GOP won't beat Obama with old strategy

[Kire]

GOP won't beat Obama with old strategy
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Star-Ledger of New Jersey

I got an e-mail the other day from a reader who is a loyal Republican. He said this about Barack Obama: "He is a dangerous man who embraces a socialist philosophy and who associates with people who hate America."

Perhaps. But you could have said the same thing about Bill Clinton. In fact, Republicans did. And look where that got them.

In 1992, the GOP candidate was a war hero with bland, inside-the- Beltway political views who tried to cast Clinton as a left-wing nut.

Clinton cleaned his clock.

In 1996, the GOP candidate was a war hero with bland, inside-the- Beltway political views who tried to cast Clinton as a left-wing nut.

Bob Dole's clock never even started ticking.

And now in 2008, the Republicans have nominated yet another war hero with bland, inside-the- Beltway political views who is trying to cast his opponent as a left- wing nut. What's wrong with this picture?

I think we'll see what's wrong with it when Hillary Clinton addresses the Democratic National Convention tonight. Listen closely to her and you will see that she really means what she says.

Americans hate that. And they always have. Way back in the Roaring'20s, the great H.L. Mencken noted that, unlike those earnest Europeans, Americans look at politics mainly as a source of amusement.

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