Inspired by several recent lists, including Robert Creamers "Ten Key Steps to Put Obama Over the Top in November" from Wednesday's Huffington Post, we decided to put together a list of what we hope Obama does next to beat McCain. Of course, there will be a McCain list in the coming days for the three of his supporters still reading this blog...
5. Get the Vice Presidential choice out of the way so, even if he doesn't announce it for months, it does not bog down his campaign's time. For the record, Senators Dodd, Edwards, and Webb are fine choices, while Senator Clinton and Governor Richardson would bog the ticket down with their respective baggage, Clinton with her high negatives plus Bush-Clinton fatigue and Richardson's poor campaign skills plus New Mexico's likely Democratic swing this year should rule them both out. This is nothing against them personally-- it's all about weighing advantages versus disadvantages of the way that Obama-? bumpersticker reads.
4. Gather uncommitted female superdelegates and Governors like Kathleen Sebelius (Kan.) and Janet Napolitano (Ariz.) to follow Hillary Clinton's endorsement and shore up the female vote that is still out there and less than thrilled about another male President.
3. This is an obvious one, but key: use elder party surrogates to make the case. Perfect examples would be Joe Biden and especially Jim Webb, with his experience, Republican background, and excellent TV "presence." This will balance Republican/McCain attacks on Obama's experience and lack of authority on foreign policy.
2. As Roger Stone says: "Admit nothing, deny everything, launch counterattack" and "Attack, attack, attack-- deny everything" (the last one is not an exact quote, but the point is the same.) The Republicans have won with these words time and again since 1972 and the Democrats cannot afford to ignore these rules this year. For one thing, we'd be talking about the reelection of John Kerry if he'd paid attention to them the last time around.
1. Fuck the swing states-- go after everything remotely in play. If he did so well in Montana, Virginia, and even Alabama, he should run hard there. This is a new Presidential election-- it would suck to wake up the day after and find out he could have won if only he'd spent any money in, say, Alabama-- where he had 56% in the primary and McCain lost to Huckabee-- he would've taken the electoral college.
Previously: Top 10 Moments in the Career of Hillary Clinton.
