The only road to a Democratic victory in 2008 leads straight through the mud.
The media selectively portrays Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) as a maverick straight-talking senator who can do no wrong. Of course, in reality, he’s anything but that. To win the general election, the Democrats will have to confront this false portrayal and — by throwing some mud — try to define the McCain candidacy on their own terms.
This isn’t as difficult as it may sound. Consider, for instance, what has happened to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
One year ago, Giuliani was touted as “America’s Mayor,” a bold and fearless candidate who seemed likely to win the Republican nomination. The Democrats, however, were not afraid to attack — and mock — Giuliani where he seemed to be strongest: his record of leadership post-Sept. 11,2001.
Democrats seized on reports of a conflict between Giuliani and World Trade Center rescue personnel in an attempt to neutralize the patriotic fervor that originally surrounded his campaign. Additionally, they helped turn his frequent invocation of 9/11 into a running joke. As Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) put it, “There’s only three things [Giuliani] mentions in a sentence: a noun, a verb and 9/11.” Thanks to these attacks, and to an absolutely awful campaign strategy, Giuliani was forced to abandon his quest to become “President of 9/11” late last month.
The Democrats can use a similarly aggressive approach to undermine McCain’s image and thereby his support. First, they need to tie McCain to the failures of the current administration. As history professor Sean Wilentz has argued, President Bush may the “the worst president in history,” and he certainly has the sky-high disapproval numbers to back that claim up. Many of this administration’s most disastrous policies, including the invasion of Iraq, had McCain’s full support, and the American people shouldn’t be allowed to forget that. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has already worked this link into his stump speech, as he urges voters to choose him over “Bush-McCain Republicans.”
Secondly, the Democrats can’t be afraid of digging into McCain’s past and using what they find against him. Think for a second what would happen if it were revealed that Obama had once dated an exotic dancer. Fox News and Rush Limbaugh would cover the ensuing debacle for days, independent voters would be alienated, and Obama’s moral character would be called into question. Well, to my knowledge, Obama has never dated a stripper, but McCain has. While in flight school, he dated an exotic dancer who called herself “Marie, the Flame Thrower of Florida,” often taking her out to dinner with other enlisted men. Bringing up his old girlfriend — and her delightful nickname — can only work out well for Democratic pundits in the mainstream media.
Finally, McCain has provided ample ammunition for Democrats to paint him as a flip-flopper and a panderer. On literally dozens of important issues, McCain has radically changed his position, often advocating the exact opposite of what he once stood for.
In 1999, he defended the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade and argued that it was necessary to protect the lives of American women. In 2006, he reversed course, claiming that states should be free to ban abortions.
In 2001, he voted against the Bush tax cuts, maintaining that they would inflate the national debt and disproportionately benefit the wealthy. To his credit, he was right on both counts. Yet, in 2007, he ran campaign ads in which he promised to make those same tax cuts permanent.
In 2004, he voted against a federal amendment to ban gay marriage. Two years later, he won praise from Jerry Falwell for changing his position to support such an amendment.
Using these and other examples, the Democrats can portray “Weathervane” McCain as a serial panderer whose fluid beliefs shift to match those of his intended audience. With solid, aggressive campaigning from either Sen. Hilary Clinton (D-N.Y.) or Obama, we should have no problem capturing the White House this November.
Jason Sheltzer is a molecular biology major from St. Davids, Pa. He can be reached at sheltzer@princeton.edu.
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