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A nuanced and comprehensive speech? Yeah, that won't work.
A few lines Obama could have used, mid-speech:
“Republicans like to mock ideas, especially if the ideas don’t come from their friends in the big oil companies. They mock conservation, and efficient vehicles. They joke about the idea that unions make America stronger. But, the situation we face now is not funny. The American people know that it is not a joking matter.
“If you are a factory worker in Michigan, you know that efficient vehicles just make good sense. With gas near record high prices, you want your own vehicle to go further on a tank. You know fuel efficiency is a good idea even if John McCain tries to convince you to build a less efficient vehicle. No amount of Republican sarcasm is going to turn a good idea into a bad one. The American people know better.
“You know it is not funny when promises that were made to you, promises about health care and job security, are broken. It’s not a joke when you work hard your whole life just to see a CEO who made bad decisions get 100 million dollar paycheck.
“And we all know it’s no joke when we face an energy crisis. It is not time for cynical mockery. It is not time for the Republican politics of dismissal and distraction. It is time for American ingenuity and common sense.
“It’s common sense to do things that work. We know, we know, that having more efficient vehicles will help ease the energy burden. We know that hard-working people deserve better. It’s common sense to recognize that corporations should keep their promises. We learn the value of honesty in our churches and synagogues, and we teach honesty to our children.
“But my Republican opponents are not being honest with the American people. John McCain knows in his heart, just like you know, that we cannot simply drill our way out of this. He knows that the trouble in Michigan and in other parts of the country hard-hit by Bush’s economic policies is not the union of hard-working men and women trying to food on the table. Senator McCain knows that the politics and economics of the Bush administration have made things worse rather than better, and he endorses the Bush approach anyway.
“He knows this, but chooses to turn his back on the very people who make America great. He chooses, at this most serious of times, to campaign on badly written jokes and silly videos, rather than on ideas and hard work. My opponents would rather give tax breaks to oil companies than help lower the cost of college tuition for your children.
“America deserves better. In November you will be asked to elect a president, not a class clown.”
See, no nuance ;)
