If I Were David Axelrod

What would you tell Barack Obama if you were his Chief Strategist? I think the current level of campaign debate is sickening, and couldn't be further from the real issues--the economy, foreign policy, Iraq, and John McCain. If I were David Axelrod, I would propose a completely new approach from now until the general election.

The first thing I would tell Obama is to stop getting into the weeds with Hillary and completely focus on McCain. I would tell him to make a big speech to the American People explaining the pettiness of our politics right now, and that I am going to focus on the real issues and how to beat John McCain. I would tell the people that I am not guaranteeing that I will be the Democratic nominee, but somebody needs to focus on McCain because he is getting away with way too much right now. I would still focus on the remaining primaries and play to win, but not by debating Clinton because that's old news. I would point out that if this fails and Hillary somehow becomes the nominee, it will be better for the party that somebody has been wearing McCain down.

I would also make it known that I am not taking media-manufactured issue questions any longer, and I will point out each and every time it happens. I would respectfully tell the people that if you are basing your decision of who to elect on weather or not I wear a flag pin, or if my former pastor loves our country as much as I do, you are not going to vote for me anyway. I would explain that the last two elections the people were distracted by the media-manufactured questions, and look where it got us--a recession, a war with no end in site, a doubled national debt, a huge loss of respect as a nation in the world's view, and more scandals and claims of "executive privilege" than any other administration in history. If that's what the people want, I cannot do anything but try to keep on message and convince them otherwise. John McCain has been hand-in-hand with President Bush the past eight years, and has been wrong on every major issue throughout that period. Why should we believe him now that he is running for president and fully embraces Bush's policies?

McCain cannot go on traveling the world as he pleases without having to worry about debating at least one of the Democratic candidates. The truth is the McCain campaign is training all its guns on Obama anyway, assuming he will be the party's nominee. While McCain goes around making statements about how Hamas wants Obama in the White House, I would ask the real questions that those statements bring up--why are you listening to what Hamas says? Do you listen to advice from Osama bin Laden also? When you say you would be Hamas' worst nightmare, are you suggesting you would send troops to fight them? Or do you just plan on bombing them like Iran? Do you agree with President Bush that Iran is now the US' biggest threat to national security? Do you think Iran is going to invade the US? If we didn't have troops in Iraq where Iran can attack them, how exactly does Iran threaten our national security? Are you also planning on sending troops into Iran unilaterally? Do you really believe our military can handle yet another front or two against Hamas and Iran? Where in the Middle East do you not plan on using military force? I have made my positions perfectly clear--what are your plans for the Middle East and foreign policy?

I think ultimately the superdelegates that are going to end up deciding this thing anyway want to see just how Obama stacks up against McCain. We have seen hints of this sprinkled throughout the campaign thus far, but a complete shift should be made to where beating John McCain is priority number one. I would be forceful and demanding of McCain's comments and plans on policy issues. I believe Obama can get as negative as he wants on McCain's failed policy plans so long as he states facts and remains respectful. I see absolutely no issues with completely contrasting the policy differences and pointing out exactly why his policies are failures for our country's future. There is a very distinct difference between going negative on real issues that We the People need to know vs. negative misrepresentations and personal attacks. Obama was able to attack Clinton's approach to government in a negative tone and get away with it because, simply, he's right and truthful about it. He can do the same thing against McCain and ultimately the people will back him for it.

But that's only if I were David Axelrod.