Filed under: Author - ACG,Politics | Tags: John McCain, Media, Political symbols, Sarah Palin
Quite apart from its tendency to distract the nation from issues of grave import, and the risk of alienating voters, Sarah Palin & John McCain are both proving another danger of the steady usage of attack ads: by “opening the door” to impugning the opponents’ character, attack ads invite supporters to take it another step, and legitimize truly hateful behavior.
Attack ad culture sets the nation on a rhetorical slippery slope: while generally I distrust the “slippery slope” argument, our nation looks to its leaders for guidance as to what’s politically “proper.” Since politicians have such a strong role in forming the national discourse, a breach of decorum by our leaders seriously precipitates a similar trend among the populace.
There’s no question that McCain and Palin’s verbal assaults on Barack Obama, especially those accusing Obama of “palling around with terrorists,” have brought out the worst in American culture. Watch this video below (h/t Daily Kos), and listen to the “answer” to McCain’s “call”:
Kos’ point in this clip is that McCain can’t stand up to hate. But really it goes deeper than that. It’s not that he can’t stand up to it; it’s that he created an atmosphere where things like this are acceptable, by tapping into the vast reservoir of racist distrust of Barack Obama, and giving it the tacit “go-ahead.” While McCain once outright lambasted xenophobic assaults on Obama, the lunatic fringe on the right can now feel like they have a friend, at least partially, in John McCain.
As far as American decency is concerned, Palin’s rallies suggest a truly disturbing confluence between the Republican Party, the McCain campaign’s new hateful rhetoric, and America’s rhetorical race to the bottom:
Worse, Palin’s routine attacks on the media have begun to spill into ugliness. In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000…. Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, “Sit down, boy.”
In the deep, dark depths of the Bush years, many Americans like myself imagined that, at the point where politicians openly equated dissent with disloyalty, we had truly hit bottom. Not so. Under a McCain/Palin administration, the floor would drop out.
Filed under: Author - ACG,Politics | Tags: Barack Obama, John McCain, Political symbols, Presidential Debates
Defend the lead.
Last week, the vice presidential candidates exhibited a degree of finesse, polish, and (yes) coaching, as both Sarah Palin & Joe Biden strained to avoid their own personal weaknesses. Palin, obviously, had to struggle to stay on-topic and not look ridiculous, while Joe Biden tried to limit his frequent abuse of the word “literally” (invented example: “I’ve authored literally millions of Senate resolutions”). For Palin, the struggle was obvious throughout; Biden’s hyperbolic tendencies only peeked through twice, albeit conspicuously, before the Senator mastered them.
Tomorrow night, the Presidential candidates would do well to learn from their running mates’ examples. Both Barack Obama and John McCain exhibited significant weaknesses in the last debate; despite Obama’s perceived victory (fine by me!) and his commanding lead in the polls, a weak performance could still shift the narrative against him. Similarly, tonight is John McCain’s last best chance to pull his campaign out of the tailspin it currently finds itself locked into. A perceived defeat would be devastating, a knock-out blow to his campaign and, to some extent, his ideology (more on that later). Some tips for the campaigns:
Barack Obama: Stay Positive
- Avoid agreeing with John McCain. Ever. Couch agreement in disagreement. Not, “I agree with John McCain, but…” – rather, “while John and I share a commitment to [value]…” Quote mining the latter would be more difficult than the former.
- Take Biden’s cue in attacking while appearing gracious. Cultivate McCain’s negative perception by conspicuously taking the higher ground except, perhaps, to implicate his devious tactics.
- Draw attention to McCain’s negative campaign: not the substance of its allegations, but the fact of its existence. “John will tell you, he doesn’t want to talk about the economy. He’d rather play guilt by association. That’s not what the American people want to hear.” For effectiveness, and to maintain poise, make this the one poitned attack of the night.
- For a real trump card, ask McCain to set the nastiest of his supporters, the ones calling Obama a terrorist Muslim, straight. On a related note, keep in verbal stock pithy, short, powerful replies to the Ayers, Wright, Rezko association attacks. Improve on the answers you gave O’Reilly (covered here, transcript here) to not only discredit the “guilt by association” strategy, but also speak to the depth, or lack thereof, of the relationships.
- Relentlessly keep the focus on the economy. The “town hall” format will give ample opportunities for distractions; consciously steer the discussion back to the economy. Voters will want to hear the most about that, anyways.
- Cut the “umms.” Stay on topic. Never stall in giving an answer. Answer questions completely. Demonstrate grasp of the issues and respectful disagreement.
John McCain: Don’t Reinforce Your Negative Image
- Last debate, voters responded negatively to the rote Republican approach to Obama (“He doesn’t get it”; “he doesn’t understand”). A repeat performance of this little verbal polemic could reinforce negative voter perceptions emanating from the campaign’s new negative turn. (Update: CNN agrees)
- Similarly, don’t use any of the talking points you use in your ads. Keep distance between your campaign and yourself. Abandoning synergy between debates & stump speeches is the cost of negative campaigning, and key to maintaining a doublespeak that lets you seem respectful while vigorously attacking. Bush did it; you can always try.
- Discount “rumors” that you want to avoid discussing the economy. For the love of God, find a new way of attacking Obama’s economic policy, besides the $42,000 tax bracket lie. People are starting to catch on.
- Tone down the “maverick” line. We’ve gotten all the information we’re going to get from that little talking point; now it’s just becoming comic.
- Praise Palin. People like her more than you.
I think less often about John McCain’s best strategy than I do about Barack Obama’s… accordingly, these may not be the best or most notable lines of discussion for McCain to pursue. The first point, though, is mandatory. If Obama repeats Joe Biden’s performance (strong, effective, but kind) and McCain reprises his first debate, the election will be over. Oh, and don’t forget buzzword bingo!
