The Obama Memo and McCain’s Character Problem « The Washington Independent
Jul 31, 202049.9K Shares1.5M Views
Of all the strange little rituals of modern campaigns, the “interested parties memo” must be one of the weirdest. Typically presented as a strategic memo from the campaign manager or top strategist, these dispatches are usually a press release by another name. On Friday Obama campaign manager ****dropped one, rebuffing politicos and reporters obsessed with the Palin/St. Paul Bounce, and arguing instead that this is the first day of the rest of our lives:
He also slams McCain via rhetorical questions:
These policy attacks will still fall short for many armchair Obama strategists, because they don’t cut to core character issues. While the Obama campaign is finally referring to McCain’s lies as lies — a breakthrough! — the lingering questions are whyis McCain lying and what does it sayabout his character? The answers lead far from the happy talk of post-partisanship and 9/11 unity forums. McCain is lying because, like President George W. Bush, he does not respect the democratic process of open debate or the American people’s ability to see through the deceit. He thinks he can get away with it for 54 more days. As Obama has said, McCain must think Americans are “stupid.” If you accept that premise, then McCain is an elitist with contempt for the people and American democracy itself. That reflects the wrong character for assuming the presidency, a basic conclusion worth stating directly for all the “interested parties” out there.
Paula M. Graham
Reviewer
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