Campaign Should Be Decided By Some Key, Neglected And Fundamental Issues By Herb Denenberg

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10/16/2008

We may be glossing over and virtually ignoring the issues that should be key in any presidential campaign. We've been up and down every path and detail regarding the economy, taxation, health care, education, spending, energy, the environment, foreign policy and all the rest. But those matters fade into insignificance and are meaningless if the candidate doesn't check out on the fundamental issues of leadership, judgment, character, and patriotism.

When these fundamental issues are raised, needless to say Sen. Barack Obama tries to fob the questioner off as though that is simply a diversion. If that doesn't work, Sen. Obama supporters may claim it is playing the race card. If you could give Sen. Obama some magical truth serum, here's what he would say about some of those issues of leadership and character.

The real Sen. Obama speaks: "There's no way I can explain my long association with, alliances with, and collaboration with terrorists, race baiters, race hustlers, bigots, racists and anti-Americans. So I have to have some kind of phony way to side-step responses. One of the best ways is to say that discussion of leadership, judgment, character, and patriotism is a diversion from the real issues of the campaign.

"We should be talking about the economy. Of course, that means we may elect a candidate sorely lacking in these qualities, but that's politics. As my terrorist friend William Ayers said after being acquitted of bombing the Pentagon, 'I'm guilty as hell, but I'm as free as a bird. Isn't America a wonderful country?' I might say when I'm elected, 'I'm guilty as hell but I'm elected. Isn't America a great country?' I can understand why someone may think that I (Barack Obama) am sympathetic toward terrorism, racism, bigotry and anti-Americanism."

Now, Sen. Obama is not going to tell the truth about these matters but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be discussed or be major campaign issues. Needless to say, the mainstream media, also known as Sen. Obama's other campaign machine, will do everything to prevent these issues from being raised, and will employ all sorts of arguments to prevent their consideration. Of course, one of the silliest arguments against considering these issues is that it is too late. Give me a break. If there's a fundamental question about a president's leadership ability, character, judgment and patriotism - it is never too late.

Another phony argument is that this is guilt by association. When you sit in the pews of Rev. Jeremiah "God Damn America" Wright, the racist and bigot, that's not guilt by association. That's guilt by participation, guilt by alliances, and guilt by working together. We're not talking about ships passing in the night; we're talking about long-term, close and important associations.

We reject those phony arguments and the disgraceful intellectual gyrations of the mainstream media in attempting to jam this fraud and phony down the throat of the American people. If Sen. Obama were the lookout driver in a bank robbery, the mainstream media would proclaim his innocence and claim that was guilt by association. So this column will take a look at the fundamental issues, which should be decisive in making judgments on the candidates.

I started thinking about fundamentals after hearing Carly Fiorina, the former head of Hewlett-Packard and a key Sen. John McCain adviser, speak at a rally at a local Republican headquarters in Wayne. She made an eloquent plea for appreciating the unique importance of this election and getting back to fundamentals in considering the candidates.

She said, "People feel this century is fundamentally different." She's right. We face an existential threat from Islamofascism, an enemy even more dangerous and even more difficult to fight than the nazis, fascists and communists. We're in a war that will last not for a few years but for decades, and no easy end is in sight, unless we adopt the Democratic Party philosophy of retreat, defeat, appeasement and surrender. We also face emerging superpowers that pose a threat to our safety and our ability to render aid and provide security for the world.

There is China looming as a major economic competitor and military challenger, and India, the largest democracy, looming as an economic competitor. In addition, Europe seems to have lost its will to survive, and may be in the slow process of becoming what some have described as Eurarabia. Some of the most astute observers fear Europe may already be lost to Islamization (See Mark Steyn's, America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It). There are even some astute observers who argue we have started down the same path to demise as Europe as a free continent. See "The Third Jihad" by Public Scope films.

Our economic challenges are equally disturbing. We are in the midst of an economic crisis in a new world of globalism. We have disturbing educational deficiencies, which may hinder our ability to maintain the kind of powerful economy necessary to maintain the powerful military essential to our security. So Ms. Fiorina is right.

She was also right when she said to the group of Sen. McCain supporters in Wayne, if voters seriously examine the life and record of Sen. McCain, he will emerge as the clear winner over Sen. Barack Obama.

Leadership
Ms. Fiorina said leadership should be defined by service and sacrifice, not by style and charm. Sen. McCain's life and record are the very symbols of service and sacrifice. Like his father and grandfather, he has devoted his life to serving his country, and has demonstrated he is willing to make any sacrifice demanded by his country.

Leadership requires the willingness to lead, not just follow lock step along the path of the party lines. It requires willingness to go your own way when the occasion demands. That also is the very essence of Sen. McCain, a self-proclaimed, and correctly described, maverick. He is willing to do what he thinks is right, however jarring that might be to his political party or to anyone else. And a great leader knows he has to forge bipartisan alliances to get anything done. Sen. McCain has the most solid record of reaching across the political aisle in Congress.

Compare those leadership qualities with those of Sen. Obama. He has spent his entire career in service to himself, furthering his own unbounding and blind ambition. He has accomplished next to nothing and has spent most of his career jockeying around and planning for his next career advancement. He has made no great sacrifice. The only things he sacrifices are his alliances when that becomes politically expedient. He said he could no more jettison Rev. Wright than his own people, but when political expedience called, Rev. Wright was tossed under the bus without hesitation. This is Chicago machine-style leadership. You simply can't trust him to keep his promises, no matter how graceful they are wrapped in oratorical baloney.

Sen. Obama has displayed no leadership but only followership. A publication calculated he votes with his own party 96 percent of the time. He has never reached across the political aisle on any issue of importance. Even in Chicago, when part of the corrupt Cook County Chicago machine, he went along to get along and would not even participate in a reform effort. He lives in a delusional world where he thinks all he has to do is write letters and give speeches and the Red Sea will part for him.
Remember his debate on the issue of reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He said he wrote letters to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve about the problem and then went to Wall Street and asked for reform. That's all he did. He apparently wasn't aware that Senators could introduce legislation and try to get laws enacted. That's what Sen. McCain did.

One key element of leadership is courage and old-fashioned guts. Sen. McCain has demonstrated physical and political courage in many ways. Sen. Obama has demonstrated he is little more than a bootlicker of the Chicago political machine and any other contacts or associations necessary to advance his career. He has never stood up for anything but himself. He lacks even the courage to dissent from his party positions.

On leadership Sen. McCain gets an A plus. Obama flunks. And that's the same grade I'll give them on the other fundamental issues of any candidacy.

Character
Here there is no contest. Sen. McCain's character was forged in the crucible of a prisoner-of-war camp in Vietnam. That set him on a lifetime course of working for a cause greater than himself.

In contrast, Sen. Obama has a lifetime record of association with terrorists, bigots, racists, anti-Americans, race baiters and race hustlers. Even if he doesn't agree with this long lineup of disgusting associates, he apparently thinks anything goes, any association is tolerable, if it advances his career. Ask yourself if you would associate with the likes of William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Tony Rezko, Michael Pfleger, Bernadine Dohrn, and the rest. And these are long term associates, some running into decades. Ask if you would abandon your most basic principles and promises (public financing of elections) for political expediency?

These associations not only call into question Sen.Obama's character but also his values and ideas. For example, he was friendly with Mr. Ayers. But also, Sen. Obama's first job was working with Mr. Ayers doling out tens of millions of dollars to radical groups who set up programs to radicalize school children. The group that employed Sen. Obama in this key position was created by Mr. Ayres and financed by a grant. The philosophy of Mr. Ayres, the group, and apparently Sen. Obama was that math, science and test scores were not important but radicalizing students was.

And Sen. Obama's attempt to wheedle out of the mess and defend the indefensible proves his character deficiency extends to dishonesty and lack of integrity on a grand scale. In 20 years he couldn't figure out what Rev. Wright stands for. I rest my case. His latest lie involved a posting on the Obama Web site claiming he was not connected to the voter fraud organization known as ACORN. Sen. Obama had all kinds of connections including acting as the lawyer for ACORN, acting as a trainer for ACORN volunteers and managing voter registration activity for ACORN. Finally, Sen. Obama's campaign paid ACORN $800,000 for voter registration work. If all that isn't bad enough, Sen. Obama has said he will consult with community organizations such as ACORN in setting his presidential priorities and programs. This is just cumulative evidence that the man who claims he will bring everyone together is just a radical leftist, peddling the discredited programs of the far left and the Democratic Party.

Judgement
When you're president, you have to get it right the first time. You can't take three passes at a crisis situation, hold your finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing and endlessly consult an army of advisers.

When Russia invaded Georgia, Sen. McCain got it right immediately. Sen. Obama called for restraint on both sides and said we'd be in a better position if we set a good example. Restraint on both sides means Sen. Obama saw moral equivalence between illegal Russian aggression and Georgian self-defense. Chiding the U.S. for not setting a good example struck a moral equivalence between illegal Russian aggression in Georgia, and the legal, internationally sanctioned U.S. liberation of Iraq. Poor Barack, doesn't know whose side he is on when it comes to international conflicts.

Then there's the surge. Almost alone, at a great political price, Sen. McCain advocated the surge. Sen. Obama opposed it, saying it would fail and would increase sectarian violence. Sen. Obama was wrong, and still won't admit the surge was a success. (Incidentally, one characteristic of presidential leadership is the ability to admit mistakes. Sen. Obama just can't bring himself to admit he is mistaken.)

Patriotism
Sen. McCain is, and always will be, a patriot and display the best of American patriotism. There's nothing but questions and doubts about Sen. Obama's patriotism.

Why would he associate with terrorists and America haters for 20 years? The very thought should be disgusting to any American. Why would he refuse to wear an American flag on his lapel, claiming it is a symbol of false patriotism? Why would he refuse to put his hand on his heart when "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played? Why would he accuse American troops of "bombing villages and killing civilians?" Why would he refuse to vote for the Cornyn resolution condemning the moveon.org ad that said, "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?"

Why would he accuse patriotic small town Pennsylvanians of just clinging to their guns and religion? Why would he rush off to Berlin to proclaim he is a "citizen of the world?" I'm happy just being a citizen of the U.S. and don't want to be subject to jurisdiction of the world, the world court, the U.N., some other world body, or Europe. And is it without significance his wife would proclaim America is a downright mean country and that, for the first time, she is proud to be an American? Sick. Sick. Sick.

And why, when working with the foundation set up by terrorist Mr. Ayers, would Sen. Obama dole out grant money to anti-American, Afro-centric groups. There's much to suggest that this candidate doesn't even love his country because he's been so immersed in anti-Americanism for so long. I'm afraid anti-Americanism is part of the sickness of the left and of the liberals. That's a disease that unfortunately afflicts the Democratic Party and its candidate.

The bottom line is that when you cast your vote, make sure the candidate passes the tests of leadership, character, judgment and patriotism before you worry about his stance on global warming or the death tax. Your future is at stake, so is the future of America and the free world. Don't gamble with a presidential vote for an unproven, untested, unvetted, untried political novice.

Herb Denenberg is a former Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commissioner, and professor at the Wharton School. He is a longtime Philadelphia journalist and consumer advocate. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of the Sciences. His column appears daily in The Bulletin. You can reach him at advocate@ thebulletin.us.