My Friends,
There I was watching the 3rd and final Obama / McCain debate and it dawned on me - John McCain is recycling different aspects of previous Republican campaign strategies.
(Cross-posted in The National Gadfly)
John McCain is using the Bush / Rove smear & spin tactics. He claims outrage over Rep. Lewis' statements while ignoring "Kill Him!" comments as the topic of the conversation. Then, he goes on that endless diatribe about veterans at rallies, instead of talking about how he has personally addressed his crowds and told them that such behavior is specifically unacceptable.
He can't shut up about taxes. I was absolutely expecting him to look at the camera in the last debate and state "Read my lips. No New Taxes." (We all know how accurate that one was, but hey...it was a winner when he said it.)
McCain is going for Reagan style "zingers" in the debates instead of speaking at length about his policies in order to defend them. He flat out claims to be an original Reagan revolutionary.
The use of Nixon-era stereotypes of "un-American". One theme of Nixon's campaign was "a vote for Nixon is a vote against the Communist-dominated PAC."
So, with only 19 days left, I thought maybe John McCain could run out the clock, recycling political strategies from previous Republican Presidents. A trip down memory lane. A "greatest hits" compilation of memorable moments. The Golden Oldies.
Here is a list of the previous Republican Presidents that I have not already mentioned and a tip from their playbook that John McCain can use in his own campaign:
Gerald Ford - McCain can promise to pardon George W Bush and Dick Cheney, right now. It will energize the GOP base and spare the rest of us any ambiguity about where this is going.
Dwight Eisenhower - Announce the formation of a combined military force to invade France. Refuse to name the location, but have campaign staffers begin to gather in Northern England with inflatable tanks as a diversionary tactic. Do not act upon any messages received from Germany that are encoded by the Enigma machine.
Herbert Hoover - Call for the McCain Moratorium, a one-year halt to reparations payments from Germany and France to help ease the EU banking crisis. No one really remembers that the payments were to cover the cost of World War I or that we no longer collect them. If that does not work, fall back on calling for a Mexican Repatriation program.
Calvin Coolidge - Some good foreign policy here! First, refuse to recognize The Soviet Union. A lot of people still think of Russia as the USSR. Second, announce enthusiastic support for the Government of Mexico against the rebels and promise to lift the arms embargo on that country.
Warren Harding - Immediately rename the campaign "Return to Normalcy". Upon election, promise to repeal the 19th Amendment, saying that it will weaken Liberals and pave the way to overturning Roe v. Wade.
Theodore Roosevelt - Promise to create 1 million new jobs by reclaiming the Panama Canal Zone. For sentimental reasons, call for version 2.0 of The Great White Fleet.
William McKinley - Call for stricter enforcement of The Chinese Exclusion Act. This is a win/win for China and the USA. Millions of skilled tech sector workers will be able to keep their current jobs as they are shipped overseas.
Benjamin Harrison - McCain could try some election manipulation, but I think the winner here is to kick up a firestorm with Canada over fishing rights in the Bering Strait. Send Palin off on a whistle stop tour raising ire over loss of jobs to Canadian trawlers in Alaskan waters.
Chester Arthur - Call for a new International Meridien Conference, requesting to move the Prime Meridien from Greenwich, England to Toledo, OH. Suggest naming the new Prime Meridien after Joe the Plumber, calling it Joe the Plumb Line.
James Garfield - This is tough because he was assassinated after six months. Garfield did manage a visit to the Columbia Institute for the Deaf. This might be the perfect venue for McCain to explain his health care and financial programs in great detail.
Rutherford Hayes - McCain can offer up a compromise to Obama and the Democrats, promising to remove GOP political appointees propping up state governments in South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana in return for the White House.
Ulysses Grant - McCain should be careful not to ally himself too closely with Grant's anti-semitic views, but maybe just talk up the Treaty of Washington a lot and what great pals the British are.
Andrew Johnson - Offer to pardon any remaining Confederate soldiers or officers.
Abraham Lincoln - Promise to free the slaves. It will lock in the Black vote. Trust me, they will eat this up!