How Do Democrats Defeat McCain?

08 Feb, 2008 by Brian

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The Politico has a post up about how the Democrats are moving swifty to take down McCain in the general election:

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is already moving to redefine the presumed Republican nominee. In a fundraising appeal sent out Wednesday, Dean called McCain “a media darling” and warned that “from Iraq to health care, Social Security to special interest tax cuts to ethics, he’s promising nothing more than a third Bush term.”

The tough part for Democrats will be making any criticism stick. Republican rival Mitt Romney tried to no avail. The sharp, eleventh-hour assault launched by conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh and a cadre of high-profile conservatives also failed to derail his candidacy.

Doug Schoen, a former adviser to President Clinton, says the Democrats must act quickly. “The trick is to get him on the flip-flops and not let him get back to the center where he can be a real force,” he said.

The appeal of a flip-flop assault is that it could undermine McCain’s reputation for taking tough stands and sticking with them no matter how the political wind blows.

Carter Eskew, a former adviser to Vice President Al Gore, puts it this way: “Go right after his strengths. Take the Straight Talk Express and push it off the rails.”

If the Democrats want to derail McCain, they can do it with one issue: illegal immigration. If they want to destroy him, all they have to do is remind voters — over and over again — that he was, at one time, pushing for a version of amnesty before he ‘saw the light’ and started to support a secured border. Keeping this issue on the front burner will have people wondering if he’s telling the truth or if he’s just telling people what they want to hear. They do this, then the Democrats will own the White House once more.

Brian runs the blog “Liberty Pundit“. Drop in and say “hi”.