Letter: Presidential campaign advice

EDITOR,
With one sentence, Obama can obliterate the entire Republican election campaign. With this declaration, he can take the wind out of their sales, put them on a downward slope and shut them up completely. How? Consider what their all-encompassing message has been since 2008: “Defeat Obama!”
So, here’s the one sentence Obama can utter to silence the GOP (and at the same time negate the need for a third party): “I will campaign vigorously for progressive causes right up to election day 2012, but at the Democratic convention, I will formally announce my withdrawal from the race for president.”
He could state that now to give Democrats time to settle on a candidate before the convention. Progressives who have been openly critical of Obama will return to the Democratic side, as in 2008. Conservatives, having lost their game plan, will be forced to offer something specific. The race will pit Democratic ideas against Republican ideology. Obama will leave office as a hero instead of a discredited politician.
Howard F. Sosbee, Scotts Valley