Some things Obama must do going forward. (For Obama supporters)

[RBInMaine]

In the face of a corporate media bias onslaught and horrid kitchen sinking from Team-Hillary, and Hillary's huge machine and demographics advantages, I commend my candidate Obama for doing as well he has done over these last 6 weeks in cutting a 20-30 point gap in half. So, what to do now?

1) STOP TALKING LIKE THE HARVARD COLLEGE PROFESSOR AND TALK MORE FROM YOUR WORKING CLASS BACKGROUND GUTS: The very essence of politics is COMMUNICATION, and as much as we all love the soaring speeches and the brilliance, he needs to learn to stop being so "metaphysical" both in speeches and debates. Folks want it clear, concrete, down to earth, and from the heart. Obama came out of the middle/working classes and knows what it means to be on food stamps as a kid while his single mom was working her way through school. He plays basketball and not polo. He went to Main Street as a community organizer for laid off steel workers rather than to Wall Street. Michelle also came right out of the working class. He needs to more clearly reiterate that story (over and over again), and dig deeper into those working class voting blocks both with language and with his progressive, populist positions on the issues, STRESSING CONCRETELY what he will DO for people. (Folks want to know what they will GET with their vote.) (* Obama must define himself as the the working/middle class champion, and PROVE IT through his background story. Folks are still getting to know him.)

2)NEVER, EVER CONCEDE A RACE BEFORE IT IS OVER: He should never have said, "I won't win, but I'll get close." When you do that, you can suppress your own turnout. (Just say, "I won't predict but I have worked hard and believe I have a chance.") If some of his supporters thought he would lose anyway, they'd stay home. May have happened in PA as some of his base, mainly young voters, did not turn out as well as expected.

3) NO MORE GAFFES: You all know what I mean.

4) GET THE HELL ON OFFENSE: Yes, keep the "hopeful" and "new" campaign going, but Obama MUST get on offense in both defining himself as the real champion of the middle class and Hillary as the old politics of the status quo. (I know he has been doing some of this, but he must do more.) Her BIGGEST vulnerability is perceived dishonesty, and he needs to SLAM the Clintons on their MANY stretches of the truth and especially as new ones arrive.


He has a good chance to beat her in both Indiana and North Carolina. The campaign MUST be brilliant from here on, and he has to make some changes once again. Not bad in the very tough state of PA with soooooo many Hillary advantages going in, but he has got to re-adjust and change things up again to alter the current dynamics, take some wind out of any Hillary PA "bounce," and beat her going foward.

Any further thoughts?

[anonymous171]

1. YES! He needs to go negative on her ass.

She's been given a pass for far too long.

[Name removed]

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[Qutzupalotl]

3. More big rallies.

They drive excitement.

Get enough sleep and don't run 24/7. They're both sounding exhausted.

Challenge her to a debate. No moderators, just like Lincoln and Douglas. When he's on his game, he can beat her soundly.

"Meet me in Indiana!"

[anonymous171]

7. The media has been ignoring them lately.

Still trying to create the "horse race" illusion.

[Qutzupalotl]

11. But local media often highlights it.

Our Eugene rally, for instance, got a big front-page photo and two long articles about the crowd, the excitement, the voters, and the candidate. Things like that do sway a lot of undecideds.

[rocktivity]

4. Some things Hillary must do (to get the superdelegates to take her seriously in August)

1. Win at least 65% of the vote in Gaum.


2. Win at least 65% of the vote in Indiana.


3. Win at least 65% of the vote in North Carolina.


4. Win at least 65% of the vote in West Virginia.


5. Win at least 65% of the vote in Kentucky.


6. Win at least 65% of the vote in Oregon.


7. Win at least 65% of the vote in Puerto Rico.


8. Win at least 65% of the vote in Montana.


9. Win at least 65% of the vote in South Dakota.

You're welcome.

:headbang:
rocknation

[oviedodem]

5. Hope & Pray; too many MSM forces going against him and now that

Hillary has aligned herself so fully with the Right it is an uphill climb for him.

[rug]

6. What working class background?

Both parents were PhDs, his stepfather managed an oil company in Indonesia, and his grandmother was a bank vice president in Hawaii. He may be many things, he may have had many obstacles, but he's not working class.

[RBInMaine]

10. He was on welfare, he lived in smalltown KS, his grandfather was in

Patton's Army, his grandmother worked as a "Rosey the Rivetter", and he worked on the south side of Chicago helping laid off steel workers when he could have gone to Wall Street after Columbia. The guy knows the middle and working classes. (Certainly the middle class, the working class more vicariously, sure.) But he KNOWS it. He has seen it up close and personal. He has lived with a single mom struggling to finish school and better herself. He was NOT a product of great privilege. He went to school on scholarship and with student loans. No silver spoons for this guy. He needs to re-iterate that story over and over and over again.

[Beregond2]

8. I find it very strange

that when anyone speaks in full sentences and uses an adult vocabulary, they are said to be "speaking like a Harvard professor." But then, I am 53, and remember when it was expected that a public figure would know how to communicate effectively, and there was no perceived advantage in seeming ignorant. All that changed with Reagan, a man who couldn't put together a coherent sentence, yet was hailed as a "great communicator." I guess the Repugs realized at that time that the level of literacy in America had fallen dramatically, and anyone who spoke intelligently would rub the masses the wrong way.

Obama isn't really using a "hifalutin'" style; he just speaks the way any reasonably intelligent person would. I see no reason for him to dumb himself down, in an effort to appeal to the lowest common denominator. He has gotten very far indeed by speaking well. If you are only saying that he needs to address the needs of average people more directly, I agree completely. But talking down to them would only come across as condescending. People appreciate the compliment of being spoken to like adults. The appeal of the "guy you'd like to have a beer with" has grown very thin after the past seven years of Chimpy the Usurper.

[RBInMaine]

9. I am not saying, "dumb down." I am saying, CLARIFY.

I have worked in politics awhile now as a local party official. I will say that part of the poltical genius of a Bill Clinton type is the ability to communicate effectively with different voting blocs. He was a Rhodes Scholar who knew how to talk to folks in differing demographics, especially rural folks. No, don't dumb down, but also don't get too "metaphysical." Speak plainer, more clearly, more concretely. You see Obama going too metaphysical in the debates and sometimes on the stump. He does need to cut into Hillary's working class base. You do it with tough, clear, concise language "making it simple" and explaining succinctly what they will get for their vote.
Obama comes off too lofty, and he uses six words where should use one. He rambles and loses his audience. It's not intentional. He's just wired up like a constitutional law prof. that's all. Kerry had the same problem. If you want to impress people, SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE ! Get into THEIR reality.