Tonight's the Night - Democratic Underground

H2O Man

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Sat Aug-16-08 06:42 PM
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Tonight's the Night

Tonight’s match-up between John McCain and Barack Obama will be interesting. The two are going to be discussing issues involving personal values, presidential leadership, and international affairs. The moderator will be Rev. Rick Warren, the author of "The Purpose-Driven Life," and will be held in a church, which has caused some concern among those who advocate an absolute line between church and state.

These concerns are real. In the past eight years in particular, we have witnessed the damage that a sociopath can do by tricking people into believing they are religious. More, in the past 28 years, the political influence of the conservative religious right-wing has created problems for both those with different faiths, as well as those who are not religious. No where is the problems this has caused more evident than in the make-up of the US Supreme Court, which has become all too often a mouthpiece for the intolerant republican right-wing.

Tonight’s presentation, however, is not in and of itself either unconstitutional, or a threat to the separation of church and state according to our federal laws. Politicians who are candidates for the Office of the President have long discussed issues of personal faith. In recent years, the republican party has been able to exploit this to their advantage, with the single outstanding exception being when Jimmy Carter won in 1976. Tonight, we will witness another example of how democrats can use these issues to win elections.

Barack Obama’s presentation is going to be different than Carter’s in ’76, of course. But he is in a position where he can only benefit tonight, while John McCain is in a no-win situation. In order to fully appreciate this, we need to keep in mind the "three groups" that each candidate has to deal with in every election contest. These are: {a} those who always support you; {b} those who always oppose you; and {c} the "undecided," who tend to decide every close election.

In Obama’s case, his Group A is solid. More, his Group B – those who believe he is a Muslim, or who will not consider voting for a person with brown skin – have already made up their little minds. What is important are the members of Group C. For many Americans, there are still questions of who exactly this eloquent young man is: they may have seen one of the campaigns in the primary contest attempt to smear him by using clips of Rev. Wright, or they may have been influenced by some of the misinformation being purposely spread by the corporate media. Tonight, he will be able to reach a significant number of these voters, by talking frankly about issues that they care about.

Poor John McCain is in a different position. His Group A is supposed to include the republican religious right-wing. However, these folks don’t like McCain, and they do not trust him. Thus, McCain’s primary focus tonight has to be connecting with those he is supposed to already have backing him. While McCain is utterly willing to both lie and humiliate himself, the religious right will remember McCain’s record.

Among his Group B will be numerous democratic activists who will also remember McCain’s record, and who will use his attempts to snuggle up to the religious right against him for the rest of the campaign. And Group C will see McCain exposed for what he is – a person who has displayed no solid core beliefs in this campaign, and who cannot afford to speak honestly about any of the issues that are important to them.

Enjoy this presentation tonight. We are entering a new phase of the 2008 campaign, and it will be remembered for marking the point where Barack Obama left John McCain in the dust.