User login

You DO NOT need to register to VIEW articles and comments. To add a comment you need to register. Registration is FREE!

Visit BuzzFlash on:

Facebook

and

MySpace

click here

See All The BuzzFlash Premiums

How can Barack Obama regain the momentum after the Republican National Convention?

Submitted by Chad on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 10:39am.

Be-Elected

If we use the "Rocky" analogy (at least one more time), a presidential race is like a 15-round fight. You may start out with a few punches, but in the middle rounds, your opponent may take the initiative, even if you end up winning the fight.

Well, right now, we are in the later part of the middle of the 15-round fight, Round 9 if you please (Round 10 will be the conventions). But in presidential fights, the last 5 rounds are what matters.

Right now, Barack Obama isn't doing so well because John McCain has the momentum. McCain fires the shots and Obama responds to them. Can't look good if you are always playing defense, especially if you are the Democratic candidate.

McCain is aggressive on foreign policy (Georgia), energy policy (gas prices), and attack ads. McCain also has got the MSM on his side, as they enjoy every punch sent Obama's way.

Losing Round 9, as Obama is set to do, isn't the worst thing in the world. After all, most of the undecideds aren't even paying attention at this point.

The Democrats also suffer a huge disadvantage in Round 10. Yes, Obama will speak in front of 76,000 in Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium. But then the Labor Day weekend will come, followed by 4 nights of the Republican lovefest. That fact that Bush and Cheney will both speak at the convention will encourage more MSM coverage, especially from FOX "News."

Obama had one good shot to land in Round 9 -- a vice presidential pick. The chance at momentum behind a perhaps unconventional pick is virtually gone. If Obama waits until Friday, August 22 or some date close to that, he has blown any shot of VP momentum. Yes, there will be some VP momentum, but having it so close to a convention, which already is supposed to give you momentum, defeats the purpose.

The Republicans, for the second cycle in a row, are going second and going quite late, a strategy they feel helps them. This philosophy of going in September gives them the momentum to carry them through the later rounds of the fight.

Understand that McCain will undercut Obama's speech by likely picking his VP pick on Friday, August 29, the day after his speech and oh, by the way, McCain's 72nd birthday. By the time McCain and VP pick TBD are done, it will be a long 7 days after Obama's speech. In a 24-hour cable news world, the momentum will be gone. In the era of primaries, there hasn't been one convention the following week after the other convention.

So how can Barack Obama regain the momentum after the Republican National Convention? What topics should he go after? We haven't even heard anything on education - will McCain continue the horrid NCLB policy? Let us know what you think.

What momentum?

Submitted by ipu4me on Sat, 08/16/2008 - 1:20pm.

Not only can Obama not regain his lost momentum, he will continue to lose it while McCain takes the lead in a few weeks. Obama has no chance of winning the election. The dumbed-down American idiots will join forces with the bigots, racists, homophobes and misogynists to elect McCain. Throw in the electronic voting machine nightmare that remains a HUGE problem even after the 2004 debacle, voter disenfranchising/caging which is already in full swing, ReThuglican Secretaries of State who will assist in the fraud and the corporate whore media. What you get is the perfect storm. It will be the final nail in the coffin of America's Constitutional Republic. Look for those "Free Speech Zones" in both Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul, where any serious protesters will be detained/arrested and put into chain link holding pens that have already been constructed. As active Progressives, it's sometimes difficult to see and believe what most voting Americans and our nation have sadly become.

Obama Must Inspire The American People

Submitted by crackerjack on Sat, 08/16/2008 - 3:20am.

"How?" "By putting out his vision as to what sort of world with him in the White House vs what'll come down on us should John McCain get elected." "But what about all the negativity that the McCain campaign is throwing at Obama?" "No matter." "Why not?" "Barack Obama will have captured our attention."

Get back the momentum NOW!

Submitted by GwenP on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 5:46pm.

Obama needs to worry about getting back his momentum now - not just immediately after the RNC. For some reason, Obama has decided that once he nabbed the democratic nomination, that he needed to swing rightwards and start acting "moderate". Considering that this nation has been going further and further to the right over the past twenty-plus years, Obama needs to swing this ship around and head it in a strong leftward direction. Playing the "moderate game" hasn't worked for the democrats so far and it certainly hasn't worked for the country thus far. Our nation is in deep sh*t and this is no time to play the "nice guy". Obama needs to come out swinging NOW and continue to do so until the country has been turned back to a place we can be proud of again. Lay out McCains philosophy and voting records on reproductive health, the environment, the economy, foreign affairs, education, etc. Quite frankly, it stinks and the American public would be VERY surprised to actually see his record layed out in front of them. My husband had been a strong supporter of McCain for years. He was happy to hear that he was running for president, though he's not amused with the republican policies lately. He fell for the line that McCain is a "mavrick" and thought he was "different from the other republicans" until I layed out his voting history to him and had him read some of McCain's philosophies on a number of topics. Now, he will NOT vote for McCain and will be voting democrat in this election (FYI: He DID vote for Kerry and Gore in the past elections. He and I can both rest easily that he didn't help put "W" into office). Obama and the rest of us need to get out the word on McCain and not allow him to get away with his nonsense. Obama started out the campaign with a bang and needs to get that excitement back again if he wants to win.

Easy

Submitted by SpikeHeels on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 4:38pm.

He should renounce his corporate allegiance and throw his support behind a real reform candidate. Ralph Nader a candidate that really wants change and is not just a different face.

Obama's 15-round fight

Submitted by Douglas O on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 3:53pm.

Can't Obama see that this is the Rove model of stealing an election,again.Keeping Obama on the defensive gives McCain the appearance of being tougher then Obama. McCain attacks and dems act cool and calm. Get pissed,lash out and attack.The tables must be turned. Don't be afraid to call a spade a spade. Better get off your ass and come out swinging or you'll be calling McCain Mr. President.And the country will further recede into the depths of fascism and apathy will rule,along with the neo-cons.Fight fire with fire.McCain's personal life and past crimes must be made an issue.He is dirty and the dirt is waiting for daylight.The future of our country is at stake here.It is not a game.

Come out swingin', Rocky Obama

Submitted by beyond outrage on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 2:15pm.

Barack, please don’t make me go through months of agony as I did in the later rounds of the 2004 campaign. Kerry seemed tongue-tied and impotent as the swift boat lies were launched and echoed during those weeks of hell. How can the voters respect a man (or woman) who cowers as he is being rabbit-punched. He was, after all, applying for the job of alpha Male of the nation. Barack, I want you to punch away at the documented weaknesses of John McCain, loud and clear. Don’t delegate the job to surrogates (but they can be choral background). I think these points will be especially effective: • His many recent gaffes on foreign policy issues should be re-played with your voice-over correcting his geography and history. • His acknowledged ignorance of economics and other domestic subjects. • Despite his self-described maverick status, his voting record in lock-step with the Bush agenda. • His involvement in the Keating 5 scandal. • His health (not explicitly his age) as typified by the 300-pqge dossier he released to selected journalists for “eyes only”. • His admitted marital infidelities. Will be difficult to introduce into discourse unless the right opening is provided by the opposition. • His legendary bad temper, using tapes from incidents such as the time he acknowledged a questioner as “you little jerk”. Hit him hard, hit him clean, hit him often. Make his knees go wobbly so he’ll have to cling to the ropes. He's your Apollo Creed. Break his glass jaw. Don’t let him get a word in. With that material and more, you will earn the respect and the vote of many blue-collar and rural voters. Keep your base. No need to chase after the hard core ignorati that you will never win over. And the super-rich and wannabes aren’t numerous enough to beat you. If you can get 60% of the vote, they can”t steal it.

Very interesting ... but ...

Submitted by Mike5000 on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 2:55pm.

Interesting ideas but what do they have to do with bringing our troops home, solving the health-care crisis, providing decent jobs for working Americans, and restoring the Bill of Rights?

...but he needs to punch while blocking the low blows

Submitted by beyond outrage on Sat, 08/16/2008 - 1:08pm.

Yes, he must continue to make these points you bring up. But Obama has already clinched base on these issues. He is not going to lose them (unless he continues the Clintonesque triangulations), he needs to expand yhr base by allotting some message time to exhibit his toughness and a fierce desire to win the job. Smacking down McCain is an ideal way to sell the crowd that knows firsthand what a brawl is.

He's not going to lose his base ....

Submitted by Yman on Sun, 08/17/2008 - 8:49am.

.... no matter what he does in terms of "triangulation", and he knows it. If his "triangulations" on FISA, death penalty expansion, 2nd Amendment/gun rights, abortion restrictions, expanding the Afghanistan War, offshore drilling, etc., etc. they're not going anywhere ........... and he knows it. What are you gonna do? Stomp your feet?

"Clintonesque"?

You must have meant "Obamanesque".

Simply be honest

Submitted by Ken duerksen on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 1:16pm.

All he needs to do is tackle every issue the way he did the Rev. Wright fiasco, which prompted his inspiriring "race in America" speech. - with honest and direct discusssion of the core problems at the heart of each issue. This strategy, which originally won me over, seems to have been ahrshly curtailed by his campaign - a sad mistake. Part of reviving this strategy would involve a belated infusion of disgust and derision aimed at the tactics and plicies of his rival.

Obama could easily regain the initiative

Submitted by Mike5000 on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 11:59am.

All Obama needs to do is promise to bring all our troops home by the end of 2009, appoint Ralph Nader as health-care czar, investigate and prosecute all war profiteering, and reaffirm the Bill of Rights.

But he won't. The Republicrats are America's most dangerous enemy. They will continue raping and looting America until there's nothing left to steal.

Huh?

Submitted by SpikeHeels on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 4:34pm.

If the Republicrats are America's most dangerous enemy, why not just tell Obama to campaign for Nader? With Nader as president, all you hope Obama would do WOULD get done. We wouldn't have to wait for the Republicrat's to finish us off.

Excellent idea

Submitted by Mike5000 on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 5:25pm.

Excellent idea. Ralph Nader has proven himself eminently trustworthy.

McSame and O'Same have been bought by their billionaire backers.

Ralph Nader????

Submitted by AZPete on Sun, 08/17/2008 - 11:07pm.

Ralph Nader has not been relevant since his brilliant “Nader Raiders” days in the 70’s and the 80’s. Since then he should be renamed “The Comet Nader”, who reappears once every 4 years, at the time of the presidential election, circles the earth for about 6 months and then disappears again for four more years. Voting for Nader is insanity. Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

Real question?

Submitted by vtjozef on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 11:54am.

The real question is can Barack Obama regain momentum after dumping progressives and tacking to the right? Looks to me that the Obama campaign has proved Ralph Nader to be correct: there is little difference between the two Corporate Party candidates.

What does O'bama stand for?

Submitted by Rusticus on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 7:09pm.

I was very much behind O'bama but now that he has gone along with the phone sell-out and proclaimed that he loves free markets, and drifts rightward, I have no idea who he is. He has to establish himself. He seems to be drifting around looking for the right spot. Well, the "right spot" is right where he is. The more he drifts around, the more people will feel they don't know him. Studies show that people will select someone they don't like over someone they don't know. One of the best ways to establish himself is by attacking, attacking McSame's wrong positions, his lack of personal integrity. Why is it okay for McCain to have had an affair? We have a smiling sleazeball in the oval office now do we really want another one. If Obama thinks he is going to win this by being nice, we are lost. He has got to start attacking McCain NOW. McCain has helped negotiate away American jobs. There are so many things he has flip flopped on so many things.

Get FREE BuzzFlash News Alerts