How to beat Obama

Near-perfection is needed

While voters might think President Obama hasn’t quite brought the hope and change they wanted, it’s going to be very difficult for the biggest change to occur: his defeat.

With so much change occurring in the world today — both economically and politically — the American people understand that stability at home, no matter how much skepticism they have for President Obama, may be a safe choice in their next presidential vote.

So what does the Republican nominee need to do to flip that mindset? He must run a near-perfect campaign and hope for a little luck. As the primaries take shape, Republican voters will understand that their nominee must be smart, established, and “safe” enough to lead in an unsafe world.

The Republican nominee must run a flawless campaign that eases voter anxiety that “safe-change” is the right path for our country. This candidate must run a creative and different advertising campaign that makes President Obama the risk. In addition, they must equal or exceed the ground-game results that President Obama has organized, cultivated, and grown for five years now.

President Obama can only ride the success of the bin Laden strike for so long (see Bush’s temporary bump after Saddam Hussein’s death in December 2006). If al-Qaeda strikes again, more unrest develops in the Middle East, Libya becomes a quagmire, or domestic economic conditions worsen — then the door is open for a safe, stable, and trustworthy Republican to win.

Phillip Stutts is president of Phillip Stutts & Company, a political/grassroots consulting company.

The nominee must give voice to cash-strapped voters’ concerns

We are told our nation stands on the brink of financial collapse. Our debt is as bad as Greece’s and Ireland’s. We have hit the “budget ceiling” so many times the top of our nation’s head is flat. Yet we can’t stop spending. We turn yet again to China to borrow money, because Wall Street is tapped out. The unemployment rate is falling but only because thousands have just quit looking for jobs. These are the issues the Republican nominee must embrace.

I remember vividly during the McCain campaign stomping around my backyard yelling into my cell phone at why Senator John McCain would come to D.C. but not have a budget idea! Unlike many, I loved it that he paused the campaign because of our nation’s impending financial crisis, but I hated that he came empty-handed on the policy front when he met with the president. To beat President Obama in a billion-dollar election, the Republican candidate better “come to town” this time with a budget record that gives America fiscal confidence.

A Republican campaign must give voice to Americans who pay the bills and who struggle mightily with financial pressures that are not letting up.

Paul O. Wilson is the chairman and CEO of Wilson Grand Communications and a Republican media consultant.