GET POLITICAL with VIC LIVINGSTON (Opinion) - McCain Strikes Offshore Gold as Obama's Campaign Loses Air Pressure

•  Barack was right about checking the tires.  So why is he springing a leak?

•  Because he'd rather compromise than stand up and fight.  

As the presidential race enters the critical stretch leading up to the national conventions, Barack Obama is exhibiting the same signs of fatigue that caused him to limp to the finish line in the primary race against Hillary Clinton.  Yes, he won, but just barely, having lost thirteen of the previous eighteen primary contests.

And now the dog days of August have Barack dogging it once again, letting John MCain call the tune on both messaging and strategy.   Sensing great public outrage over astronomical gasoline prices, McCain did a flip-flop and suddenly became an advocate of offshore drilling -- a repositioning that represented a 180-degree turn.   But McCain largely drew a pass on the policy reversal, perhaps because a renewed emphasis on oil exploration close to home seems to make sense to many frustrated gasoline buyers.

So while Obama continued to talk about the need for long-term solutions, McCain's emphasis on the here-and-now won him points in the newly-minted "who won the day" sweepstakes.  McCain also benefitted from the iron-gloved approach of the Bush operatives who are now running his campaign.   The much-analyzed "Celebutante" ad featuring the images of Brittney Spears and Paris Hilton superimposed over Obama's "uber" Berlin speech drove home the "empty suit" narrative, cloaked in a certain subliminal racism (white bimbos superimposed over a young black man orating beneath giant, phallic-like towers -- what do you think the intended message was?)

Obama's own energy-oriented campaign ads hit the right notes: end speculative trading in crude oil, increase conservation efforts and such -- but little was offered in the way of immediate relief.  When Obama touted the maintaining of proper tire pressure as an alternative to offshore drilling, the McCain forces pounced, ridiculing the proposal as a naive "drop in the bucket" approach. Virtually overnight, his aides were distributing tire air pressure gauges to the media, emblazoned with the words, "OBAMA ENERGY PLAN."

Wicked, factually incorrect -- and politically brilliant, in the grand traditions of Donald Segretti and Karl Rove.

So what was Obama's reponse?  He could have struck back hard by exposing McCain's sophistry.  Urging Americans to maintain correct tire pressure, along with regular engine tune-ups, could save a significant amount of oil -- according to some estimates, an amount nearly comparable to what offshore drilling might bring to market. (Unfortunately, Obama had ad-libbed that the tire-pressure gambit could save "as much" oil as new offshore drilling would generate, a misstatement that made his original contention harder to defend.)

But instead of calling a press conference to humorously deride MCain on the tire-pressure canard, Obama stuck to his original schedule and failed to respond in kind.   Instead, he repeated a strategic mistake -- he signaled that he, too, would approve of some "limited" offshore drilling, "if that's what it takes" to achieve passage of a comprehensive energy bill.

But that wasn't all.  Obama also flip-flopped on the issue of tapping into the nation's Strategic Oil Reserves as a way to lower short-term pump prices.  Obama had been against it, saying that such a strategy represented a "gimmick," not a long-term solution.  But now, in the wake of McCain's apparent gains on the gas price issue, Obama suddenly says it wasn't such a bad idea after all.

LATE BULLETIN:  Barack finally gets angry!

Just after filing this dispatch, we learned that Obama today (Aug. 5) did punch back on "tire pressure-gate," scolding McCain's camp for acting "ignorant" by making light of his original suggestion.  Good!  But the rejoinder came about three days late, allowing McCain's tire pressure putdown to dominate the previous days' news cycle.  Where was Obama's quick-response squad?  AWOL on this one.  Had Obama chosen to fight from the outset, he may have concluded that giving in on offshore drilling would only make him look weak -- which it did.  So the rest of this story still applies, today's belated counter-punch notwithstanding:

By opting for yet another policy compromise rather than choosing to fight back, Obama not only loses by default but reinforces a narrative that continues to bring him down: the notion that he stands for nothing and will compromise on everything.

Coming in the wake of his policy shifts on FISA/wiretapping, gun control, his embrace of a broadening of the death penalty and his pandering on church-state issues,  Obama once again has called into question his core values.  On what issues will Obama NOT compromise? 

Obama has yet to realize that his main problem isn't his positions on the issues, but his penchant for changing, or "nuancing,"  his positions each time he is attacked.

Instead of standing firm, Obama attempts to co-opt and neutralize by adopting elements of the opposing position, further feeding into the narrative as the Great Compromiser who has yet to demonstrate resolve on core principles.

The "bimbo" ad, while subversively racist, succeeded in advancing this narrative: that Obama lacks substance, and that an "empty suit" lacks the will to fight for the people.


WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, HILLARY CLINTON?
TO THE SUPER-DELEGATES, STUPID!


While Barack displays the Audacity of Equivocation, Hillary Clinton quietly meets with key supporters and potential backers of her likely convention putsch attempt. Why else would she seek counsel earlier this week with Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter? She's cultivating support in the black community for her challenge to Obama, should he continue to falter in the polls leading up to the convention.

So, the Get Political bottom line: Obama's energy response ads, while effective, cannot counter the candidate's failure to shore up his base with a demonstration of firmness and commitment on key issues. His core supporters still are puzzling over earlier flip-flops and nuancing.  Now he's opened the door to offshore drilling.  So he'll share the blame when that first inevitable oil spill fouls America's resort beaches.

Each time Obama tries to win the presidency by vacillation and compromise, he only strengthens the argument that he lacks the resolve to make good on his vaunted promise of "change." Changing one's positions to fit the moment is not the sort of "change" that his supporters had expected.

Now they very well may turn to another alternative.  Hillary, get ready for your convention close-up.

WILL THE FALL ELECTION EVEN COUNT? NOT WHEN
STATE-SUPPORTED 'VIGILANTE INJUSTICE' SQUADS
DESTROY THE RULE OF LAW ALL ACROSS AMERICA

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