Dick Morris On the Debate; My thoughts on hitting Obama on the economy

Whatever you think of the toe-sucking little cretin, Dick Morris is a pretty astute observer of the political scene and I recommend him to you.

He has his take on the debate in the NY Post this morning. If you saw him on H&C last night, you heard this already, but, I think he's right on.

I think he's right on this, "he sounded just like Obama in calling for a bipartisan approach. He did far too little to differentiate his position from Obama's. He did nothing to hammer home the fact that he's not going to use tax money but rather insurance and loans to finance the rescue package."

And, he's right on the style, "McCain talked to moderator Jim Lehrer while Obama talked into the camera. So we viewers watched McCain debate and Obama speak directly to us. The stylistic difference left us with a sense that Obama is the more focused and compelling candidate."

Morris has some other thoughts and I would like to add my thoughts on Republican candidates and the economy. I think these ideas can be used even more effectively by McCain, since he is viewed as a little outside the Republican mainstream, so he can use them effectively, but, in this year, with the focus on the economy, we have to blunt the Dems natural advantages with voters (please don't mistake a "natural advantage" to mean they are right on the issue - they are demonstrably wrong, and always have been).

So, here are themes that need to be hit home in the remaining days vis a vis the economy:

• Tax increases, especially in this time of economic distress, are an absolute horrible idea and will only server to worsen the economy. We need to hit Obama on his tax increases and the impact they will have to SMALL BUSINESS, and the impact to capital of his suggested increases in capital gains tax rates. Whenever McCain talks about Obama and taxes, he needs to reiterate that he will increase taxes on these two groups, and that this will kill any growth in the economy, which we are going to need to fund the huge bailout we are signing on for.
• Corruption in the mortgage industry - McCain needs to make sure Obama is squarely labeled as the Senator from Fannie Mae. We need to see ads nonstop linking the contributions this senator received from Fannie/Freddie and the fact that he has as advisors two of the former executives from these failed GSE's. McCain needs to pitch his failed efforts in 2005 to reform these GSE's and whenever challenged, his stock answer needs to be, "Everyone agrees that the genesis of the problems we face is Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. While I was pushing for reform in the mortgage industry, Senator Obama (D-Fannie Mae) was becoming one of the top recipients of campaign contributions from them. You do the math." Rather than attack the greed on Wall Street, attack the corruption that stands before us, personified by Obama. While we're at it, let's weave in the two people less popular than Bush, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.
  
• Middle Class Tax Cuts - Obama likes to say how his plan will give more to the Middle Class than John McCains. This is an argument where, on paper, Obama is correct, but all McCain has to point out is that "Every election year, Liberal politicians, to foool you, tell you they are going to give the middle class a tax cut. The one's that have been elected, have soon managed to back off that and tell us they've tried, but they just can't do it. I don't believe Obama is going to give you a tax cut, despite whathe says. He has voted over 90 times to increase taxes, and his actions prove what he is - a tax and spend liberal who just wants government to spend more of your money."
• Spending Cuts - Obama showed in debate number 1 that he is not going to be cutting spending. When asked repeatedly to identify any area he'd cut spending, he couldn't. McCain does have a record on holding the line on spending. He tried, somewhat ineffectively, to drive that point home in debate number 1. He needs to refine his message and stick to it. The campaign needs to give him the 3 or 4 biggest programs that Obama is proposing, and have McCain drive those points home ad nauseum.
• Energy - Obama has no desire to drill for more oil here in the US. This area is full of opportunities for McCain, and he needs to exploit them cogently. He needs to hit Obama on his opposition to offshore drilling. Ask him how close he would allow offshore drilling. Ask him if he would allow the states to decide where to drill. Ask him if he would allow revenue sharing between the feds and the states. Ask him if he would support the building of any nuclear plants. How many? Where? When? What would he do to assist the nuclear industry? If he's serious about the climate, this is the number one thing he can do for it. As him if he believes, like his running mate, that coal is ok for China, but not for us? Ask him if he really believes that wind and solar are a realistic part of removing our dependency on foreign oil in 10 years. If he says yes, he's either a liar or an idiot.

McCain - hit this guy hard on the economy. He's a typical liberal politician on it, and nothing else, and the American people deserve to know it. There's no change here, except the packaging.