Right On The Right

Flip-flopper was a charge that worked effectively against John Kerry in 2004 and it's because it was true. People don't like politicians who go back and forth on issues, especially when it's because of political expediency and not a real change in values. Barack is rocking back and forth more than a ship riding out a hurricane. McCain's folks have decided to look at his flips on Iraq from a documentary point of view:

It's all about the money, the money they spend that is. The youth vote is not driven as much by taxes, social security, or welfare, but rather by gas prices and finding a job. I have a slightly different take on the youth vote than most. A lot of folks, including some of my allies on the right side of the aisle, think John McCain has a unique advantage over most Republicans because he cares about global warming. I think he has an advantage, but rather because of his stances on drilling and the economy. Let's take a look at my top issues:

Number one is gas prices. The pain at the pump affects 18-25 year olds even more than it affects the average working American, because cash is short to begin with and kids drive around visiting friends, going to movies, and spending nights out on the town. If John McCain can turn the hatred of the oil companies into hatred of the liberal do-nothings who won't let us drill, he's golden. Issue two is jobs, which is slightly more specific than the economy. John McCain has to spin small-government economics to the youth in a way they can understand. Consider it a challenge.

Sell the surge. John McCain's legacy over the past few years, aside from antagonizing Conservatives, has been his support of the Petraeus strategy. Third party ads in support of the surge should help, but expect a great deal of anti-war ads helping Obama too. It's popular to be anti-war when you're in High School and College, so it needs combated.

Climate change has to be next, right? Wrong. America's religious Conservatives do have children, who grow up and carry with them the same values as their parents. Barack Obama should suffer a huge weakness with this bloc, so marriage and abortion are very key issues, even with the youth vote. Still, polls show youth are more open to homosexuality, so push it too far and you'll lose their support. McCain should play to his strength and support traditional marriage with a bit of "straight talk."

Global warming is sixth, followed closely by the border because teens care about a secure nation. Barack Obama would be upset to find out that hope & change don't do too well on my list. The youth vote is about the green, but it's money more than nature politics.

Barack Obama has been changing refining his positions on a number of issues, from Iraq to public financed campaigns, quite often lately. On the right, we just watch and commentate on his various flips and flops, but on the left, the desperation for a true socialist is growing. They're tired of the leftist populist they put up already. The Alligator, which is the University of Florida's Independent Newspaper, ran a leftist article attacking Barack:

Since clinching his party’s nomination for president, however, Obama has started to clarify, qualify and triangulate to such a degree that we can hardly recognize him from the inspirational “change” candidate he represented a few short months ago.

...Perhaps Obama isn’t the great change agent we thought he was. Perhaps no one can change the system. Or maybe we expected too much from someone who is, after all, just another politician. Instead of riding a wave of change to the ballot box, we are faced with the age-old “lesser of two evils” paradigm: Perpetual war and inequitable economic policies on the one hand, and spineless triangulation on the other.

Now, I completely disagree with the mouth-breathing leftist rhetoric that our byline-less friends at The Alligator have attached themselves to, but I think it's revealing that even they see the real "change" in Barack Obama. As they said, he's just another politician. Don't be fooled.