Sharpening the McSame message
The Democrats are digging deep into the argument that electing John McCain will be another four years of George W. Bush. The DNC pairs images of Senator McCain with President Bush at every turn, and Senator Obama warned last night against giving "John McCain the chance to serve out George Bush’s third term."
The truth of the argument is obviously up for debate, but that doesn't make it any less rhetorically useful. Karl Rove on Fox last night, undeclaredly working with McCain's campaign, rebutted the idea in saying that he and Bush were very different men with very different ideas. If Rove is talking about it, it must be sticking, and the GOP must perceive it as dangerous. And that's a sign that Democrats should turn up the heat.
They can do that by comparing the possibility of a Bush-McCain hand-off to what we're seeing today in Russia with Vladimir Putin.
Today. Dmitri Medvedev was officially swarn in as Russia's president. No one really believes he has any salience - Vladimir Putin is sticking around as Prime Minister/Puppet Master. No one in the west sees this as a good development - the whole idea of ending the Cold War was ending the control of Russia by a tight circle of Communist Party, or ex-Communist Party loyalists. In Russia today, Medvedev's first act as president was to nominate Putin to serve as his prime minister, showing that keeping Putin in place was the real purpose of this whole exercise. It's a dangerous development that serves to undermine Russia's commitment to democracy.
Senator McCain himself sees this as a bad thing. He calls Russia a rising "strategic competitor" on his website, says that Putin blends, "cynicism and Napoleonic delusion," and has dismissed Medvedev as a "puppet" (a great way to introduce yourself to a major power with nuclear weapons).
Democrats should start saying "Candidate, heal thyself." By demonstrating not only the continuity between Bush and McCain's policies but the ties between the campaigns, staffs, and likely senior officials in a McCain administration, the Democrats can paint McCain as a puppet to a Republican establishment. Arguing that there will be continuity, with four years of McCain like four more years of Putin, the Democrats will add a sharp barb to a powerful tool in their quivers.
Sure, it may not be entirely accurate, but again, it's difficult to argue against. The more McCain and his surrogates are forced to distinguish the senator from the sitting president, the more Americans will factor the actual connections and continuities in their decision-making on their votes. The message of change will be much more powerful when Republicans are forced to explain why there will be a difference between what we've had and where they will take us.
Greetings, President McPutin!
