Progressives Must Guard Against Helping to Promote Republican Narrative

[AZBlue]

Progressives Must Guard Against Helping to Promote Republican Narrative That Alleges Obama "Flip Flops"
by Robert Creamer
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-creamer/progressives-must-guard-a_b_111098.html

The Republican spin machine is locked and loaded to promote the notion that Barack Obama is a "flip flopper." Four years ago it was their principal line of attack against Kerry and it worked like a charm.

Progressives have to remember that the Republicans don't care about the nuances of these issues. Their goal is simple: make Obama look like he is changing his position.

All Progressives don't agree with every position Barack Obama has taken, but the fact is that very few of his positions have changed since the campaign began.

Progressives who disagree with Barack Obama but at the same time don't want to help Republicans usher in a third Bush term need to remember three things:

1). Go right ahead and disagree with an Obama position or statement -- but disagree on the substance. Don't impute some venal motive. Remember that even when you disagree with him on an issue or policy, Obama shares our progressive values.

2). Don't reinforce the Republican narrative that Obama is a "flip flopper." Disagreeing with an Obama position is very different from arguing that he agreed with you once, but now has changed positions just to win favor with the voters. First, that is generally wrong. Second, if Obama emphasizes one aspect of a position instead of another in order to attract a particular group of voters, that does not mean he "changed" his position. Third, remember that the Republicans are desperate to get Progressives to confirm their narrative and convince guys like my New Jersey taxi driver to elect John McCain.

3). Remember that there is a huge gulf between the values of Obama and McCain. Obama stands clearly in the progressive tradition of giving every human being equal opportunity to fulfill their potential. McCain stands squarely on the side of ultra-conservative values that protect the power and prerogatives of the wealthiest among us.

Obama stands firmly against the neocon foreign policies of preemptive war and unilateral action that lay at the root of the worst American foreign policy disaster in a generation. McCain stands just as firmly for the neocon vision and the Bush approach to the rest of the world.

Obama believes that economic growth happens from the bottom up and doesn't trickle down on the rest of us. He supports the rights of workers to organize to defend their standard of living, and a world where we're all in this together, not all in this alone. McCain intends to continue Bush's economic policies that have assured that all of the economic growth in the last seven years has gone to the wealthiest 1% of Americans.

Obama understands that our world faces the greatest environmental crisis in history as we seek to prevent human beings from altering our climate. First and foremost, John McCain's loyalties lie with the oil industry.

We need to remember that John McCain's campaign is managed by lobbyists from the biggest special interests in America, while Barack Obama understands the need to mobilize tens of millions of Americans to change Washington from the ground up.

Progressives should go right ahead and question Obama's positions on issues -- and they should continue to hold him accountable when he is elected president. But remember that the Republicans are desperate to convince independent voters that Obama is "just another politician" whose values flow from the latest poll instead of his own commitment to principle. Don't help them. If you do you will be wrong, and you will also help the Republicans fulfill their unthinkable fantasy of a third Bush term.

[ClassWarrior]

1. Amen. Words matter. Choose them wisely.

NGU.

[seasat]

2. That is one area that Democrats don't perform as well as Repubs

We have trouble creating media narratives against our opponents. Obama's campaign has done a better job than previous campaigns. They've had some success in tying McCain to Bush but still aren't quite in the same league as the Repub machine. Creating a media narrative is McCain's only strength. His whole career is based on it.

We need to start associating negative words with McCain. We need to avoid reinforcing their meme against Obama and start building ours. We need to continue to tie McCain to Bush and introduce another new narrative. I've suggested that we start associating McCain with the word "unstable" or maybe "unbalanced". I'd imply that, due to his temper, he's due for a meltdown. The media loves a narrative and if McCain blows his cool, they'll pounce on it. It'll be a ratings winner for them just like the narrative of a "tight race" that they're pushing now.