Hey Wisconsin, Get Off the Fence

I live in Texas. Barack Obama’s odds of winning this state are about the same as my odds of marrying Elizabeth Hurley. Or Madeleine Albright. Pretty slim either way. So, if I want to see where the real electoral action is happening, I look elsewhere. I look to places like Wisconsin.

This year, yet again, Wisconsin finds itself in the category of “battleground state.” This means that the Badger State could go for either Barack Obama or John McCain.

Knowing this, I have to ask my Wisconsin friends a couple of questions: 

1) really?;

2) no, seriously?

It’s not that I think John McCain is anything special. It’s just that I see Barack Obama as almost all downside. For starters, it’s obvious—to me, at least—that Sen. Obama is still figuring out his basic positions and principles on major foreign policy issues. This is why he and his staff are constantly revising, refining, and even repudiating the candidate’s previous statements on international affairs:

• Iran is a minor threat; no wait, it’s a grave threat.
• NAFTA really needs to be renegotiated; on second thought, NAFTA is NIFTY, just the way it is
• Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of Israel; oops, sorry, it seems the Palestinians have a little problem with that.
• I would negotiate directly, and without preconditions, with the leaders of rogue states; actually, come to think of it, I don’t want to be part of some crackpot dictator’s propaganda campaign. (Author’s note: I cheated on this one. It was actually Joe Biden who said the second part. Barack Obama said the first, and he’s sticking with it. What’s that they say about a foolish consistency?)

Then there’s domestic policy. Is there any reason to believe that Barack Obama, standard-bearer of a party that’s effectively a subsidiary of the National Education Association, will be able to improve public education? And what about energy independence? Obama likes this idea, but does not like expanded domestic production of oil, natural gas, and nuclear power. He prefers renewable energy sources, such as solar. That could make for a chilly winter in Wisconsin. On healthcare, he plans to stitch a few more patches onto an already crazy, wildly expensive quilt, and then try to get another 40 million Americans underneath it. Good luck with that. Finally, on federal spending, who’s more likely to restrain a Democratic Congress that has a “to-do” list stretching back to 1994: Barack Obama or John McCain? The question answers itself.

I will grant you that in terms of wit, charm, looks, smarts, presence, and overall panache, Barack Obama is to John McCain as Cary Grant is to Charles Lane. Like both Grant and Lane, however, Obama seems a natural fit for the New Deal era, but a bit out of place in the age of the New Democrat.  

-September 29, 2008

The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute is independent and does not engage in partisan races.  The views are those of the author and we welcome all commentary, both those agreeing with this viewpoint and those that disagree.