Obama Being Swift-Boated

My opinion is that Obama needs to go out and win this, as opposed to just avoid losing. This means making sure that McCain sell himself as a social moderate and yet use Palin to appeal to social conservatives. It means making sure McCain can't claim independence from President Bush to one crowd, while telling another crowd he's a Bush loyalist. It means not allowing McCain to claim he is a man of principal while flip-flopping on issues of taxation, torture, women's rights, and his own standards on the experience needed to be President.

And it means that Obama needs to counter the Swift-boat style attacks he is receiving on his background and his positions.

"What Obama does not understand is that he is being Swift-boated. The term does not apply to a mere smear. It is bolder, more outrageous than that. It means going straight at your opponent's strength and maligning it. This is what was done in 2004 to John Kerry, who had commanded a Swift boat in Vietnam. Kerry had won three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star and had emerged from the war a certified hero. It was that record his opponents attacked, a tactic Kerry thought so ludicrous that he at first ignored it. The record shows that he lost the election." RealClearPolitics - Articles - Too Cool to Fight?