Obama and the Re-Election Game Plan

Selwyn Duke, writing for The American Thinker web site, posted an article November 12 outlining how he thinks President-elect Barack Obama will ensure his re-election to the presidency in 2012.

First, Duke argues that those who believe Obama will be a one-term president and that a revived Republican Party will oust him from power in four years are flat-out mistaken: "Frankly, I don't see anything short of divine or devilish intervention (and the latter favors the president-elect) that will prevent Obama from being a two-term president."

Here's why.

To begin with, Duke says, the mainstream media will remain in the tank for Obama over the course of the next four years. There may be occasional critical pieces "...for circulation purposes and to convince themselves they're still journalists....," but the positive will, in the end, far outweigh any negative coverage the new president may get.

Second, Duke characterizes President-elect Obama as "...a remarkably effective demagogue." Obama's charismatic personality, commanding voice, and extremely articulate manner of speaking, coupled with "that activist media," will help ensure electoral success when the time for re-election comes around.

But the most important factor, Duke argues, will involve immigration. "The

coup de grace Obama will use against rightist opposition is mostly embodied in one word: Amnesty." Granting amnesty to illegal immigrants "...will both grow the Hispanic voting block and ingratiate Obama to it" Duke says. A liberal president with an even more liberal congress, the argument goes, will be able to push through an amnesty program that will swell the ranks of Democrat voters.

Going off on a tangent for a moment, I would say that Republicans have been slow to address the needs and concerns of the fastest growing minority group in the country: Hispanics. But what the GOP needs to do is to figure out a way to make the Republican Party attractive to this group of voters without compromising on the core principle of enforcing the nation's immigration laws. It's a tough nut to crack, but the Republican base will not stand for a re-identification of the party that involves granting amnesty to people here illegally.

Returning to the media factor again, Duke argues that the mantra of the mainstream news organizations will be that eight years of Bush will require

at least eight years of Obama to get the country headed in the right direction again. To be sure, there have already been some indications of this theme already, and it makes sense for a guy who is likely to seek re-election next time around (have you seen one yet that doesn't want to get re-elected?).

With the media in line, Duke expects Obama and the Democrat-led congress to go after conservative outlets by bringing back the Fairness Doctrine. Can someone tell me what's fair about dictating to a private business what is will offer to its customers? Is the New York Times going to be forced to have an equal number of conservative arguments and liberal arguments? Many liberals don't like conservative domination of talk radio, but conservative programs are dominant because audiences prefer them. That's why Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity succeed, while Air America fails.

I don't doubt that Obama will win two terms. He's young, energetic, charismatic and persuasive. And in our society today, personality goes a long way with the voting public.