Presidential Election Strategy for 2008 5/8/2006 1:54:50 PM
To potential Presidential Candidates in the 2008:
This is a common man’s simple political advice.
America is in trouble. Its middle class threatened.
FORGET ‘Blue States’ and ‘Red States’. FORGET religion. FORGET the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots.’
THINK those in power versus those who feel they have none.
THINK of those who are living on the financial edge; over-mortgaged, tuition poor, in hock up to their eyeballs and only one healthcare crisis away from financial ruin. THINK of those who are borrowing just to meet their monthly obligations.
FORGET ‘far left’ and ‘far right’ causes. It is the great discontented middle that will win the election. The extremes of each party will come along. They have no other place to go.
THINK ‘National Security’ and ‘Patriotism.’ Middle America will not back a candidate who is perceived to be whimpy on these issues. Middle America is patriotic. Its sons, daughters, husbands and wives are serving in harm’s way. The Joe Lieberman approach will sell, but it will need a charismatic candidate.
Middle America is looking for a leader , one who can appeal to the electorate on an emotional level. Think of the communicative power of a John F. Kennedy or a Ronald Reagan. Americans want and need to be inspired. They need to be assured.
Speak to the electorate about those things that worry them daily, those things that swirl around in their minds as they desperately try to sleep. Is that ‘terrorism’—or how to pay the mortgage? Is it abortion—or whether one’s family will still have healthcare coverage next year? Is it ‘global warming’—or how to pay this month’s heating bill?
2008 will be a campaign against Washington and all it stands for—an indifferent Congress, fat cat lobbyists, an ineffective bureaucracy, and an arrogant presidency. That’s how Jimmy Carter won in 1976, by playing on the country’s discontent with a failed Viet Nam War, Watergate and Congressional scandals. A similar situation exists today, but America is in greater danger.
• Healthcare is becoming unaffordable. Its excessive costs are forcing American corporations to ship American jobs overseas. Inadequate coverage is forcing many Americans into bankruptcy.
• Energy costs are skyrocketing, squeezing middle class incomes and small business profits.
• Illegal immigrants are placing an enormous burden on our social structure. They are taking American jobs. They are forcing border state hospitals out of business since they must be treated whether or not they can pay. And many of these illegal aliens are overcrowding our already filled-to-capacity jails.
These are the issues that concern the middle class. If they are not solved, the great American middle class will cease to exist. Who will buy the goods? Who will pay the taxes? All of America will suffer if the middle class continues to take it in the ear.
The middle class needs champion. That’s the person who be elected President in 2008.
