McCain-Palin must lay out economic plan, Obama strategist says
| St. Paul, Minn.
Sarah Palin gave a great speech. It excited a hall of GOP delegates. But it had an angry tone that won鈥檛 play well with swing voters. And it didn鈥檛 provide any details about what she 鈥� or John McCain 鈥� would do to try to fix America's economic troubles.
That鈥檚 what Robert Gibbs, a senior adviser to the Barack Obama campaign, says, anway. He鈥檚 in the Twin Cities to watch his opposition鈥檚 convention close up and was the guest at a Monitor luncheon on Thursday.
鈥淚 think [Alaska Governor Palin鈥檚] selection as vice president was primarily to excite the Republican base,鈥� says Mr. Gibbs.
She may be able to connect on a cultural level with working-class voters. But in this election, a sort of she鈥檚-one-of-us recognition may not actually win those voters鈥� approval, according to the Obama operative.
鈥淵ou have to have more than simply a personal connection. You have to have some semblance of what you want to do to get these people back on their feet,鈥� says Gibbs.
The economy has become the overriding issue of 2008, in the Democratic calculation. However, the word 鈥渆conomy鈥� in this context covers many things, from healthcare to education.
鈥淚 do think some of the foreign-policy issues have not been as dominant in the general election as they were earlier,鈥� says Gibbs.
Yet much of the GOP convention has focused on security and Senator McCain鈥檚 foreign-policy experience. In addition, many speakers have attacked Senator Obama鈥檚 lack of foreign-policy credentials and charged that his r茅sum茅 does not include any executive experience at all.
Rudolph Giuliani and other speakers have also made much of the Democratic nominee鈥檚 celebrity status, depicting him as something of an Ivy League snob. 鈥淚 am sorry that Barack Obama does not feel [Governor Palin鈥檚] hometown is cosmopolitan enough,鈥� the former New York mayor said in his speech Wednesday.
Gibbs claimed that he hopes the McCain camp continues to devote attention and money to such charges. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a bunch of white noise most voters don鈥檛 pay attention to,鈥� he says.
Palin is not quite the reformist maverick she claims to be, charges the Obama camp. In her speech to the convention, she proudly noted her opposition to the so-called 鈥渂ridge to nowhere,鈥� a $220 million federally funded bridge to the sparsely inhabited island of Gravina, Alaska. But she initially supported the bridge, says Gibbs.
鈥淪he castigated many people for describing the destination of the bridge as 鈥榥owhere,鈥� 鈥� he says.
But it is obvious why the Republicans are describing her in reform terms, according to the Obama campaign.
鈥淚 think they understood they had to grab some element of the change mantle. And that couldn鈥檛 be done just with a senator that has spent three decades in Washington,鈥� says Gibbs, referring to McCain鈥檚 experience.
