Barack Obama is sticking to his principles...all the way to stupid-land. As discussed over at Bleeding Heartland (an excellent Iowa political blog), Obama's handlers have made the commitment to more voter outreach, and therefore, fewer debates. In my humble opinion, however, skipping the AARP debate in Iowa is committing political suicide in Iowa, a state where the average caucus-goer (and voter) hovers around age 65.
Many of the hot social issues of our time effect the 50+ crowd: Access to health care, social security, pension safety, workplace discrimination, sandwich generation care issues...you name it. Not addressing these issues directly at the debate will place Obama in limbo with these voters. He is concentrating on younger voters, which is great...but for some reason those people are the least likely age group to actually turn out on caucus night.
Obama should make an exception to his no-debate rule and show up for this one. It's a no-brainer. He is an unknown quantity and needs older voters' support to win.
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