Message in the Mirror

The story goes that Bill Clinton had a designated person on the campaign tour bus in 1992 whose job it was each morning to grease-pencil onto his bathroom mirror the message, “It’s the economy, Stupid!” The objective being to reinforce that his task each and every day was to hammer at the message and not get distracted. It seems time to find a similar functionary for the McCain “Straight Talk Express.”

It should be clear by now that Sen. Obama is a very empty suit. There are few things beyond his undeniable charisma to recommend him for the job. He’s got no experience. His programs are blatant socialism verging on total Marxism. The key to his success is appeal to the naïve and never-ending promises of a glut of benefits raining down upon the unworthy from the stuffed pockets of the productive. His “vision” is to subordinate the United States to a utopian globalism and has little grounding in political reality. If left to his own devices and unsupported by a slick script he tends to mumble-mouth and ramble incoherently attempting to rationalize his ever-shifting positions. He is so vacuous that even the main-stream media occasionally notice. Self-destruction is inevitable and McCain need not bother himself with that. Others will handle the quite easy task of pointing out the gaffes.

McCain needs to package a message. It needs to be simple, sensible, necessary and achievable. It needs to be positive and not personal. It needs to appeal to America’s inherent pride and belief in ourselves. It needs to correct the emotionalism that has driven policy over the last twenty-five years and replace it with reality. But it absolutely must be hammered home each time John McCain opens his mouth.

Surrogates need to do the teaching of America so that the great unwashed masses will be able to comprehend the basics. The team needs to correct the critical assumptions that have been drummed into several generations of America’s youth. They need to be taught the reality of supply-and-demand. They need to be taught that wages are set by the value of labor, not by government. They need to be taught the basic truth that there is no free lunch. Everything has costs. You can’t perform miracles of loaves and fishes. Bread cast upon the waters merely gets soggy. We get what we deserve, not what we desire. Teach them that.

Then Big John needs to make the simple points. There are plenty to choose from and they all can sell. In the process we simply avoid responding to Obama. He has promised to be about a change in politics. He has promised to be about raising the quality of debate. He has promised to stay out of the gutter. But, left to himself, he is the one who consistently plays the game by the old rules and McCain has been the one attempting to stay above the mud. John hasn’t been very successful so far at that tactic. That’s why he must withdraw totally from the tit-for-tat style. Simply ignore Obama. It will frustrate the hell out of him.

Then get a morning mirror message. How about, “It’s the oil, Stupid!” We didn’t go to Iraq because we wanted their oil, but we did make a major effort in the Middle East to stabilize global oil prices. There’s even a good case to be made that we got attacked on 9/11 because of our involvement in oil production with Arab nations for several decades. Democracy and progress in the region is essential to our future. We are invested in a petro-economy. Admit it.

“It’s the oil, Stupid!” Our economy is based on fossil fuels. It can co-exist with other sources and we should be exploiting them as we go forward. But, we need oil for our vehicles and our incredible span of industries that use petroleum sourced materials to produce pharmaceuticals, solvents, chemicals, paints, plastics and more. Oil won’t go away. So, focus on the very clear fact that the US has huge unexploited resources for oil. And we must get on with capturing them or our society will wither and die.

“It’s the oil, Stupid!” Food prices are rising. Transportation costs are rising. Labor costs are rising. And, we are shifting good feed grain out of meat production and the food chain to produce vehicle fuel that costs more and is less efficient. Stop the foolishness of ethanol mandates. Eat first and then worry about where the gasoline comes from.

“It’s the oil, Stupid!” If we’ve got reliable, domestic, independent oil sources then we’ve got jobs and a tax base. We get a robust economy in which people can pay their bills, own their homes, educate their children and build a future. We create new businesses and new jobs with a new generation of middle-class citizens. We have resources to explore, invent, innovate and produce so that issues of crime, poverty, healthcare and the environment get dealt with effectively and without deteriorating our quality of life. All is once again right with the world.

“It’s the oil, Stupid!”