1992 Redux

Over the weekend, the Republican National Committee held an event for it’s major donors in which they outlined their plan of attack for potential Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

See story here.

Given that the Republican nominee will likely be war hero John McCain, it isn’t surprising that a major piece of the strategy will be national security and experience.

While none of us would disagree that national security is of prime concern, I think once again the Republicans are going to forget, “it’s the economy stupid.”

President George H.W. Bush forgot that back in 1992 and it cost him the election. Relying on his national security and foreign policy experience, he tried a very similar strategy against former Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton…and we know how that turned out.

IF Republicans and John McCain can keep the focus on national security, then the strategy could work. However, if, like in 1992, the focus of the campaign shifts from national security to economic security, then this strategy will fail once again.

If you look at the polls, the economy is the top concern for American voters. I fear that this election will be more about economic security and less about national security.

John McCain has already shown that he is not as polished on economic issues as he should be. You can bet that Obama or Hillary will expose that, using McCain’s own words.

I like McCain’s policy to make the Bush tax cuts permanent and doing away with pork barrel spending, however that alone is not an economic plan. If this is all that McCain has in his arsenal, he’s going to be taking a knife to a gun fight.