Message over Personality -- Why Obama is a much better matchup against McCain (IMO)

[Armstead]

Here is why I believe Obama would fare better than Hillary against McCain. I'm obviously biased to Obama, but I'm trying to look at this objectively.

We have to see the election on two levels. One is: Which political party/ideology do you believe is best for the country at this point? The other is: Which candidate would be the best leader and manager of the country?

If this election were between us and a larger-than-life, mercurial and bizarrely compelling GOP personality like GW Bush, I might concede that Hillary might be the more appropriate candidate. If it came down to a battle in which voters had to decide which candidate they love/hate more, Hillary's hot and dramatic and outsized personality might be better suited for that kjind of a battle.

However, that is not what the General Election will be. John McCain is perceived as a generally cool and reserved personality (reports of his private temper notwithstanding). His image is basically stolid, understated, consistent and not melodramatic. People respect him for those qualities, although he might not excite them personally. He also has that war hero thing and a certain reservoir of goodwill for his maverick stances like anti-torture and campaign finance reform.

I also believe -- at least in public -- McCain really does want to run an honorable campaign based on ideas. I think he'd old-fashioned in that sense (which is a good thing.)

Hillary, on the otehr hand, is a hot personality. Her main talent is drawing attention to herself, for better and worse. She is mercurial, outsized, fascinating, and melodramatic as a personality. Call it charisma or call it annoying -- that's a matter of taste.

Obama, on the otehr hand, is much more like McCain as a basically consistent and cool personality. Yes, he made his bones by firing up the crowds, and using his own brand of charisma. But overall, he is more of an understated personality -- like McCain, he is basically consistent in public, does not generate or encourage a lot of personal drama, and tends to be analytical rather than emotional in his affect.


Yes, Obama does have a very different image than McCain. He's youngish, kinda hip and oh yeah, he's Black....That ties into the larger narrative of this election, which really will be about change versus more of the same.

Since both Mccain and Obama are most likely to be consistent in their personality and image during the campaign, the focus will be on what each of them actually represents. What vision of America do we want moving forward?

With two candidates who are similar in the evenness of their public temperment, the focus would be less on the distractions of Politics of Personal Destruction. Yes there will be the usual bullshit (Where is your flag pin Sen. Obama?). But the larger focus is likely to be on which half of the political spectrum do people want to vote for?

If the election is more on that level, Democrats and liberals have the advantage -- if we unite and do a good job of selling our principles and plans.

In short, the country is obviously ready for a change in our direction. With Obama vs. McCain, IMO the focus would be more on the messages rather than the messengers.

In a battle between Hillary and McCain, on the otehr hand, it will be much more about which personality can people put up with for four or eight years? I'm not sure we'd do well on that basis.

[Armstead]

1. 2 Rs but no Ks so.....

:kick:

[Armstead]

2. One more try -- It's not flamebait