, real and imagined?
Someone needs to make him take a stand on these issues. Otherwise the American people may wake up the day after the election to find that they have elected a Charismatic Mgabe clone to be in charge of our lives.