"Culture Chameleon"
The Boy George Theme Song for Barack Obama
© 10/16/08

A chameleon is a remarkable reptile that can change its colors to blend in and appear at home in front of any surroundings. The brilliance of the Barack Obama campaign is based upon three principles, eloquent speech, youthful good looks, and an ability to be a political chameleon in every situation.

Unfortunately, John McCain has failed to fully connect the dots to close the deal that explains who his opponent is.

Why do the associations with Ayers, Wright, and others matter? McCain managed to raise the issue of Ayers and Acorn in last night’s debate, but he failed to explain why these associations matter. The informed, decided voters get it, but the undecided are still left wondering what the point is. The Obama campaign has succeeded in painting this as meaningless and pointless “looking back” when we have urgent issues that require looking forward.

Why does voting “present” more than “yes” or “no” matter?

Why does Obama try to minimize his associations with controversial figures from his past and with ACORN?

The answer is that Obama is a very smart leftist who realizes that America does not elect leftist politicians. If he wants to be elected, he recognizes that he must be a chameleon. Obama has made a studied effort to create a background that cannot easily be nailed down to reflect his core beliefs. This allows him to claim all kinds of populist positions to garner votes from the great middle of the American electorate who largely make their voting decisions based on mainstream media “sound bites.”

The McCain/Palin campaign has failed to explain that the reason Obama’s associations with Wright and Ayers and other radical leftists matters is that it is a true reflection of Obama’s core beliefs before he began to run for the presidency as a chameleon who can change color every time he speaks in front of a different audience. McCain has shied away from calling his opponent a radical. It is a tough label to make stick to a candidate who has left very little trail to follow, but this is precisely the point, the only point, to his past associations. It is not a matter of his “judgement,” as if these associations were incidental or accidental. The friendly mainstream media persists in dismissing these associations, portraying the issue as unfair character assasination; calling it "guilt by association." The fact is that one's long time associations do matter, they are a reflection of the most important choices an individual can make. In Obama's case, they are isolated cases of poor judgement, but persistent repeated evidence of his core beliefs, and the dishonesty of his present campaign to appear to be a purple candidate.

If McCain and Palin cannot nail down the fluorescent-blue leftist Obama in front of a purple American electorate, they will lose the election to the most radical leftist the American voters have ever voted for. America will probably face control by a radical leftist in the White House, a filibuster-proof left-leaning Congress, a leftist mainstream media, two or three new left-leaning Supreme Court nominees – with no viable confirmation challenge, and thousands of new leftist bureaucrats in Washington (about 7,000 in the executive staff alone).

McCain and Palin must explain why Obama’s past associations matter. Presently, the electorate feels like this is just so much attempt to distract and deflect from the current bad economic news; never mind that the financial news should indict the very democrats who were paid off to protect Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and should be advantage McCain and other Republicans who tried to reign in these excesses but were blocked by the Democrats that are presently controlling the investigation into what happened.

Can truth emerge from all of this? It does not appear very likely in the near term, but history has an incisive way of eventually cutting through the haze.

But our near term future desperately hangs in the balance, on the shoulders of McCain and Palin’s rhetorical skills, against the skillful rhetoric of a well-funded political chameleon.