Arlen Specter has been a Republican for over 40 years. His sudden conversion to the faith of the Democratic party, while welcome for those who think it will mean that key measures of President Obama's administration will be turned into law, nevertheless leaves us wondering. It is clear that Specter waltzed across the aisle because he didn't have the votes to beat a Republican challenger in the upcoming Pennsylvania primary. With Pennsylvania surging toward shades of blue in the last few elections, Specter saw the handwriting on the wall. Make no mistake: the senator openly admitted that his change of political heart, while spurred by the vote of his GOP colleagues against the president's stimulus package, was a vote to undergird his political future. Anyone who thinks that the man from Pennsylvania will abandon many of his right-leaning positions because he now sits with the Democrats may need to think again.
Here's what Barack Obama must do if he truly wants to win the election: 1. Convey more passion, even a sense of anger at the condition the Republican Party has left the country in. Model that outrage for the American people till they feel it in their bones. Mr. Obama, clearly one of our nation's most effective orators, must connect with people emotionally as well as intellectually. Use well-honed logical arguments, but demonstrate more clearly the urgency of ending Republican leadership by consistently using a more dramatic tone of voice. Explain what is at stake and why the country must not risk making the same mistake it did when it thought it was buying security by electing George Bush. Use power phrases such as: "How many banks must fail, how many of our homes must be foreclosed, how many jobs must be lost, how many people must go bankrupt trying to pay for health care, how many Americans must come home in body bags before we stand up as a nation and say enough!" ...
Comments