Posted by
Sean Engmann on Friday, October 17, 2008 2:32:51 AM
Contrary to popular belief and reports, this election is far from over. Last night, John McCain did enough to stay alive, finally placing a wedge between Obama and the center. Whether he wins will determine how far to the left McCain can push Obama by leveraging that wedge. The wedge that McCain used to keep the door open has a name, "Senator Government" and a face in Joe the Plumber. Forget Bill Ayers, Reverend Wright and ACORN, the situation on the ground dictates that McCain's strategy from here on in has to be what it always should have been, to isolate Obama on the left wing of the Democratic party and to seize the center. In fact, McCain can now even run a more conservative campaign than he has been because the country is clamoring not for bigger government, but for more personal responsibility, less spending and lower taxes.
In the 1st two debates, Obama deftly painted himself as a moderate while blaming the incumbant party. He claims to be a tax cutter, cutting taxes to 95% while protecting the little guy against the rich. He cleverly defines many of his spending programs as tax cuts to account for the 95% and because he's such a smooth talker, he came across as sincere, while virtually indistinguishable from McCain, who also wanted to cut taxes, but supposedly just to the wealthy and corporations. A tax cutting Democrat, especially in this day in age is a credible president.
In the 3rd debate, along came Joe the Plumber, the personification of the guy Obama seems to want to help the most. Here is a guy who's not a rich guy, he's a hard working everyday blue-collar American who will see his achievement punished in the form of higher taxes by Obama's plan. Further, Obama said he wanted to take Joe's hard earned money to "Spread the wealth" and repeated that in the debate. McCain needs to do a portrait on Joe the plumber and illustrate exactly who he is and what Obama's "95%" will do to this ordinary American. McCain's plan has to be themed, as he put it in a slip at the debate, as the policies of Senator Government. He could use Joe to expose Obama as well as use him as a platform to promote his own policies of accountability, lower spending and more personal responsibility. It could just be enough to save the White House.