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| Karl Rove has advice for the presidential candidates |
| 2008-03-11 |
| From the "Journal Editorial Report" on Fox News last Friday, with Paul Gigot, Wall Street Journal editor. GIGOT: One thing you wrote in the article for the Journal: you said McCain has to talk about Iraq and the war on terror in a way that gets Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to attack him. ROVE: Right. GIGOT: I would think he would attack them. What do you mean by getting them to attack him? ROVE: In politics, oftentimes, the counterpunch is more powerful than the initial assault. I think there is a difference. If John McCain articulates a vision and says this is what I want to do in this troubled region and this is what I think is important for the American people to think about, I think it is better for him to do that than for him to say I will start by picking a disagreement with Obama or Clinton and going after them. He is better off saying what he believes and letting them come after him and having defined a position that's the most defensible and strongest on his terms, let them come after him. GIGOT: You think Iraq and the war on terror, should be strong general ground for McCain. ROVE: Absolutely. In fact, look, there is a significant gap within the Democrats as to who is seen more as commander-in-chief. Hillary Clinton is seen by far more Democrats as ready to be commander-in-chief than is Obama. My sense, though there is not a lot of data, is that if the question is who should be commander-in-chief, John McCain will outdistance his Democratic competitors. ... ROVE: Well, what [Obama]he ought to do -- but what he is not really capable of doing -- is articulate a concrete vision that moves beyond the inspiring rhetoric. What happened to him was the inspiring rhetoric we saw begin at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner in December in Iowa, which galvanized the caucus-goers in Iowa, has been followed for essentially the last three months. But it is wearing thin. There is very little to it. It is changing from inspiring to insipid. His problem is he has two choices. The easy choice is to go after her. The better choice is to flesh out what it is that he believes that he wants to do and do so in a way that conveys passion. I think his problem is that his record in the Senate shows he is an amused, ironic observer, not an engaged, passionate, committed leader. More thoughts at the link from the regular panelists on what the candidates should do at this stage of the campaign, and on other subjects. And the article is part of the Wall Street Journal's free content, in the hope of seducing you into buying a proper subscription. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 Hillary Clinton is seen by far more Democrats as ready to be commander-in-chief than is Obama. And just what is that experience--that she reads the NYTs? She has put a lot of untruths out there regarding her vast experience such as bringing about peace in Northern Ireland and Bosnia. If her lips are moving...she is most likely prevaricating. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2008-03-11 18:39 |