This is my first diary. I am a complete newbie to activist politics, and fairly new here to DKos. So far my active contribution to the campaign has been monetary; I've donated a couple of times a month (small amounts) for the last 6-7 months and it has been inspiring to feel a part of the campaign, even as someone who is really shy and finds it hard to imagine making calls or being more directly active.
That said, there's something that really hasn't sat well with me for a while. I couldn't sleep tonight and decided that I ought to at least write a letter to the campaign, and then I realized that if I were to post the letter here, it might amplify the impact somewhat. If anyone knows whether I have used an incorrect email address for David Plouffe, I would be glad to receive the correct information. I am also open to hear alternative opinions about how perhaps my perception is mistaken and once again Barack is one step ahead of me:
to: dplouffe@barackobama.com
Subject: Please, stop overtly praising John McCain!
Dear Mr. Plouffe,
I am a donor to the Campaign and plan to donate again. I have never taken the time to write a letter like this before, so I hope I can properly convey how important I feel this feedback is to at least be strongly considered. I am so impressed with the campaign Senator Obama has run and is running, I respect his wisdom and his choices about how he has chosen to run his campaign. I admit, I am probably a lot less "cool and collected" than the Senator himself (and thus find myself a bit nervous at the moment), and his strategy (and yours, Mr. Plouffe) has generally been brilliant.
I am writing to you out of my deep concern that Barack's "friendly" criticisms of John McCain's policies often start with a disclaimer along the lines of: John McCain is a good/courageous/honorable man. Senator Biden has gone so far as to call him one of the most courageous men he has ever known. This may be their experience, they may even be accurate (they certainly know the man personally much better than I).
However, I am absolutely terrified of the prospect of this country electing John McCain as its next President. I would not be donating to the campaign if I did not believe in the urgency of the difference electing Barack would make. And as this election looks like it will be exceptionally close, I fear for the prospect of a small, perhaps significant percentage of "truly undecided" voters who enter the voting booth not knowing who they are voting for, and from the deep recesses of their subconscious, they have a vague memory that even John McCain's opponent called him a "good man" and they thus cast their vote for John McCain. Not only does that not sound far-fetched, it sounds like a quite likely scenario. Perhaps it's 0.1%, perhaps it's 3%, it's hard to say how many voters might be in this position, but when Barack has only seconds to minutes to "make the sale" I find it truly astonishing that he would spend any time praising his opponent. I am not asking him to call Senator McCain a "bad man" or lie in any way, I respect Barack's integrity and I hope he holds to it, but I much preferred his tone of his acceptance speech where focused much more clearly on the distinctions and especially a clear, unambiguous message that "John McCain is an unacceptable option" as this country's next President. Emotionally and sub-consciously that message is severely diluted when in the next breath it's implied in so many words: "but he's not so bad".
I'm sure Barack and the campaign can find a tone that works, that isn't nasty, that isn't tasteless, that is totally true, AND delivers an unambiguous message that John McCain MUST be defeated. As Barack said, "we have to win". I am not asking him to sell his soul to do it, just to be tactically smart and allow John McCain to do his own work attempting to establish his honor and courage to the electorate at large. From my admittedly non-political point of view, to do otherwise is approaching "political malpractice" and I am strongly asking you to change that particular languaging by Senators Obama and Biden and their surrogates, ASAP.
Thank you for your time, and for listening to the feedback. Barack has demonstrated to me his intelligence and adaptability at every turn, I pray for him and for all of you that you will make the right and best decisions to lead us to an Obama Presidency.
God Bless You All,