Centerblue.org

I was listening to Obama’s victory speech last night, and noticed a sudden change in tenor and theme. His gloves came off–but not against Hillary who he totally ignored–but against McCain.

He injected the following themes, to powerful effect:

He began repeating the “Bush-McCain” mantra. He talked about the “Bush-McCain” tax cuts, about the “Bush-McCain” war in Iraq. He intends to use Bush, the most profoundly unpopular president in modern times, as a millstone around McCain’s neck by constantly associating one name with the other in people’s minds by incessant repetition.

He also continued to hammer home that he is the candidate of change–and that McCain is just a stooge for the establishment seeking to maintain the status quo. For example, he repeated McCain’s recent and ridiculous assertion (which parroted Bush’s) that he could see us staying in Iraq for 100 years or longer–something that goes over like a fart in church right now in this country. By Obama embracing the mantle of change at this juncture, at a time when overwhelming amounts of people in polls say that is their top priority for this election, is a very good thing.

McCain spoke immediately after Obama–and he ended up looking like a deflated souffle by comparison. This is going to be interesting!

Obama is doing what the GOP has been so good at doing in previous elections: he is beginning to define his opponent before his opponent has had a chance to define himself.