Can Obama Make the Sale?

by Ron Giusti, Political Writer

A sinking economy (which two-thirds of voters say is the main issue), an unpopular war, a sagging stock market, sky rocketing prices for energy, gas, health care and food. And all of this presided over by a deeply unpopular Republican President.

These things threaten to make 2008 a classic “change election” where the party in power is swept out in a landslide. So why does John McCain bother? What’s the point?

Senator McCain realizes that despite all of the above, in order to be elected Obama still has to pass the comfort test with voters. Before they will vote for the Senator from Illinois, independents and undecided voters need to be reassured that it is safe to do so. People know who John McCain is and by and large they trust him as an old school patriot. The 2008 election will be about Barack Obama.

In 1980 incumbent President Jimmy Carter was seeking re-election against Republican challenger Ronald Reagan. With the country facing a combination of high inflation, high unemployment, higher interest rates and humiliation overseas in the form of the Iranian hostage crisis, most voters wanted a change.

However, up until the final days of the campaign, Carter had been successful in portraying Reagan as a risky, trigger-happy, right winger, who if elected could conceivably plunge us into war with the Russians. Polls showed that this perception of Reagan was keeping the race close.

Then, shortly before Election Day, Carter, against the advice of his handlers, made the fatal mistake of agreeing to a debate with Reagan. During that debate, using the skills he’d picked up in Hollywood, Reagan came off as a charming, witty, likable yet firm leader. Within hours of this performance Reagan’s poll numbers started moving upward as millions of people came to the conclusion that it was safe to vote for the change they so desired. Reagan just didn’t seem all that scary anymore. During the weekend before the election, tracking polls showed Reagan pulling away from Carter and he went on win big. Reagan had pulled it off at the last minute by passing the commander in chief test.

This is the same test that Obama must now pass. Currently, it easy for most voters to picture crusty, tough, heroic, old John McCain as President. It’s an image that just works. Obama, on the other hand is young, new, inexperienced and comes out of a racial and cultural mix that many voters are uneasy about.

And this is why the rumors circulating on the Internet about Obama are so dangerous to his effort. Obama has yet to be fully defined in the minds of most voters. Is he a Moslem? No. Did he take his senate oath of office on the Quran? No. Was he educated at a madrassa? No. Is he connected to any of “the usual suspects” in the hate America crowd? No. Does his wife detest white people? No.

While this sludge floating around the Internet is false, it might still all combine in way that makes Obama seem too exotic, too different and just too black for most voters to handle. Obama doesn’t need to sell voters on the need for change; most already know they want that. Obama’s job is to sell himself and thereby get voters comfortable with the idea of him in the White House.

To accomplish this Obama must do the following:

1. Talk about his background; tell his story of being raised by a single middle-class mother and grandparents that had to struggle to make ends meet. Talk about his strong belief in the basic American values which when applied by him lead to a successful life. He must do this quickly before the other side fills in the blanks for him. Democratic candidates Michael Dukakis and John Kerry allowed their opponents to quickly define them as out of touch snobby elitists. The label stuck and they both lost. While more likable and engaging than either of those two, Obama still has to tell his story before his enemies are able to define him in the usual way.

2. Connect with everyday working people. Talk about the economy in more depth and with more specificity then he has been doing. With the price of gas and food going up daily, Obama has to come up with answers for those voters being forced to the margins. If Obama can establish a real connection with blue collar and middle class voters, it will be much harder for the Republicans to use their classic attack strategy, which will be to portray Obama as an out of touch “faculty lounge liberal.”

3. Use his great gift of eloquence to project an image of youthful, vigorous leadership. JFK did this when he ran in 1960, turning what had originally been perceived as his negatives of youth and inexperience into the positive image of someone offering bold new leadership. Obama should speak about national defense and security issues frequently and forcefully. With the poor economy, McCain will try to win the election on the issue of “who can keep you safe?” Obama must convince voters that he can handle that now-famous 3 am phone call. Obama lacks McCain’s reputation for toughness on security issues, so he must use his eloquence to project strength. FDR and Ronald Reagan were masters of this art, using the very tone of their delivery to project a sense of command. Obama should try to do the same. While it has been said that all Obama has is a speech, most Americans desire to be both lead and inspired by their Presidents.

4. Make a direct appeal to voters’ better nature. The slimy stuff directed at Obama, the questions about his wife’s patriotism, about what religion he really is, about whether he salutes the flag or wears a flag lapel pin, is designed to reinforce the idea that deep down Obama is not really one of “us.” And at their worst these slurs are coded, subliminal reminders that Obama is a black guy and as such is too different or strange to be elected President. As columnist Leonard Pitts has written about Obama, “He is required to walk an unprecedented political tight rope, to be one part John F. Kennedy, one part Jackie Robinson. More he is required to prove his American-ness like no other candidate before him.” Obama got it right the other day when he said:

“I have found, for the first time in my life, my patriotism challenged - at - times as a result of my own carelessness, more often as a result of the desire by some to score political points and raise fears about who I am and what I stand for...I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign. And I will not stand idly by when I hear others question mine.”

Obama should do more of this short of thing and tackle the racist stuff head on. As self evident as these things may seem to some, he should ask that voters judge him fairly and remind people that his racial background doesn’t make him different from most of them in any meaningful way. Done forcefully such a plea for basic tolerance would be both compelling and poignant. It would give Obama the moral high ground, while blunting the effectiveness of the rumors the slime merchants are trying to slip into the debate.

Obama’s challenge will be to get voters comfortable with the idea of him sitting behind the desk in the oval office. If he succeeds in doing so he will be elected President in November. His gifts of grace and eloquence give him the tools needed for this task. However, he must use his gifts wisely.