Obama needs an issue that illustrates the lameness of McCain-Palin's claim to "Change," but at the same time demonstrates how his administration would serve the people who are hurting (most of us are at least worried, given the economy).
Obama has already outlined some possibilities: two of them ought to be combined:
Obama needs to announce, with great fanfare, a jobs and infrastructure program, in which a million jobs could be generated to rebuild and improve our crumbling roads, bridges, railroads, ports, airports and electricity grids.
He should announce that he's taking on the oil companies by demanding a windfall profits tax (after all, if Sara Palin can gain popularity for doing this in Alaska, Obama could point out that she and McCain are not willing to propose this for the nation).
Then, he should finance a good part of the infrastructure and jobs program from the revenue collected from the oil companies.
The point of a jobs program of this nature would be that it: 1, creates many new jobs directly, not through some trickle down scheme; 2, it is firmly in the Democratic party tradition; 3. would be attacked by the Republicans as a Big Government program, but even their attacks would demonstrate how ineffective Republican economic policy has been, and continues to be; 4, could be implemented by local contractors, through state and local governments with guidelines written to exclude huge multinationals from gaining any more than a small share of the new business. 5. a jobs program would not only reduce unemployment through its direct hires, but through increasing demand in the economy.
- means that money spent would be 100% for rebuilding, not just discretionary spending, and therefore the jobs impact would be much greater.
- means that Democrats will have all the more reason to work as hard for Obama as they can.
- means that Republican attacks won't float, and in fact will illustrate to the electorate that McCain's "change" is simply a hollow word, while Obama's means responsiveness to the problems this nation and its people face under changing conditions.
- would bring on board a larger number of small businesses, who would finally see that the Republican "pro-business" talk does not benefit them, but only the large multinational corporations.
- Like the New Deal programs, this would help reinvigorate the whole economy.