There is a Presidential debate coming up on Wednesday, in Pennsylvania.
We have all seen the rather funny lines of HRC and McCain this week calling Obama 'elitist' and 'out of touch'. Obama has retreated a bit, and the majority of the media I have seen, (even CNN!) were basically laughing at people who a) made over $100 million in the last 7 years and b) married into a nine-figure beer fortune, calling a man who just paid off his student loans a few years ago 'elitist'.
Dead issue? Not if Hillary has anything to say about it.
So it might be time to being up some other issues that HRC & Co. have tried to deaden.
Lying
Now this could be addressed in multiple sub-points, but basically the core of what Obama needs to push is that Hillary is a liar, liar, pantsuit on fire!
From Tuzla, to Mark Penn, to Columbia, to NAFTA, we could be here all day.
Obama has not been one to take a negative tact, but this doesn't even have to be negative, if framed the right way. It can be a simple airing out of the facts.
Tuzla, for example, has been explained away as an overtired 'misstatement'. Bill has even tried to make it out like it was late at night, and only happened once. Fact of the matter is, it happened at least 4 times on tape, and at all hours of the day. Obama, call shenanigans on that.
On Penn, Obama has already called that issue out, saying he would have fired Penn long ago for his side dealings. What he needs to drive home in this debate is that Penn is still a major member of the Clinton team, and was demoted in rank only, not in power.
The Columbian Free Trade agreement has gotten a lot more press during the last few weeks than probably anyone thought it would, and probably hoped it would. For Hillary, this issue was a double barrel. Not only did her chief strategist get caught playing both sides of the fence, but so did Bill, who raked in millions trying to push this trade bill to passage. The official explanation is that the two disagree, which might be closer to reality than anything that has been said by the HRC campaign. Married couples can disagree, especially ones such as the Clintons, but someone who backed and pimped a major anti-union trade bill is going to be sitting in the White House at the right hand of the President (In the fantasy world some people live in where Hillary still has a shot). In the context of a fair and open debate, that needs to be addressed.
On NAFTA, Hillary is much more damaged personally, and Barack needs to call out her words now, and back in the 90s when NAFTA was being passed, when she was a major advocate of the deal, and show how Hillary can even morph her own history in her own head to fit the political opportunism of the day. We can all see now why she didn't want those schedules of her attending meetings to push NAFTA published.
And lastly, make damn sure that everyone sees who has been making money hand over fist while the manufacturing sector crumbled, who's personal wealth is into nine figures, who has been under Secret Service details and disconnected from regular, actual people for the last 20 years. Make them see who the actual elitist is in this cycle.
I know these are all topics that have been addressed on DKos ad nauseam already. Bill and Penn's double dealing, misstatements and double-speak, but if the major media won't do so, as evidenced by John McCain's entire campaign, then Obama is going to have to do it himself, on the biggest national stage before Pennsylvania votes.
If he lands enough body blows, the voters in PA might just hit Hillary with the knockout blow we all need right now.
If I've forgotten any 'misstatements', or if there's other things Obama should be hitting in addition to these, let's hear em in the comments...