My Advice For McCain
Posted by: Jubal | 10/07/2008 4:06 PM
If I had a few minutes with John McCain to advise him on tonight's debate, this is what I'd tell him (it's a bit stream-of-consciousness, but I'm rushed):
Barack Obama is the most left-wing major presidential candidate in American history. He will raise taxes, make government bigger and have it make decisions for you. The financial crisis was sponsored by government, and Obama wants to give the government more control over the economy. Make sure everyone watching tonight knows that by the time the debate is over.
Americans do not want bigger government, or trust it to run the economy. Barack Obama wants both. His reflexive response to any problem is government. That means more government spending, control and taxes. Drive that home.
Quit giving Obama a pass on his dishonest description of your health care plan. Correct him, call him on his demagoguery and point out he wants to put the federal government in charge of your health care. The underlying philosophy behind Obamacare -- that "universal" health care is a "right -- is it doesn't matter how crummy your health care is, as long as everyone has access to the crummy care.
And enough with the "greed and corruption on Wall Street" Johnny One Note act. You're a Republican. Leave the class warfare to the professionals: the Democrats. They actually believe that nonsense. When Obama starts in on his blame-deregulation riff, remind him and viewers that this is a government-sponsored crisis: government pressuring government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make loans to risky loan-recipients on terms they couldn't get in the free market. remind then that last week Obama said he would push for higher taxes on financial services if the rescue plan doesn't work.
And when Obama wags his finger about politicians looking the other way when this was going one, remind him of his champion deed in becoming the second largest recipient of Fannie Mae contributions in just under four years in the Congress.
Make take the taxer label and staple it to Obama's forehead. You opponent is proposing to hit a weakened economy with higher taxes. He's hostile to free trade agreements. Remind viewers of another protectionist politician who raised taxes in a weak economy: Herbert Hoover.
Drive home to viewers your tax cut program that aims to stimulate economic growth and lower the cost of living for families -- as opposed to Obama's program of income redistribution. You want to grow the economic pie so everyone can have a bigger piece. Obama just wants to slice it differently.
When Obama points to the size of your tax cuts as a criticism, express disappointment that he not only opposes letting Americans keep more of their own money, but wants the government to grab an even bigger share of our wealth.
Ask viewers if they really believe that higher taxes and bigger government and less economic freedom will bring us prosperity. It hasn't worked before, and experience tells us it won't work now. Ask them if that is really change, or old-school big government liberalism.
If Obama ties to paint a McCain presidency as a third term for George W. Bush, demolish that canard and shoot back that an Obama Administration will be the second term Jimmy Carter never got.
There's a lot riding on tonight. This has been a surprising campaign feature many premature obituaries and wrong predictions. McCain can still win, but it'll be a tough needle to thread. McCain needs to knock Obama's block off tonight.
Barack Obama is the most left-wing major presidential candidate in American history. He will raise taxes, make government bigger and have it make decisions for you. The financial crisis was sponsored by government, and Obama wants to give the government more control over the economy. Make sure everyone watching tonight knows that by the time the debate is over.
Americans do not want bigger government, or trust it to run the economy. Barack Obama wants both. His reflexive response to any problem is government. That means more government spending, control and taxes. Drive that home.
Quit giving Obama a pass on his dishonest description of your health care plan. Correct him, call him on his demagoguery and point out he wants to put the federal government in charge of your health care. The underlying philosophy behind Obamacare -- that "universal" health care is a "right -- is it doesn't matter how crummy your health care is, as long as everyone has access to the crummy care.
And enough with the "greed and corruption on Wall Street" Johnny One Note act. You're a Republican. Leave the class warfare to the professionals: the Democrats. They actually believe that nonsense. When Obama starts in on his blame-deregulation riff, remind him and viewers that this is a government-sponsored crisis: government pressuring government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make loans to risky loan-recipients on terms they couldn't get in the free market. remind then that last week Obama said he would push for higher taxes on financial services if the rescue plan doesn't work.
And when Obama wags his finger about politicians looking the other way when this was going one, remind him of his champion deed in becoming the second largest recipient of Fannie Mae contributions in just under four years in the Congress.
Make take the taxer label and staple it to Obama's forehead. You opponent is proposing to hit a weakened economy with higher taxes. He's hostile to free trade agreements. Remind viewers of another protectionist politician who raised taxes in a weak economy: Herbert Hoover.
Drive home to viewers your tax cut program that aims to stimulate economic growth and lower the cost of living for families -- as opposed to Obama's program of income redistribution. You want to grow the economic pie so everyone can have a bigger piece. Obama just wants to slice it differently.
When Obama points to the size of your tax cuts as a criticism, express disappointment that he not only opposes letting Americans keep more of their own money, but wants the government to grab an even bigger share of our wealth.
Ask viewers if they really believe that higher taxes and bigger government and less economic freedom will bring us prosperity. It hasn't worked before, and experience tells us it won't work now. Ask them if that is really change, or old-school big government liberalism.
If Obama ties to paint a McCain presidency as a third term for George W. Bush, demolish that canard and shoot back that an Obama Administration will be the second term Jimmy Carter never got.
There's a lot riding on tonight. This has been a surprising campaign feature many premature obituaries and wrong predictions. McCain can still win, but it'll be a tough needle to thread. McCain needs to knock Obama's block off tonight.
CATEGORY:
Making of the President 2008
Anonymous, you have an excellent point. Sometimes people become annoyed by a person or event, to the extent...
Jubal,
public confidence in free markets isn't exactly riding high at the moment. If it were, we wouldn't be in this mess.
You didn't by any chance advice Hoover ins '32, did you?
-tylerh
McCain missed a big chance to stand up to Wall Street and President Bush by voting NO on the recent $800+ billion bailout, not to mention he's clue free about economics. However, he choose to go along and get along on the bailout. Huge mistake. Neither candidate is credible on the economy.
public confidence in free markets isn't exactly riding high at the moment.
That's at least in part because we lack a GOP nominee who aggressively articulates that this isn't a failure of the market, but of government. Plus, the MSM has no interest in that narrative. They're all aboard the Obama express's big con that it's all because of deregulation.
You didn't by any chance advice Hoover ins '32, did you?
No -- maybe you missed the Hoover reference in the post. If I had, I'd have advised him against raising taxes and signing the Hawley-Smoot trade bill.
Oh Jubal, your boy is in the tank.
Forget the clumsy gestures, the wooden posture, the grotesque facial expressions, the bad fitting suit; forget the endless repetitions of "my friends" and "never again."
His big idea is governement buying bad mortgages. So now he wants the taxpayers to own bad mortgage based derivitives and bad mortgages, too. How many times can you sell the same swamp to the same suckers?
It's all over.
Yes, forcing banks to accept bad mortgages that many people voluntarily agreed to is bad public policy. What about those people who got bad loans but are making timely payments and are not in foreclosure? Are they going to get a new loan?
Shouldn't people be forced to obey the contract instead of having government ride in a change the terms?
McCain has become Bigger Government -- yes, bigger than Bush.
[QUOTE] Barack Obama...will raise taxes, make government bigger and have it make decisions for you. [/UNQUOTE]
As opposed to McCain, who will raise deficits, make government bigger and have it make decisions for you.
it doesn't matter how crummy your health care is, as long as everyone has access
As someone whose family has some serious preexisting conditions -- even though they were largely resolved years ago and don't have a large impact on our current healthcare spending -- McCain's position on healthcare looks pretty damn crummy to me.
From my perspective, the danger that he's going to wreak havoc on the employer-based market and offer people in my position no real alternative is too great a risk to take. (The assertion in the NRO article you linked to that he'll somehow help me by 'expanding risk pools' is a little too vague and hand-wavy to be any comfort.) This is my single issue; the rest of his flaws are just icing on the cake.