There was a strategy the Conservatives could’ve used in ’08 that would’ve led to victory which is a must-know for 2012.

No, it does not involve recreating history such as pretending that a different candidate other than McCain would’ve won the primary, or that the country’s economic situation wasn’t heading towards collapse.

Nor is it necessary to alter the fact that his campaign came after eight years of an unpopular president, George W. Bush, which created an entire new class of Republican haters.

Obama remains his Democratic rival and the then popular Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential pick.

With all of the above, John McCain could’ve won with a landslide.

Here’s how.

During the ’08 campaign, McCain clearly differentiated time and again between Obama’s opposition to the Iraqi war and his support of the war and the surge as seen in this interview on CBS with Katie Couric where he said the following:

McCain: …He (Obama) was wrong. He said he still doesn't agree that surge has succeeded now that everybody knows that it has succeeded. I said at the time that I supported the surge. I would much rather lose a campaign than lose a war. Sen. Obama has indicated that by his failure to acknowledge the success of the surge, that he would rather lose a war than lose a campaign.

McCain’s constant defense of the war and the surge portrayed him as a man with principles whose values system remained intact. This irked the media to no end and they therefore questioned him how he dared portray Obama as unpatriotic. McCain didn’t allow the media to dictate the narrative and instead calmly responded that he wasn’t questioning anything, he was simply stating facts. When General Petraeus proclaimed the war is heading in the right direction, the left mocked General Petraeus and called him “Betray Us” and accused him in lying. Even when everyone admitted the surge worked, Obama still refused to give credit where credit was due. How patriotic does that come across?

Ultimately, regarding the war, the nation favored McCain over Obama with a significant percentage, and that pretty much tied the charismatic and cool Obama with the bland and white-haired McCain which caused Obama to drop his anti-war rhetoric. After McCain picked Sarah Palin as his vice president, his poll numbers slowly rose upwards and then surged a full ten percent ahead of Obama a week after the Republican convention amongst likely voters.

This came to a sudden halt at the “economic collapse.”

At first, when McCain was questioned about the direction of the economy, he responded in a reassuring and calm manner that although the economy is shaky the fundamentals are strong. The media mocked his reply as proof that he’s out of touch and as not living in reality.

At the same time, Obama’s approach to the failing economy was to sow panic and worry in the hearts of all. In his campaign rallies he portrayed the situation as a terrible catastrophe heading our way caused by Bush’s terrible policies (a line he still uses in almost every speech and press conference) which requires drastic actions or will lead to total economic collapse.

Shortly thereafter, McCain unwisely suspended his campaign due to the economy and flew to D.C. to join the Senate in their decision-making. His actions threw the entire country and media into a heated debate whether McCain should or shouldn’t support the TARP bailout; an act that is now known to all was a bad decision.

McCain’s handling of the economy was the turning point for his campaign which caused his poll numbers to begin slipping and sliding once again and ultimately led to his defeat.

There was an alternative path McCain could’ve taken through which he would’ve emerged as the strong and presidential candidate.

It’s actually not so different from his approach regarding the Iraqi war, which successfully presented him as the stronger candidate regarding the wars. Simply, instead of following Obama’s and the media’s narrative of fear and panic which require drastic solution, McCain should’ve set the narrative at a press conference where he would’ve explained his earlier statement with the following explanation (not necessarily these words):

My fellow citizens, the American people:

Yes, the economy is in a precarious situation and we will experience some, and possibly even a lot of turbulence. Precisely in such a time it is of utmost importance to remember that because the economy of our country is rooted in capitalism and is built upon free enterprise, this difficult period will soon be history and our economy will be even stronger than it had been before hitting tough times.

I know you’re constantly hearing about how the worst is still to come and that the future has never been so bleak, but I’m telling you, that if we give the control back to the private sector and allow freedom to reign we will be out of this mess in no time as we‘ve seen repeatedly in our nation’s history. The fundamentals of our economy are strong and we will continue to strengthen it so that no matter how strong the winds are blowing, we will remain standing strong and proud, and overcome these turbulent times.

I’ve told you earlier in the campaign that Obama is ready to have us lose the war in Iraq as long as it gets him into the oval office. It now appears that he’s ready to do even greater damage to this nation and destroy the entire economy in order to promote his agenda. Obama is ready to throw the entire country into turmoil and panic to benefit his campaign and help him win this election.

We’ve had greater depressions and economic failures than these times in our history, but never, no matter the crisis, have we had a leader constantly harping on the catastrophe and collapse awaiting us.

During the Great Depression, which is the darkest economic times in our history, Roosevelt came out and said words that have become famous and oft-quoted; “The only thing we have to fear is Fear itself.”

That is the proper behavior of a true leader.

I am convinced that if McCain would’ve clearly expressed the above points and repeated this message several times, a majority of citizens would recognize the truth in his words and would support him over Obama. Obama would’ve felt compelled to abandon the panic mode just as he was forced to stop his attacks at the Iraqi war, and McCain, whose poll numbers had been 10% ahead of Obama before the economic collapse, would’ve surged further ahead and been the victorious candidate on November 4, 2008.

Why is this so important now? It is imperative to constantly look back at history in order to see success in the future. History is studied to avoid the repetition of previous errors and emulate those that have made the correct choices.

Obama’s campaign focused on instilling fear into the hearts of the people, and once elected, Obama continued to use panic and play with people’s emotions to push through his radical agenda. Bailouts, Stimulus, Obamacare, and a barely failed Cap and Trade, all fit the above description. Obama is now attempting to do the same with the budget, with the media helping push his narrative by spreading false information such as that the Social Security checks will be stopped if the government is forced to a freeze. Unfortunately, most Republicans play right into the left’s hands by fighting on Obama’s terms rather than setting their own narrative.

Instead of simply responding to the left’s attacks, Conservatives must take the topics concerning voters and explain clearly why the Democrat’s talking points are totally off tangent and what the real solutions are.

For example, the left and the media have decided to focus the discussion regarding the debt ceiling on tax increases for the rich and claim the Conservatives want to cut programs from the poor while allowing the rich to get away without any additional taxes. In addition to responding to their false claims, the conservatives should focus on getting out the message that taxes are not the solution to solving our deficit since it’s spending that causes deficits, not insufficient taxes.

It can be explained in the following manner:

Many people earn decent incomes that can cover all their expenses but are deep in debt because of their spending habits which rack up tremendous credit card bills for items they don’t need. It’s foolish for these people to blame their debt on their bosses or friends for not providing them with money. Credit card debt doesn’t occur or increase if the card is swiped only when one has funds are available and pays their bills on time. The ABC’s of money management is to spend according to one’s income and to know what’s essential and what’s extra.

The Democrats are -- just like these shopaholics who blame others – blaming the higher earners who already pay most of the taxes for the debt that the Democrats have spent us into. We need to go back to the basics of budgeting and decide what’s truly necessary, and what can be cut away. It might be painful, as anyone who’s had to do it in their private lives will attest, but the alternative is in the long term downright dangerous.

Conservatives must put the left on defense by explaining how lower taxes has never caused a deficit because it’s not money coming out of the government’s pockets, it’s the other way around. We are in debt because of reckless spending and only by curbing the addiction can the debt be cured. Conservatives should also clarify the difference between handouts which is spending, and tax cuts which is less government -- taking. When Obama claims he cut taxes thus increasing spending, that is simply not true. It’s not money out, it’s less money in. Taxing is therefore not the solution; higher taxes are actually part of the problem because it promotes the outsourcing of businesses thus destroying thousands of jobs.

When conservatives choose their candidate for 2012, it is imperative that the candidate should be capable of and willing to clarify to one and all Obama’s method of inducing panic in the public and the results of his policies which were able to be passed only because of his fear mongering behavior.

We need someone who won’t be afraid to speak out against Obama and his destructive actions. We need an individual who understands the needs of this country, has a plan how to get there, and won’t rest until success is reached. We need a candidate that’s ready to lead this country back onto its original path of smaller government and individual freedom. We need a president that puts America first before any personal interest or anything else for that matter.

A campaign against Barack Obama must educate America what his panic causing rhetoric has accomplished. He said we have the worst health care system in the world and rammed through his 2,500 page health care in which is constantly discovered additional information he’s hidden from the public and even from many in congress who voted for the bill. We need someone who won’t be afraid to take him up on it, such as terming the end of life counseling “death panels” and confronting Pelosi’s, “you have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it” which is proving to contain many unpleasant surprises.

First, the death panels which were officially taken out of the bill and supposedly never even there in the first place were discovered. Then, waivers for certain groups and corporations were discovered, followed by the discovery of a loophole to extend Medicaid to middle class people. Who knows what else is hidden in there further destroying the best health care system in the universe and stripping the citizens from freedom.

We don’t need someone who first said that Obama’s policies haven’t made the economy worse; that it only remained at the same level. Nor do we need someone who speaks out against Obamneycare on a Sunday show but when it comes face to face in a debate suddenly softens his tone.

Barack Obama through his panic that the world is coming to an end, pushed through an economy -- destroying cap & trade bill in congress that attempts to turn the clock back on modernization and civilization several hundred years. Thankfully, Conservatives and Tea Partiers protested and spread the truth about the bill, causing it to fall through in the Senate.

Obama also rammed through a second stimulus package after warning we could not survive otherwise.

This country is in an economic slump yet Obama wants to spend even more even though unemployment is on the rise and the GDP was lower than estimated.

It is time for a Conservative leader to get up to Obama and confront him; Barack Obama, you’ve put America into panic and pushed through endless bills that no one even read worth trillions of dollars and have attempted to destroy coal mines all over the country. 

When the BP oil spill occurred in the Gulf you put a moratorium that banned any offshore drilling even though many judges ruled it as unconstitutional. It is clear how much your trillion dollar spending bills have done to better the economy, and what the real price of his healthcare bill is. We will no longer fall for your scare tactics.