Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

Last week was miserable for Barack Obama. But now he’s making matters worse
for us all by scuttling Democratic efforts to equate a McCain presidency with
a third term for George W. Bush. Just take a look at the above video, which is an official video from the Democratic Party on YouTube. Oh, and it’s by no means the only video like this from the DNC. We need this like a whole in the head.

“You have a real choice in this election. Either Democrat would be better than John McCain,” Obama said to cheers from a rowdy crowd in central Pennsylvania. Then he said: “And all three of us would be better than George Bush.” Obama says McCain would be better than Bush

Hillary Clinton has also compared McCain’s “lifetime of experience,”
and come up with some parallels that don’t include Obama, which is illustrated
in this video. But her arguments make the case why McCain is a formidable opponent
in the general election, not why McCain would be a better president than Bush.
It’s a huge difference.

Over the weekend, Clinton seized upon the opportunity to draw a strong distinction
about McCain, beyond his lifetime of experience, not only to go after McCain
on policy, but draw comparisons between him and George W. Bush, highlighting
that a McCain presidency would directly mirror Bush’s tenure, especially on
foreign policy, but also on domestic issues like health care, both of which
this country simply cannot afford. This is where Democrats need to be on message
if we’re going to beat John McCain in November, which we must. She gets it exactly
right on this one. Here’s the
audio of Clinton’s response (the transcript of the audio is below)
to Obama’s sloppy reference to McCain saying “all
three of us would be better than George Bush.” Note to Obama:
When you’re running for president, you don’t take the main strategy of the Democratic
party, witnessed by the ad above, and throw it out the window to help yourself.
Got it? Again, Clinton warning Democrats of how tough McCain will be in the
general election is not the same at all. She takes it further by making the
point that every Democrat should take to heart. We cannot afford a John McCain
presidency, because we can’t afford four more years of Bush:

“Sen. Obama said today that John McCain would be better for the country than George Bush. Now, Sen. McCain is a real American patriot who has served our country with distinction, but Sen. McCain would follow the same failed policies that have been so wrong for our country the last seven years. “Sen. McCain thinks it is okay to keep our troops in Iraq for the next 100 years. Is that better than George Bush? Audience: No! “Sen. McCain will continue the failed economic policies of George Bush that have brought us deficit and increasing debt. Is that better than George Bush? Audience: No! “Sen. McCain does not have a health care plan that will cover every American. In fact, we will have more and more uninsured Americans. Is that better than George Bush? Audience: No! “Sen. McCain has no plans to end the housing foreclosure crisis or cut the cost of gas at the pump. Is that better than George Bush? Audience: No! “We need a nominee who will take on John McCain, not cheer on John McCain, and I will be that nominee.”