The New 2008 Strategy: Campaigning To Lose by Tim Siggia

The New 2008 Strategy: Campaigning To Lose

By Tim Siggia

August 26, 2008

What's going on with our two major candidates this year? First one makes a dismal presentation at Pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, saying, in effect, "Don't vote for me, I'm an idiot!", then his opponent releases a campaign ad that seems to say, "Don't vote for me, either." Are these two actually trying to lose? Up to now, it has always been my belief that candidates campaign to win elective office, but Barack Obama and John McCain each seem to have something different on their minds.

The question-and-answer session (we can't really call it a debate, since the principals had no contact with one another) that took place at the Saddleback Church, with the Reverend Rick Warren moderating was supposed to be Barack Obama's moment to shine. Apparently, somebody forgot to mention that the New Messiah is all but helpless without his Teleprompter. Obama's supporters must have been cringing as he "ered" and "ahed" his way through his responses, vainly groping for the words that weren't appearing on any screen for him to read and intone with authority. John McCain, who was supposed to be the doddering old has-been warrior on the verge of dementia, gave decisive, direct answers to his questions. Obama, on the other hand, obfuscated to the point of giving responses that might have sounded like answers (to him), but in fact said nothing -- or, looking at it a different way, said certain things about Obama himself that the candidate never had any intention of saying. For instance, to the question, "Is there evil in the world?", Obama gave a meandering answer that showed his lack of preparation. After repeating the question and giving his usual succession of "uh, uh, uh's," Obama finally said that there was evil in the world, and went off on a spiel of evil on our city streets, etc. Noticeably absent from Obama's litany was any mention of international terrorism. Then, to the question, "At what point does life begin?", McCain's answer again was direct and simple: at conception. Obama's answer? "That's above my pay-grade." Now just what is that supposed to mean? And what is Obama's "pay-grade," anyway? McCain's is O-6; he retired from the Navy at the rank of captain. Obama, on the other hand, has never been anything but a civilian. Therefore, his "pay-grade" is exactly the same as his rank: nonexistent.

One particularly telling moment came when the candidates were asked who of the current Supreme Court justices was the one he would not have nominated. True to his base, Obama answered Clarence Thomas, because of -- get this -- lack of experience! Conservatives must have been slapping their knees and howling with laughter at this point. Thomas came to the Supreme Court with more credentials by accident than Barack Obama, with his 143 working days in the U. S. Senate, could ever invent! Yet he would seriously have the American people believe that with a resume consisting mainly of blank pages that he is not only qualified to be our chief executive, but better so than John McCain, who, in addition to having a full career in the Navy, was serving in the U. S. Senate back when Obama was still learning to spell it!

Naturally, Obama's allies in the "mainstream" news media had to come to his rescue, but their attempt to do so was laughably pathetic. One of the provisions of the session was that security arrangements were made so one candidate could hear neither the questions in advance nor his opponent's answers to them. In fact, while Obama was giving his answers, McCain was still enroute to the Saddleback Church. Moderator Warren made a joking reference to the "Cone Of Silence," a ridiculous contraption from the old television sitcom, Get Smart. So what happened? After it was all over, commentator after commentator questioned whether the "Cone Of Silence" had truly done its job, and speculated on the possibility that McCain had somehow cheated and been able to hear the questions and Obama's answers to them. This, despite not only denials by Pastor Warren himself, but also the fact that Secret Service agents had been with McCain, as they were also with Obama, and that there was no way McCain could have listened in without their knowledge. Don Adams may be gone, but Maxwell Smart lives!

With an advantage like this being literally handed to him by his opponent, one would think John McCain would simply let Obama's ignorance speak for itself. But no, McCain comes out with a campaign ad in which leads off by saying that "Washington is broken," and that he, of course, is the man to fix it. The implication here is clear enough: that Washington is broken not by Democrats but by Republicans, more specifically, George W. Bush. The ad goes on to mention how McCain stood up to "Big Oil" and other special interests, and ends by calling him the "Original Maverick." (For those who have not yet seen it, the ad is available on Youtube, and can be easily located on a Google search.) What McCain is clearly doing here is alienating his conservative base by reminding them of all the reasons they voted against him in the primaries.

Then, as if this weren't enough, we are told that his "short list" of potential running mates includes former Pennsylvania governor and Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge, and Independent Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman. McCain's objective here is obvious: He's taking his conservative base for granted, and once again playing the maverick in hopes of getting Independent and Democratic votes. A brief aside here, but has anyone ever noticed how only Republicans are "mavericks?" When a Republican betrays his own party, he's a maverick. When a Democrat does the same thing, he's a traitor. It is no accident that the "mainstream" news media never refer to Joe Lieberman or Zell Miller as mavericks. John McCain and former Connecticut governor and U. S. Senator Lowell Weicker, however, wear that label proudly. It is most curious to note that loyalty and fidelity were qualities which John McCain, as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, exhibited most nobly. Why he abandoned them as a politician is anybody's guess.

But getting back to business: Joe Lieberman as a possible running mate? Joe Lieberman? Now that would be a positively brilliant pick! Need we recall why Lieberman today is an Independent rather than the Democrat he was up until only two years ago? It's because he broke with his own party over the war in Iraq, choosing, to his credit, principle over the party line. Nevertheless, save for this one issue, he's still a liberal, and still caucuses with Democrats. Because he broke with his party, Democrats now despise Lieberman. Because he's still a liberal, Republicans don't trust him. And as for the talking heads of the "mainstream" media, they are positively salivating over the prospect of Joe Lieberman as a running mate for John McCain, calling it a "bold" choice. Now why would the newsies, who are all but openly campaigning for Barack Obama, be the least bit interested in who John McCain's running mate might be? The answer should be obvious.

All of this tends to put conservatives into a quandary. The prospect of Barack Obama as president would in all likelihood be even worse than a reincarnation of Lenin. Lenin at least knew what he was doing, whereas Obama tends to raise serious doubts in that regard. John McCain, who, we must remind ourselves, is a Reagan conservative (yeah, right, and Bill Clinton's a Trappist monk) has to date shown nothing but contempt for that faction to which he claims to belong, and still seems sold on the idea that the only way for a Republican to win the White House is to be "Democrat Lite." So, then, here are our choices:

1. Go ahead and vote for Barack Obama. Since the country's going to self-destruct anyway, we might as well have it happen at the hands of a Democrat rather than a Republican. Ridiculous as this sounds, I personally know at least one professed conservative who intends to do this.

2. Hold our noses and vote for John McCain. No matter who gets elected, he's not going to be one of us. Accept that, and go with the lesser of the two evils. A safe bet, at this point, is that whoever does get elected will serve only a single term anyway, and if putting McCain in the White House is the only way to keep Obama out of it, then so be it. McCain could, of course, make this easier for us by selecting a genuine conservative as a running mate. But don't count on it. Remember, he's a maverick, and mavericks by definition cannot be relied upon to act predictably.

3. Stick to our principles and vote accordingly. My good friend and fellow RFWH contributor Doug Wrenn made an excellent case for this option. Obama and McCain are not the only candidates running, they are merely the only two getting any attention from the media. Perennial candidate Alan Keyes is also an option, as are former Georgia congressman Bob Barr (Libertarian Party) and Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party). A vote cast for any of these would certainly allow the voter in question to leave the voting booth with a clean conscience. However, there is a danger here: Of the three in question, Alan Keyes is the one with the most name recognition, and if his past results are indicative of future performance his prospects are dismal at best. Also, let us not forget what happened in 1992, when H. Ross Perot, running as an Independent, took 23 percent of the vote. Were it not for Perot, Bill Clinton never would have been elected then, nor would he have been reelected in 1996. A sobering thought, at least, for those who would vote for a candidate they know for a fact has no chance of winning simply as a matter of principle.

4. Don't vote at all. There's always the option to simply stay home on Election Day. But then, the message sent here is that you'll accept without protest whoever gets in. This is hardly descriptive of any genuine conservative I've ever known, but I suppose some will go that route.

So those, then, are our options: the Radical, the Maverick, the Unknown Entity, or None Of The Above. It leaves conservatives with much to ponder between now and November.