the elevator pitch

talking to the top

John McCain Running Out of Time and Options

Published October 8th, 2008 in News Hits, PR News | No Comments »

John McCain needed to win, but he fell short on Tuesday.

What appeared to be John McCain’s last, best hope of upending Barack Obama’s presidential hopes passed Tuesday night during a debate that was surprisingly lackluster. McCain needed a win, he was forced to settle for a draw. Although there is one more presidential debate, scheduled for October 15, Tuesday’s town hall meeting was supposed to favor McCain, who is famous for enlivening small audiences. That didn’t happen. The crowd was silent, McCain was not affable enough and Obama didn’t falter. It all adds up to a potential rout come Election Day on November 4.

While McCain cut down Obama a few times – pointing out how the Democrat’s record is absent of policy breakthroughs – he never convincingly came out on top in any area. And Obama did a good enough job at deflecting McCain’s criticism, particularly when he noted how his Republican opponent has voted against alternative-energy legislation throughout his nearly three-decade senatorial career.

McCain’s best moments were on foreign policy and while that’s an important topic, many Americans want to hear talk of nothing but the economy. On that issue, both McCain and Obama appeared as lost as most economists, bankers and financial regulators. Obama, though, has a semblance of a plan. McCain still hasn’t detailed his. Until he does, his messages, negative or otherwise, will ring hollow.

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Barack Obama Tells Denver He Will Be America’s Robin Hood

Published August 28th, 2008 in News Hits | 1 Comment »

Is income redistribution a bad thing?

Americans seem on the verge of finding out. In a carefully crafted speech intended to respond to criticism and what he considers misperceptions, Barack Obama addressed 80,000 of his sychophants at Invesco Field in Denver and outlined a plan for his presidency that promises a commitment to leveling the playing field. In a nation that has witnessed a widening gulf between classes, Obama spoke at the Democratic National Convention of initiating programs that are undoubtedly socialist.

Obama promised to deliver better education by “recruiting an army of teachers” and paying for those determined young Americans who currently can’t afford to pursue college. The Democratic candidate for president also said everyone in the country would have improved health care. He swore during his acceptance speech of the party’s nomination that the nation would be off of oil from the Mideast within 10 years through government funding of alternative-energy development.

To pay for his it, Obama said he would do three things: increase taxes on the richest five percent of the population, siphon loopholes that will curtail corporate profits, and go “line by line” through the federal budget to eliminate excess. Through those measures, Obama says he will account for every dime of his policies.

Common sense says it will take more than that.

Redistributing wealth isn’t a bad thing, if adroitly executed. For more than a decade, economist Jeffrey Sachs has advocated a one-time levy on the richest two percent of Americans that would help solve national and global poverty. Whether Obama will have the opportunity to put his vision to work won’t be known until November 4, when Americans decide between him and Republican candidate John McCain.

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