Susan Estrich on Obama and Dukakis

In her column this week Susan Estrich asks the question, Could Obama be Another Dukakis? My answer is, I hope so. She says:

There is no question that the Republicans will try to do to Obama what they did to Dukakis: paint him as a liberal, out of touch with the values of average (white) Americans, so far left that he has left America.

I don't think it will take much paint to get the job done. If the Republicans can't convince the voters that Obama is a liberal they need to just throw in the towel. I wouldn't suggest the "white" qualifier as Estrich did, but would say that he is out of touch with all Americans who still believe in themselves more than government. Remember, about ten percent of blacks aren't voting for Obama; don't casually toss them in with the 90 percent who are. >

Wright, of course, rewarded Obama for his loyalty by going on a narcissistic tirade the likes of which left Obama no choice but to do a month later what he should have done in the first instance. Lesson learned. Fool me once, shame on you. Barack Obama made clear by his turnaround on Wright that he would not be fooled twice. That is critical.

Excuse me Susan, but we need a President who gets it right the first time. We don't want one who needs 20 years and two reminders to figure out that Wright is a hate-promoting, self-indulgent entertainer. There's also the fact that his "turnaround" isn't that convincing; it is more likely that he publicly denounced Wright purely for political purposes.

Political hacks like Estrich seem to think that their job is to convince voters that their candidate is someone else. They seem to never believe that a candidate can get elected if he shows his true colors. What side of the candidate do we want to show? In what states should she come across as more conservative? What should he wear today to make the people think he is one of them?

Wouldn't it be refreshing if Obama would just proclaim that politically he sits very close to Karl Marx? If Clinton would admit that the only thing that drives her is her hunger for power? If John McCain would admit that he is a Republican in name only?

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