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In TN, Michelle should say, "I'm so proud of my country (and the democratic process) I released my tax returns!"

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I was just reading this on CNN:

In a preview of the political onslaught Michelle Obama may face in the fall, the Tennessee Republican Party unveiled a Web video Thursday highlighting her comment that she was proud of America "for the first time in my adult life."

Michelle Obama is the target of a video by the Tennessee Republican Party ahead of her visit there...

It features several Tennesseans saying why they are proud of American while repeatedly cutting to Michelle Obama's comments.


Well, how to retort?

Barack Obama clearly intends to stay on the high road, as he quickly shuttled David Brock's attempt to do some below the belt McCain softening on his behalf.

Now, the RNC chair said they "reject" that kind of tactic, but clearly they lack the discipline (or more likely, the desire) to keep their foot soldiers in line the way that Obama is doing.  So the work of the Tennessee Republican Party would appear to open the door to candidates' spouses being fair game in this contest.

And while that almost certainly isn't a place where the Obama campaign really wants to go, there is a real issue on the table that's being overlooked by the media regarding Cindy McCain's refusal to release her tax returns in spite of, at the very least, providing the use of her private jet for John McCain's campaign travels.

And isn't that very refusal "elitist"?  

Isn't it precisely the type of "I'm above you" sneering down at the masses type thinking that both McCain and Hillary have constantly accused Obama of?

And isn't it almost anti-democratic of Cindy McCain to prevent the public from having full disclosure about the campaign financing of the presumptive Republican nominee, kind of like saying "We're above the process"?

So, I don't know.  Maybe I'm thinking too low here.

But we can be sure that Michelle Obama will address the Tennessee Republican Party's video when she speaks there.  And we can be sure that she'll defend her love of her country and her patriotism in the process.

And I'm not a campaign strategist, so I don't know if this would be the best strategic idea or not.

But I know I'd really enjoy watching Michelle say something along the lines of, "They can try all they want to define me with an endlessly looped sound byte and pretend there's some hidden secret there.  But the truth is I do love this country and I have nothing to hide.  It's all out in the open.  In fact, in the interest of an open democratic process, I even released my tax returns so that the American public can know the true financial status of Barack and I, and the Obama campaign."


Comments (6)

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Here's her retort: "Pound sand".

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FWIW, I realized after posting this that by combining two separate issues I might have muddled the main points here a little bit. It may have been better if I'd written two separate blog entries. Both would be regarding Cindy McCain, but on fairly different levels:

1. The GOP attacks on Michelle Obama: Do they make it fair game for the Dems to put Cindy McCain on the table as an issue? I think the answer is yes. But to what extent and how to go about doing that is a little murkier.

2. The charges of Obama as an elitist: Does Cindy McCain's refusal to release her tax returns indicate that the McCains, and not the Obamas, are the true elitists in this campaign? Again, I think the answer is yes, and again the question then becomes how to go about pushing this as an issue without getting down in the gutter and slinging mud around.


I hope that makes what I was trying to say here a little bit clearer.

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The difficulty in attacking Cindy McCain is that it would be a personal attack on her. With Michelle, the GOP is framing their attacks as them defending the pride of America. See, America needs defending, by these chickenhawk bastards, against scary ol' Michelle.

The way to hurt conservatives is by playing to the archetypes in a Western movie. Barack should call them them out as cowards for attacking his wife. He should accuse them of not being manly. Real men would come after him directly. Attacking a man's wife is for cowards.

That kind of stuff just rips at the typical conservative's John Wayne cowboy like self image.

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Retort #2: So, when is you superior level of pride going to lead you to enlist, grab an M16, and go dodge IEDs in Iraq?

I agree with new10. Obama should call conservatives out on the cowardice of attacking his wife and remind the world of what exactly she said and meant. Attacking Cindy McCain would be mean spirited and inappropriate. Vigorously point out that the Republicans are on the low road but don't join them there.

That said, is it just me or is Cindy McCain really, really scary looking? Is that the effect of plastic surgery or a lifetime spent with an angry guy?

Michelle is a Woman to. I hope that when they pick on her she gets the same kind of sympathy that Hillary receives when she feels people are ganging up on her. I can only hope people feel that way.

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