by Ted Sherman

Created on: May 07, 2008

As the primaries wind down, and it appears almost certain that Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee for President, he may have already started his battle with John McCain. In a speech celebrating his win in North Carolina and almost win in Indiana, he fired the opening salvo against the Republican front-runner. It was a very simple sentence, but it carried more weight than a major speech. Senator Obama said, "America doesn't need a third term of President Bush!"

The implication, of course, is that if McCain wins the White House, we can expect him to continue the Bush disastrous adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan, experience more price gouging by the oil companies, and watch helplessles as the economy sinks into depression. As Senator Obama implies, that will be Bush's influence on the coming Presidential election. When or if he becomes the Democratic candidate, he'll hit McCain hard with that Bush third-term argument throughout the campaign.

Unfortunately for McCain's chances in November, he has based his campaign on blind loyalty to the Bush Administration's ventures in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in the economic quagmire. Obama should continue to hammer away at that, especially McCain's own words, which recently included a statement that the Iraq war was all about oil, and the possible need to keep American forces in Iraq for "a hundred years." Obama should emphasize that Bush has never had a clear plan of ending American occupation of Iraq and troop operations in Afghanistan, and his belief that McCain will just continue the Bush misadventures and thousands more G.I. casualties.

Senator Obama should promise that if elected, he will begin immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops from the region, and set a precise timetable for completing the schedule. Considering how tired and disgusted the great majority of the American public is about Bush's wars, McCain will have considerable trouble continuing to defend it against Obama's powerful arguments.

Another area of Bush disasters where Obama should make progress against McCain is the economy. He should hit hard and often about the price gouging by the Middle East oil cartels and their fat-cat pals in American oil companies. While the late-night comedians joke about how Bush and Cheney are getting rich because of their oil company holdings, Obama should emphasize that is no joke to the average American worker, who has seen his job outsourced to a foreign country and the price at the gas pump go up more than 100 percent during the Bush administration.

In a no-holds-barred fight, Obama can expect McCain to bring up as many negatives as possible against him, particularly Obama's 20-year association with the ranting Rev. Jeremiah Wright. However, McCain's political history is not lily-pure, including his association with the Keating scandal in the 1980s, when the crooked stock manipulator went to jail, but not before he contributed more than $100,000 to McCain's political campaign funds. We can be sure, if Obama digs deeply enough, he can find more questionable actions by his opponent.

McCain is not exactly happy to be associated with George W. Bush, because in 2000, when it looked like McCain had the Republican Presidential nomination won, the Bush machine and its unlimited money cheated him out of it. However, in 2008, to be able to get the Republican Party to support him, it is evident that McCain has chosen to agree with and support all of George W. Bush's policies and actions. And that's where he's most vulnerable to attack, and possible defeat, by the Democratic candidate.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.