The political stars aligned. Obama was handed an overwhelming victory in the Electoral College.
The alignment began at the Democrats convention..........in 2004. The Democrats Illinois Senatorial candidate gave the Keynote address. A star was born. He was an eloquent speaker. The message was of little importance but the delivery stole the show. The media swooned and in the backs of their collective minds, they decided he was to be anointed.
Senator Obama was elected, having defeated the flat footed Alan Keyes. He came to Washington with a minimal agenda. His main goal was the promotion of the brand Obama. He voted on legislation with an eye on the next step of his political ladder. Driven by political expediency.
The Democratic leadership was not ready for Obama and was busy laying the groundwork for Hillary Clinton. She had been the carpetbagger, junior Senator from New York since 2001. Having won her seat in part, with help of the 'wronged woman' genre.
The Democrats wanted a return to what they felt was a great Presidency.
Obama set out on his presidential quest less than a working year after arriving in the senate. He began networking with state level politicians. He spent mega time in Iowa and worked his connections in neighboring states. He took Saul Alinsky's "Rules For Radicals" and applied them to his presidential run. Known as the "father of modern American radicalism," Saul D. Alinsky developed strategies and tactics that take the enormous, unfocused emotional energy of grassroots groups and transform it into effective anti-government and anti-corporate activism. Activist organizations teach his ideas widely taught today as a set of model behaviors, and they use these principles to create an emotional commitment to victory - no matter what.
Grassroots pressure on large organizations is reality, and there is every indication that it will grow. Some of these rules are ruthless, but they work. RULE 1: "Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have." Power is derived from 2 main sources - money and people. "Have-Nots" must build power from flesh and blood. (These are two things of which there is a plentiful supply. Government and corporations always have a difficult time appealing to people, and usually do so almost exclusively with economic arguments.)
When the Iowa caucuses were held, he brought participants in that did not live there. He took Hillary's supporters by surprise. Obama became over confident after Iowa and went on to lose in New Hampshire. He learned his lesson. He reminded his supporters of this in the lead up to the general election last week.
Throughout the primaries, the media downplayed or ignored the alarms Clinton sounded in regards to Obama's character, experience and associates. He was their candidate and would not be swayed. The media was not going to report on anything that would tarnish his shine. When he stumbled the media was there, like a mother of a young child that had skinned their knee, off erring overt empathy and changing the subject.
At the very end of the primaries Obama's tactics prevailed. Much to the dismay of the Clintons and their followers.
After Obama had promised to work with the Republican nominee in accepting federal funding, he recognized the benefit of reneging and opted out. This was a smart move. By conversations I have had here in DC, it was the death of McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform. No candidate will accept the public financing in the future.
We watched Youtube of Palestinians working phone banks in Gaza on Obama's behalf. We heard about the illegal money flowing into Obama's campaign coffers. When necessary it was refunded. Two brothers from a refugee camp in Gaza claim they never were refunded their $30,000. Then the Obama campaign turned off the feature on their computers that would have rejected questionable contributions. We know many contributions to his campaign were in small denominations and would not be reported.
Obama campaigned globally in July. He set out to garner the good will of other nations. A scenario that actually matters to those on the left. They worried about what 'others' think of them, unless 'others' are Americans. The lefts envy of all things Europe is nauseating. Obama used this opportunity to ease Israeli suspicions. It was not until the eve of the election that word leaked out that he had asked for secrecy from the Palestinians on his promise of a divided Jerusalem in a two state territory.
On Obama's global campaign in Germany, his attempts to take his campaign advisers & media entourage to an military base was thwarted and he cancelled the visit. Image was everything. No photo, no visit.
At the Denver convention the media's unabashed bias was on public display. MSNBC was over the top in their fawning. This was the opposite of what was to follow the next week at the Republican convention. In St. Paul the media was skewing each speaker to the delight of the left. It prompted an email campaign the likes of which the parent company had not experienced. Disgusted, I was active in this endeavor. I will not rest until Olberman is dumped.
Obama is a masterful speaker. He spoke of 'change' and 'hope'. Voters want change. Most do not understand the change that they were voting for. They heard eloquence, without comprehending the message. Oh, but his words were smooth as silk. With an electorate satisfied to glean information in 30 second sound bites that was all that was needed. They were not getting useful, balanced information from a unbiased media.
Obama's big break came around September 15th. At about this time it was announced that the American economy was near collapse. This was welcome by the Obama campaign like manna from heaven. From this point on, there would be little discourse on foreign policy or military matters. No discussion of nuclear disarmament. No discussion of the 25% cut in the military budget. Nothing about NATO expansion.
Obama had a faltering economy to hone in on. The media was more than happy to play along. It did.
Add to this the organization ACORN. Here was a tax sucking, rogue organization, worthy of any descriptive Chicago styled term, one chooses to attach to it. It was supposed to be neutral, to receive our tax dollars. It was many things, but neutral was not one of them. They actively sought to steal the election. Registering phony people or actual people, multiple times.
Obama 'donated' $832,000 to ACORN. The campaign did not report it. Hoping to keep it quiet until after the election. Whe caught, the campaign blamed it on a clerical error. When questioned, the left cynically assured us these sham registrants could not vote. They knew they could vote absentee.
McCain named Sarah Palin as his choice for VP. She had done interviews with the local press in Alaska, but was not prepared for worldwide coverage. She energized the conservatives. She was a woman and did not support abortion.
I believe that was the initial reason the media and the left pounced on her at the start. They shamelessly tried to portray her as Linda Blair in the Exorcist. They could not fathom a woman who did not support 'abortion-on-demand'. She dared to walk her talk.
If anyone brought up Obama's inexperience, character or associates, the media and the left cried 'foul', declaring that only the issue of the economy mattered. Unless it was them assassinating the character and experience of Palin. Palin was fair game, even though Obama was not. The Obama campaign and media hid behind the 'race card' without shame. Many bought into that. I did not.
While campaigning in Toledo, Obama stumbled upon 'Joe the plumber'. Obama explained his intention to "spread the wealth". He had shown his hand. The media and democrats were largely silent on Obama's comments. Instead they set out to destroy 'Joe'. This is an emerging pattern of Obama and his Goon Squad.
In the end, McCain made several tactical errors that contributed to his failed campaign. He fell victim to his own campaign finance reform. The additional money would have allowed him to counter Obama's ad blitz. He could have spoken directly to the American people, contrasting his plan to Obamas'. His comments on the 'fundamentals of the economy' was a major blunder. His speechwriter should have been fired along with his campaign manager. The campaign lacked focus and a steady message. He could have done so much more with the large amount of money needed to compete in presidential politics in 2008. He could have done so much more with a competent campaign staff. He could have done so much more.
We need to take the Obama tactics, which I have only touched on here, and build on them. In the first midterms, the opposition gains back some seats in Congress. This will be no different. We will be ready for 2010 & 2012.
http://washingtonroundup.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
OBAMA: The Political Stars Aligned
Labels:
democrats,
election,
McCain,
OBAMA,
PALIN,
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN,
REPUBLICANS
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