To the senior strategists of the Obama campaign -
You have not yet announced your selection of VP running mate. Before you make your announcement, please meditate on the following two words which have prevented Democrats from breaking 50% in the past 9 out of 10 presidential elections:
toughness gap
There's trouble in Russia tonight.
My guess is that by now the senior strategists and vetting team inside the Obama campaign have selected a VP running mate. I have no idea who they have picked, so I will pick a hypothetical example: Richard Simmons. Perhaps it's the electoral votes that Richard Simmons could swing from his home state. Perhaps it's Richard Simmons' personality, and how well it "compliments" something that Sen. Obama lacks. Whatever the motives, the senior strategists and vetting team have done careful research, and they have their heart set on Richard Simmons as the VP running mate.
I am suggesting that the senior strategists and vetting team abandon their VP running mate choice of Richard Simmons (or whatever Democrat they have chosen). Instead, they should pick General Wesley Clark.
I can hear the inner circle of senior strategists inside the Obama campaign: "O... but... Alas! We have spent the past several months formulating the perfect running mate, and all of our research shows that Richard Simmons is perfect for the VP slot. What about all of the work we have done?"
Things change: there's trouble in Russia tonight. Please bear in mind that generations of middle-aged and older Americans still recall fear of nuclear war, solidified with images of films like The Day After or even War Games. Older voters (whom I hear tend to actually show up on Election Day) may even have memories, if by proxy, of the duck-and-cover drills from early on in the Cold War.
It would be nice if voters think rationally and objectively on Election Day, but we all know that this is not the case. People do often vote out of fear. I submit to you that the idea of "trouble in Russia" will elicit a subtle but powerful emotional response from anybody who ever feared the possiblity of nuclear war... even some voters who consider themselves Liberals!
It's not too late. Please formulate an Emergency Committee to reconsider your present choice of VP running mate, considering carefully the military conflict between Russia and Georgia, its impact on our own country's election, and give Gen. Clark another thought.
Is anybody still hung up on the media flap last month regarding Gen. Clark's comment, questioning whether McCain's military experience is all that it's cracked up to be? I hope not. If so, please consider him anyways.
I don't think that Gen. Clark should have to apologize for that comment. In fact, I think this pseudo-geffa could be turned into a marketing opportunity for the Democratic ticket. Every time somebody asks about this comment, we could turn it around, and make it a question that the American people in such a way as to get them asking themselves: how is McCain's military experience going to influence what kind of Commander-in-Chief he will be? If last month's comment is still a sore subject, then perhaps Gen. Clark could apologize to McCain for hurting his feelings, sincerely, from one wounded Viet Nam veteran to another.
Some people look at John McCain and see a hero. McCain's stature as a hero will be severely diminished if Obama has a military hero of his own standing by his side, especially a former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO (gosh, I love typing those words! imagine having that as part of our ticket)
In the end, what I would really like to see is Gen. Wesley Clark in the Vice Presidential debate, ending with a closing comment:
We should give thanks to John McCain for his sacrifice and endurance of torture for 5 years, all for the service of our country. However, giving thanks and choosing a Commander-in-Chief are two completely different things. I would like to close this vice presidential debate tonight by asking the American people to do their own research, regarding John McCain's military career, and contrast it against my own career, from my time at West Point, through my service in Viet Nam, and finally with my work in Bosnia. Please study the two of us very carefully, with respect to experience, foreign policy accomplishments, judgement, decisions made, and personality temperment, and make a decision regarding which type of professional military leader you want in the Executive Branch next year.