This is a very interesting Op-Ed by Frank Schaeffer, who readily admits he is an Obama supporter, in which he warns Republicans that how they campaign against Obama could define their party for the rest of eternity. While that may be pretty grave, and most people don't have that high of an opinion of Republicans right now anyway, I think he makes a very valid point.
Simply put: Republican strategists who think that business-as-usual -- i.e., the slanderous politics of the past 30 years -- will take care of matters this time around are deluded. Worse than that, they will doom the reputation of the Republican Party and turn it into a marginal footnote of American history if they keep trivializing this historic event. That is too bad because. . . we need a two party system.
Jump for excerpts. . .
The Republican Party is completely out of touch with the American people. While their intent is to go negative early and often, all while John McCain shrugs it off and claims there's nothing he can do about it (which is funny considering Obama has been the presumptive nominee for all of a week and has already taken control of HIS party), may work, it may also kill ANY goodwill the party may have with progressives and independents.
Let's be honest, fear has been an extremely successful motivator (or demotivator) in politics. As much as the Obamas love to say "be not afraid" people are afraid, and the media, instead of giving facts about Obama, would rather spend its time saying "people don't know him."
So what I have to say here about Senator Obama to my old Republican friends comes from an inside perspective. It's this: beware how you deal with the Obama moment. What you do now is going to define you far more than you'll define Obama. He is about to become a major part of American history. You are about to be written off forever ... if you get this wrong.
[snip]
My motivation? It isn't to help Republicans win. I want them to lose the election. But there are bigger fish to fry. For instance the peace and goodwill that we will all need to return to in order to function as Americans after this election. America matters more than party. And it is America that will be damaged by the self-destruction of the Republican Party. We need a viable opposition.
Exactly, I notice that Obama hits on POLICY. We have not heard Obama attack McCain personally for ANYTHING. Obama even gave him a pass on the "not too important" comment (which is more than McCain is doing with regard to Obama's "bitter" comment). Meanwhile, McCain has no problem going personal with thinly veiled attacks on Obama though his surrogates and talking heads on TV. The Republican Party is relishing going negative, and this is one time when it may really backfire. We all watched how going negative worked for Clinton, sure it gave her a slight bump (which was helped by "operation chaos" whether you want to admit it or not), but overall it made HER negatives go up more than it made Obama's. The difference here is, Obama will not hesitate to hit back, but he WILL fight fair--meaning he'll stay on policy.
All over the world people who have thought ill of America are now thinking better of us, simply because Obama has become a serious major party candidate. All over the world our country, which has sunk to its lowest level ever in the public's view under Bush, suddenly looks immeasurably better because we have grown up enough to embrace a black candidate, our fraught and sordid racial history notwithstanding. We might even be setting an example in spite of ourselves. All over the world people who have despaired of their old friend America are taking a second look.
And while some argue that it doesn't matter what the rest of the World thinks of us because we are America, they must remember America is not immune to attacks. We saw it on 9/11, and if we continue to isolate ourselves and lose the respect of the world, people are going to be less inclined to just let us be. McCain has already demonstrated that he will simply be another Bush term. Obama is someone different, and it's not because of the color of his skin. He represents an opportunity to restore our standing in the world was LEADERS and not simply BULLIES that like to throw our weight around and have permanent occupations in countries that probably don't want us there.
The Obama campaign is not just about him being a "black candidate." If that was all it took to be successful, we may have had President Shirley Chisholm in 1972, or President Jesse Jackson in the 80s, or even President Al Sharpton in 2004. Obama's candidacy is about so much more:
Senator Obama is not just a "historic black candidate." He turns out to be a profoundly inspirational person. For a start he is not beating the drum for fear as the means to motivate votes. This is a huge change from Bush and the paranoid distrust of the "other" that the Bush years will be remembered for. There are echoes of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt in the measured and sane Obama candidacy. There is the best of the American story in his personal history. The man radiates a steady decency, compassion and profound wisdom that is rare at any time in politics, but following the embarrassment of George W. Bush comes like cold water to those stuck in an interminable desert.
This is the context of the Obama candidacy. And what it symbolizes long-term is so far and away more important than the election results in November, that the mere politics of the moment is almost an insult to the sea change that Obama's candidacy represents.
Now, he was not saying they all have to VOTE for Obama (although that would be lovely), he's simply saying they must respect the man, the historic nature of his candidacy, and what he's trying to do by elevating the political dialogue.
As they prepare their slimy little Rovian attacks on Michelle Obama, and her "lack of patriotism," on Senator Obama and his "un-American" former pastor, and as the racial innuendo and the use of Obama's middle name, etc., etc., morphs into an updated version of "swift boating" the Republicans are more or less signing their death warrant. They are about to become a minority party perceived as controlled by silly half-educated white men, cranks, racists and windbags. The writing is on the wall. If fools like the FOX News folks, are the face of the Republican Party in this election the Republicans are done. It will not be forgotten that the Republicans pissed on a shining moment of opportunity and could do no better than snicker at a moment when the rest of the world looked at the Obama moment in awe and renewed respect for America.
Honestly, the Republican Party is largely viewed that way anyway, just throw in snobby rich people who don't care about the rest of us who are struggling to live every day. However, if they choose to go the negative route (which they are) they WILL damage their brand FOREVER, especially in the African American community where they don't have much standing left.
He wraps it up with some helpful tips to the GOP on how they SHOULD campaign:
- Categorically repudiate and denounce the sort of slime attacks that are already being mounted against Obama and his wife until they stop.
- Refuse to go along with the snickering half-wits at places like FOX News. They will take you down with them into well deserved oblivion.
- Pay homage to what Obama means to America and what his candidacy stand for in the same way that Obama pays homage to McCain's Vietnam War service and do so often and where it counts.
- Decide now that it would be better to lose this election than win a race-based or innuendo-based pyrrhic victory that decimates the Republican Party's (or angry Clinton fans') reputation forever.
- Debate the issues, not the man. The point is not to belittle Obama. You can't. He's already a giant of American history and became such just by getting this far in a country that was still lynching black men in our parents' lifetimes. But that doesn't mean that you have to agree. Say that his tax hikes will hurt. Say that his medical coverage is going to cost. There are real issues. Call him on those if you will. And experience is a legitimate issue too. But stay out of the slime.
- Don't be too clever by half. Play even the hint of the race card, no matter how cutely or while pretending innocence, and you're toast.
I especially agree with the 3rd and 4th points. Just like Obama said in his victory speech last Tuesday, he does respect McCain's service and experience, even while McCain chooses to deny his. You can't say you respect someone as your colleague and then stand by while your supporters call her a bitch (i.e., the townhall where the supporter asked McCain "How do we beat the bitch?" and McCain proceeds to joke and laugh so hard he has to wipe tears from his eyes before saying how much he respects Senator Clinton) or while you proceed to call them weak and personally insult them and NOT their policies.
I realize it's not easy to compete with a candidate as formidable as Barack Obama without going negative, ESPECIALLY when you want to continue the failed policies of the Bush administration complete with putting Dick Cheney in your cabinet. But McCain did say a long time ago that he intended to fight fair. Then again, the straight talk express has lost a few wheels and a few headlights and was transformed into the "double talk" express, so maybe we shouldn't expect too much from Mr. McCain.
I didn't post the entire article (fair use and all) so please go check it out it's really good.