Faith in the people

Barack Obama did something significant this week; he changed campaigning for public office as we know it.  

In the weeks before the Indiana and North Carolina primary, John McCain laid out his proposal to eliminate the 18.4 cents per gallon gas tax during the summer months in order to -- what he claims -- help people deal with the high gas prices.  Clinton, unfortunately, jumped on board with this really bad idea thereafter. 

This proposal is a really bad idea for several reasons.  First, despite everyone hating taxes, they do actually pay for stuff, and in the case of the gas taxes pay for road maintenance.  The United States already underfunds road maintenance, and eliminating the gas tax would severely hinder road projects by removing an estimated $9 billion from that dedicated transportation fund.

But Clinton said that she would make the extremely-profitable oil companies pay for that $9 billion shortfall.  This phony and ill-advised argument brings me to my second point: it won't reduce gas prices, and not one economist will tell you otherwise.  The demand for gas is so great that consumers will pay almost any price for it, so putting a tax on the oil companies will only cause them to raise the price of gasoline to make up for it.  Consumers will pay for for it because we have no choice, and we're right back where we started.

But let's just pretend that McCain and Hillary were able to suspend the laws of economics and the plan did work -- under that circumstance, it's still a bad idea.  A sudden spike in demand of gasoline (due to the reduced cost) would cause gasoline shortages across the nation. 

On top of all of those reasons, the unpleasant fact of the matter is that we to raise the gas tax to invest in a nation-wide mass transportation system.  An increase in the gas tax would allow us to invest in new transportation infrastructure, reduce the demand of gasoline, and clean our air.    The future of our economy depends on efficient transportation.  Sadly, we currently do not have the funding nor the will to invest in the infrastructure we need to maintain our economy in the coming decades.  All the while our highways continue to descend into permanent gridlock.

Where does Obama come into this?  Well, I believe he changed American politics by his stance on this issue.  He not only publicly repudiated this idea, he also made it central to his campaign.  This is significant for the main reason that for my entire life, tax cuts have been wrongly pitched as the cure to any of our nation's problems.  

Budget surpluses?  Better cut taxes.  Budget deficits?  Better cut taxes.  Fighting two wars? Better cut taxes. 

Challenging business as usual, Obama ran a 60 second TV ad in Indiana and North Carolina that strayed away from the typical and meaningless campaign commercials to focus on this policy.  And by doing so, Obama put his faith in the voters that they were capable of thinking about public policy -- quite different than McCain and Clinton who were banking on the fact that voters don't know any better.

So how did this change politics?  Because he won and clinched the Democratic nomination.  Anytime a presidential candidate strays from the business as usual method and it works, candidates from there on out adapt to the winning strategy.

A few examples:

William Henry Harrison was the first presidential candidate to travel the country to campaign.  Back in those days (the 1840s), presidential candidates campaigned from their estates.  Harrison won the presidency in a landslide, and his strategy was the new standard.

In the 1988 presidential race, George H.W. Bush's campaign aide, Lee Atwater, changed how campaigns were run with the infamous Willie Horton ad, which played on racial fears and depicted Michael Dukakis as weak on crime.  While the ad was not completely truthful, it helped propel Bush to the White House and set the precedent that misleading TV ads work.

John Kerry and the Swiftboat ad is a descendent of the Willie Horton ad.  The Swiftboat ad features Vietnam vets accusing John Kerry of lying about his record during the war.  A short time later, it was revealed that the ad was completely wrong.  But it did the trick.  It helped push George W. Bush into his 2nd term as president.

Obama's bold move to oppose eliminating the gas tax is much like these examples -- the only difference is that his stance is right, honest, and stands on the ground of good public policy.  

He put his faith in the voters that we would appreciate the honesty.  For this, Obama all but clinched the nomination, and with it -- and I hope with it, the trust of the American people.

Support Barack Obama and change the standard for elections.