BCT Editorial – 10/26/08

This page was last updated on October 26, 2008.

Common ground; Editorial; Beaver County Times; October 26, 2008.

The editorial subtitle is “Obama has shown the qualities our next president will need.”

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“The next president of the United States doesn’t necessarily have to be a uniter.

“He does, however, have to be a leader who can convince Americans to start pulling in the same direction.

“For that reason, our editorial board endorses Democrat Barack Obama for president.”

[RWC] I’m stunned! <g>

“We start with a basic premise: Neither candidate will be able to fulfill the promises he is making. In addition to working with a dysfunctional Congress, the next president will be limited by the economic meltdown.”

[RWC] I wonder why the editorial failed to note the “dysfunctional Congress” is a Democrat-majority Congress.

The rest of the paragraph is intended to give Mr. Obama preemptive cover should he be elected. Should Mr. McCain prevail, I predict the Times will forget all about this “basic premise.”

Regarding “the economic meltdown,” at least Mr. McCain recognizes tax increases would worsen the situation. Mr. Obama doesn’t seem to grasp this and his running mate believes paying more taxes would be “patriotic.” As a reminder, our overall (local, state, & federal) tax rate (33%) is already near its historical high (34% in 2000), and 25% higher than its highest point (26.1% in 1943) during World War II.

“Therefore, what matters most is that the next president has the temperament to be a steady, focused leader who can communicate with his fellow Americans.”

[RWC] In case you missed it, this is the Times version of the Obama campaign talking point that Mr. McCain is “erratic.” Though I disagree with Mr. McCain on some policy issues, he long ago proved he’s “a steady, focused leader.”

“A candidate’s campaign is an indicator of leadership abilities, and the Obama campaign has given Americans a good glimpse of that. By almost all accounts, it has been a focused, steady and disciplined effort that reaches out to as many people as possible.”

[RWC] This is merely parroting the bogus Obama campaign talking point that running an election campaign is the equivalent to being a mayor and governor. This popped up after some people noted Mr. McCain’s VP running mate had more executive experience than Mr. Obama.

“To our great disappointment, the same cannot be said of Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his campaign.”

[RWC] I’ll go out on a limb and guess this is boilerplate the Times uses for all Republican presidential candidates.

“For a man of principles, McCain has resorted to and endorsed the divide-and-conquer gutter tactics that worked in 2000, 2002 and 2004. In doing so, he has misread the mood of the country. That was a huge mistake, and it’s reflected in the polls.”

[RWC] Note the Times apparently doesn’t believe “divide-and-conquer gutter tactics” didn’t work when the Democrats won in 2006. Sure.

Of course, by “divide-and-conquer gutter tactics,” the editorial refers to the McCain campaign daring to mention Mr. Obama’s alliances with people like domestic terrorists William Ayers & Bernadine Dohrn (Ayers’ wife). The editorial conveniently failed to note Mr. McCain declared Mr. Obama’s pastor, mentor, and long-time friend, Jeremiah Wright, off limits.

“It’s reflected in the polls?” The problem with this is you can pick a poll to support your point. Currently, some polls show Mr. Obama out in front while other polls show Messrs. McCain and Obama in a statistical dead heat.

“His second major mistake was picking Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate. The contrast with Obama’s selection could not have been starker.”

[RWC] I have to agree. Mr. McCain chose a Washington outsider with executive experience while Mr. “Change and Hope” Obama chose a 35-year Washington insider who can’t give an interview or speech without making some major mistake.

“Obama picked Sen. Joe Biden, a running mate who has a strong background in foreign and military affairs, areas where Obama is admittedly weak.”

[RWC] If Mr. Biden has such “a strong background in foreign and military affairs,” perhaps the Times can tell us why he has made so many factual errors on these topics while on the campaign trail. As a reminder, Mr. Biden said the Iraq surge wouldn’t work and his “solution” for Iraq was to divide it into three regions along ethnic and religious lines.

“McCain’s pick of pseudo-populist Palin was baffling. By any measure, she is not up to task of being vice president, let alone president in the event something should happen to McCain.”

[RWC] Translation: Damn, selecting Gov. Palin was a smart move. We’re lucky he didn’t do it sooner.

“Most important, the United States and the world need an American president who can reverse the debacle that has been the last eight years. The politics and policies of George W. Bush have led the United States into a dead end.”

[RWC] Blah, blah, blah.

“And like the band at the end of ‘Animal House’ that keeps marching into a wall even as its ranks and music fall apart, McCain shows little interest in halting the chaos.

“The United States needs a leader who can find common ground. During this campaign, Obama has shown the qualities that we believe will be needed to turn America around. On Nov. 4, vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.”

[RWC] Over the past three years, Messrs. Obama and Biden have Americans for Democratic Action Liberal Quotients (ADA terminology, not mine) of 98% and 93%, respectively. Further, none of Obama’s supporters can name a major issue on which he bucked party leadership. How does this add up to “a leader who can find common ground?”

Finally, at least the editorial didn’t claim the Times endorsed Mr. Obama because his opponent didn’t return phone calls from the editorial board, as we read in the “endorsement” of Jim Marshall in “Real choices.”