"That One" and Knife Fights
So as my disgust grows with the tone of the campaigns as we enter the home stretch -and blessed relief! - I did not watch the full debates last night. I have, however, seen McCain's snarky reference to "that one" as he was talking about energy, IIRC. What struck me about it was not, what some folks seem to have jumped, implicit racism, but the attitude "that one" conveys. It's contempt, which we've seen from 2 debates now (though not as nakedly as in the first debate where McCain wouldn't make eye contact or even look at Obama). Contempt of what? Contempt of the younger, handsomer, more charismatic candidate? Contempt of a better debater, someone who's more comfortable in the limelight? Genunine contempt of Obama as vapid celebrity, who's duping the American people into voting for him? Contempt of the fact he's actually losing to this guy?
It's that last one that's the biggest problem for McCain, I think. Not only does it make him look like a sore loser, it makes him look like he deserves the presidency. McCain's taken a lot of lessons away from the Clinton campaign, but that's not one he wants to follow - appearing as if he's entitled, that he was robbed of the presidency by George W. Bush (and he may well have been - he probably would have creamed Gore in 2000) and now he's due, is ballot-box poison nowadays. Many folks, myself included, were very put off by Hillary's none-too-nuanced declarations of early victory before the first primaries even happened, and I firmly believe that drives many voters, especially the critical independants, towards the other guy. As a nation, we've made our mistake of engaging in dynasty politics, and the Democratic base IMO rejected that this election cycle. There are many people who feel we must still elect our leaders rather than name them or pass the torch.
If he's going to save his very-sick looking campaign - and I'm starting to wonder if this isn't about 2 weeks from over now - he's going to have to do the thing he and Palin have been so reluctant to do; provide a reason why people should vote for them. Obama seems to be putting forward policies - some solid, some vague - and McCain beats the war drum. In the factcheck realm, McCain's anti-Obama ads are getting more and more stretched (down the absolutely abhorent "palling around with terrorists" comments from this weekend) while Obama is nailing him on things he actually did on a far higher frequency. There is no opportunity to "change the dialogue away from the economy" - it's time to lay out some kind of plan beyond 'vote character' or 'better me than the other guy.' That WILL NOT WORK.
But before anyone gets hopeful abou the prospects of an easy Dem win this year, I point you to perhaps the finest quote of the cycle:
Remember that. And for God's sake, VOTE!
So as my disgust grows with the tone of the campaigns as we enter the home stretch -and blessed relief! - I did not watch the full debates last night. I have, however, seen McCain's snarky reference to "that one" as he was talking about energy, IIRC. What struck me about it was not, what some folks seem to have jumped, implicit racism, but the attitude "that one" conveys. It's contempt, which we've seen from 2 debates now (though not as nakedly as in the first debate where McCain wouldn't make eye contact or even look at Obama). Contempt of what? Contempt of the younger, handsomer, more charismatic candidate? Contempt of a better debater, someone who's more comfortable in the limelight? Genunine contempt of Obama as vapid celebrity, who's duping the American people into voting for him? Contempt of the fact he's actually losing to this guy?
It's that last one that's the biggest problem for McCain, I think. Not only does it make him look like a sore loser, it makes him look like he deserves the presidency. McCain's taken a lot of lessons away from the Clinton campaign, but that's not one he wants to follow - appearing as if he's entitled, that he was robbed of the presidency by George W. Bush (and he may well have been - he probably would have creamed Gore in 2000) and now he's due, is ballot-box poison nowadays. Many folks, myself included, were very put off by Hillary's none-too-nuanced declarations of early victory before the first primaries even happened, and I firmly believe that drives many voters, especially the critical independants, towards the other guy. As a nation, we've made our mistake of engaging in dynasty politics, and the Democratic base IMO rejected that this election cycle. There are many people who feel we must still elect our leaders rather than name them or pass the torch.
If he's going to save his very-sick looking campaign - and I'm starting to wonder if this isn't about 2 weeks from over now - he's going to have to do the thing he and Palin have been so reluctant to do; provide a reason why people should vote for them. Obama seems to be putting forward policies - some solid, some vague - and McCain beats the war drum. In the factcheck realm, McCain's anti-Obama ads are getting more and more stretched (down the absolutely abhorent "palling around with terrorists" comments from this weekend) while Obama is nailing him on things he actually did on a far higher frequency. There is no opportunity to "change the dialogue away from the economy" - it's time to lay out some kind of plan beyond 'vote character' or 'better me than the other guy.' That WILL NOT WORK.
But before anyone gets hopeful abou the prospects of an easy Dem win this year, I point you to perhaps the finest quote of the cycle:
"In the last 5 days, it always comes down to a knife fight in a telephone booth."(Thanks, TIME!)
-- CHRIS LEHANE, a Democratic political consultant, on his expectations for the campaign stretch run
Remember that. And for God's sake, VOTE!
Labels: politics
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