If it seemed strange writing about the election last week and the week before with it so quickly approaching, it’s surely even stranger now with it behind us. My candidate obviously did not win, but let me take the moment to say congratulations to all of my friends and fellow politicos on campus who I know worked hard and desperately wanted this win.
You should take pride in the work you did and in the fact that your candidate won. I wish it had turned out quite differently, but such is our democratic system. If we all wish to live in a free society where we are neither ruled by irrational mobs nor by a singular tyrant, then we are forced to take the good with the bad and concede this election.
While Republicans must concede, it is interesting to look back and see if maybe we could have done something differently to alter the outcome. The old adage, “Those who do not study history are bound to repeat it” is most applicable to politics, and Republicans would do well to follow its advice, especially if they hope to make Congressional inroads in two years and take back the White House in 2012.
If there is one fact in this election it is this: John McCain ran a terrible campaign. It wasn’t until the very last debate with Barack Obama that he finally got a message. It is infuriating to think that if perhaps there had been just three or even two more weeks in the election that John McCain might very well have pulled it off. America really grabbed on to his message about Joe the Plumber (as annoying as it eventually became), opposition to higher taxes and Obama’s socialist views. Despite the economy, Americans remain a people who wish to keep the money they earn and don’t necessarily see government as the answer to their problems.
In the two or so weeks before the election, after he had finally found a message, McCain began to climb in the polls to the point where commentators were talking about a second McCain comeback (the first being his primary campaign). Americans became more and more weary of Obama’s policies (as ambiguous and unknown as they really are) and began to find comfort in John McCain who they know and largely trust. My advice to the next Republican Presidential candidate: have a message!
The second glaring issue with the McCain campaign is something that was completely and totally within John McCain’s control: Sarah Palin. I won’t criticize her nearly as much as many other Republicans will because I realize that while she may have hurt my Party with independents and other groups, she rallied our base and brought in much needed donations. I do not know of a way to quantify this, but it seems likely that Palin may have helped us rally our base as much as she did repel other groups and in doing so can not be called a great running mate nor a terrible one.
The problem with Sarah Palin is though that- and I don’t think there is any other way to state this- she simply said stupid things on the campaign trail. Why in the world wasn’t she able to answer Katie Couric as to what newspapers she reads? Why in the world would you say that foreign leaders flying over your state counts as foreign policy experience?
The list could go on, but the point is that Palin needed to be prepped much, much more than she was for her encounters with the press. She was great in her debate with Joe Biden. The McCain campaign should have ensured she performed that good all the time.
But as fascinating as the past is, the future is infinitely more so. It is interesting to note that starting on election night and continuing almost every day since, Obama and his cohorts have steadily been lowering the bar. “The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term…” said Obama on election night. “There will be setbacks and false starts.” So much for the optimism of just two weeks ago.
Whereas the Obama campaign was run on a slogan of “Yes we can!”, it seems the new slogan is “Well, maybe we can.” The optimism of campaigning has given way to the realism of actually having to be the President. The turn around in message was almost as quick as Obama first promising he would accept public financing for his campaign and then reversing himself and effectively destroying the public financing system in this country.
I won’t comment on what I believe will happen in an Obama presidency as I have essentially written about that since September, but suffice to say that if Obama’s actions in the White House are as muddled and contradictory as his words on the campaign trail, then America is in for four more years of Jimmy Carter. Here’s to change!
