The McCain campaign has done a great job of planting lies and seeing what grows.
Four of the more corrosive lies that the Obama campaign did not fight strongly enough against are discussed below and he are some suggestions on how to fight them now.
And they are not the Muslim or patriotic smears.
This is my first diary so please be gentle.
This is my first diary so be gentle. Hopefully, some will find it useful.
The McCain campaign has done a great job of planting lies to see what sticks.
Four of the more corrosive lies that the Obama campaign may need our help fighting more strongly are discussed below and here are some suggestions on how to fight them now.
1.) Obama is the most liberal senator in the US Senate.
Now we all know that Obama is not, but it has been echoed so much that for many it is truth. There have been many articles rebutting this, but the Obama campaign has not been successful undoing the meme that "Obama is a hard left liberal."
It has sunk in so much that people like Bill O'Reilly and others can suggest that Obama is a socialist with out getting laughed at.
Moreover, when the right wing hacks and the echo chamber put forth crazy theories of socialist, communism, marxism, class warfare, etc., they usually start off with this defense: "Remember Obama is the most liberal senator in the US Senate, (insert Socialist, Marxists, Infanticide, Tree Hugging, Unamerican, or Class Warfare argument now)"
This is a frame. They put their crazy theory in a frame surrounded by "indisputable fact". Of course the fact is disputable and an outright lie, but they have said it so much that many believe it to be true.
Obama is a left-leaning centrist and always has been a centrist. All of us understood that the purpose of his candidacy was to build a governing coalition so that we can get things done on some of the biggest issues we face in a country that is split nearly 40/30/30 (Democrat, Republican, Independent) along partisan lines
2.) Obama has never accomplished anything.
There have been several very significant blogs , especially the one by Strange Animals (820-427-152), that point to the significant amount of authorship of Obama in the US senate and all the work done in the Illinois legislature.
We were beat repeatedly with this blatant lie during the Republican convention, because we did not fight against it strongly enough early on. We even allowed individuals in our own party to push this distortion for their own benefit.
This suggestion that he is a light weight has now come back to bite us further.
According to the Poligazette:
Surprisingly enough, though, Palin is doing fairly well... ‘Forty-four percent (44%) of voters say Palin has the better experience while 48% say Obama has the edge. Among unaffiliated voters, 45% say Obama has better experience while 42% say Palin.’
The MSM and even moderates accept the "fact" that Obama hasn't done anything.
This is another frame used to undermine Obama.
3.) Obama has never bucked his own party.
Obviously, this is another myth. Obama has on numerous occasions spoken about education and ethics. When Obama spoke to George Stephanopolus on September 7, 2008. He said this:
"I think that, on education, we do have to improve accountability. And I’ve not only supported charter schools, which the teachers’ unions have opposed, but I’ve also said that we should look at pay-for-performance," he said. "That’s not something that’s popular in my party."
But that's not the answer. The answer is that the Republican party has been so bad for America that why fight with fellow Democrats when you have to spend so much time trying to stop a party that has been so bent on enriching the well off, sending jobs overseas, and endangering and bankrupting our country with an endless war.
This response to the frame of "Obama not bucking his party" opens the door so wide for so many attacks against the governance and corruption of the Republican party.
4.) Obama is a typical tax and spend Democrat is just going to raise your taxes.
Now we know that Obama is only allowing the Bush Tax cuts to expire on people who make more that $250K. His plan provides tax cuts for 95% of families. We know that studies have said that Obama's tax plan would put 3x the tax savings in the pockets of the middle class than John McCain, but the lie persist.
These lies undercut our candidate's image when people are ready to give him a look. These are not the lies that explode. These are the lies that corrode.
No matter how you change the picture, the frame still stays.
The important question is how do we fight back against this underlying narrative that is used to frame our candidate.
1.) Say The Words.
Whenever you speak about Obama say that he is a centrist who sponsored over 400 bills in the Senate and wrote over 150 bills in the US Senate and would cut taxes on 95% of Americans.
And when speaking about working across the aisle, simple stating something like this:
God knows that the Democrats have had their hands full just trying to keep this country together while the Republicans have been putting money in the hands of the wealthy, sending jobs overseas, and just throwing our money out the window in Iraq with out increasing our safety.
2.) Write the Words.
Whenever you write about Obama, no matter the topic, write that Obama is a centrist who has brought people together where ever he has gone. Be sure to include that he has an extensive record of accomplishment and has authored over 150 bills as a Senator and will cut taxes on 95% of Americans.
We need an Obama Preamble:
It is very similar to what I hear and see about John McCain. You know the McCain preamble:
John McCain is a war hero and we honor his service, and ...
The Obama Preamble needs to be:
Obama is a centrist who has written 150+ bills while in the Senate and will cut taxes on 95% of Americans, who has ...
This is ground work that is absolutely necessary for the campaign and all of us. It is blocking and tackling or brushing and flossing. We can't let corrosive lies stick and we must work every day to clean remove Republican plaque that has built up from the day before.
And just for the record, here is the Obama Preamble included in conversation with an independent trying to decide Obama over McCain. (There are of course many other arguments that could be made for Obama, just make sure to work in the Obama Preamble).
I understand that you are thinking about this election. Me too, its amazing that you have a centrist like Obama who is going to cut taxes for 95% of Americans and a guy who at one time was a maverick, but now he admits that he agrees with Bush 90% of the time. I don't know what you think, there is no way that I support President Bush more now than when he was elected.
or
I understand that you are thinking about this election. Me too, I mean they are both accomplished, Obama has wrote over 150 Bill in the Senate and worked with others on ethics reform and nuclear proliferation and McCain has had some bi-partisan victories too in the past even though he now votes with Bush 90% of the time. There is just no way I support Bush more than he was elected. That's just crazy talk (be sure to laugh).
I would try to work the both in.