I was inspired to start this page after watching too much TV and reading too many blogs and articles on the internet recently. There's just too much irrelevant stuff that gets thrown about - frankly stuff that in any other modern democracy would be totally ridiculous to bring it into the public. Americans are a funny bunch of people - looking at the election process would at first give an outsider the impression that somehow Americans are perfectionists at heart and they want to leave nothing to chance - the reason they are attacking every candidate on every front is simply to make sure they get the best possible, near-perfect candidate as their president. And what do they do once someone gets elected? Well, the American president (and their vice president) can get away with pretty much anything, and even get re-elected! But that's a different matter. But someone needs to remind the public and the TV pundits that this campaign (or any campaign) is not about finding that perfect candidate - but to choose from among the best. Looking at all the attacks on Barak Obama (which have just started), it appears that the whole thrust of these attacks is to bring him down from their imagined pedestal that he has been placed on - bring him down to a level where he would look, well, just ordinary.
Advice#1:
So, here's my first installment of advice for the Obama campaign - call the attackers' bluff, and tell them, ok, you want to show he's ordinary? Well, that's fine by us - all we are saying is that he happens to be better than the other candidates. We never said he was perfect. So let's move on to the issues.
Next up, never make the mistake of imagining that your campaign is somehow adequate and that the ideas of your candidate are enough to attract sufficient number of voters to win. Most importantly, never dismiss the ideas (some of them are so great, they are just what America needs right now) of candidates from the other party - especially that of Ron Paul. This is a momentous period in the history of America. So many mistakes have been made, and most people do not even realize that they were mistakes. So, here's my next piece of advice:
Advice#2:
Pay close attention to Ron Paul's message - listen to him with the respect that is due to him - and see how you can fine tune your campaign to also reach out to Ron Paul's supporters. Ron Paul's supporters, in my opinion are a really intelligent bunch who are mad as hell as well!
Watch this space for more advice as and when I get inspired.
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How to handle the Sarah Palin 'phenomenon'?
First of all, you've got to admit that Sarah Palin is, in fact, a phenomenon, in so far as she has garnered so much attention and, yes, intrigue, which none of the Republican candidates were able to achieve. True, Barack Obama was considered a phenomenon at one stage. True, it's unfair to compare Palin to Obama - but that's exactly what seems to be happening, by choice or otherwise. It seems that a lot of Obama supporters have fallen for this trap as well - which would suit the Republicans just as well. So here's a bit of an unsolicited advice from a complete outsider:
Ignore Sarah Palin if you can, and try to shift the attention to John McCain and his policies. Trying to paint Palin as some kind of right-wing evil waiting to manifest on the national stage may backfire. She is right wing, and some of her policies and preferences do look scary - but I think voters can get that information anyhow, without the Obama campaign, and especially Barack Obama himself, appearing to be going after her as a person. If she weren't in this race, and if you just happen to run into her randomly, I think she could be a likeable broad :)
If you cannot ignore Sarah Palin, make the point that Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton by any stretch of the imagination. Their policies and the apparent world views are so far apart that any Hillary supporters who might be intrigued by Palin's choice would need to be reminded emphatically that Sarah Palin is not Hillary Clinton and never will be.
Keeping it short and simple for now...check back here again.
Amidst all the cacophony on the financial 'crisis', John McCain keeps talking about Obama's 'tax and spend' approach and how that would be bad for the economy, yada yada...Obama and his campaign should make this point:
There is going to be government spending involved. The question is, do you want to spend it on infrastructure, healthcare, education, etc., or on a bloody war which nobody wanted thrust on us. Where was John McCain when the Iraq invasion was planned? Did he think it was going to come free or cheap? So let's cut the cr@p on spending - let's talk about what we are going to spend on, and where to find this money. Oh, and there's this little thing called the 'national debt'. How do you think you can pay it back if you are not going to tax? That is, assuming that you have the intention to pay it back someday or the other.
The debate on 'spending' has to be laid to rest, once and for all!