Combined with the recent Britney comparison, these petty attacks are getting increasingly lame and smell of desperation. There was a time when I could at least respect McCain as a worthy adversary, but he has been completely taken over by the Repugnican campaign machine. He also seems as though the rhetoric his handlers are feeding him is leaving a bad taste in his mouth, he now has a very sour expression when he mouths the words. He is at a turning point, where he either repudiates the Rovian dark side of his party, or he loses his maverick image altogether. Too bad, there was hope the Republicans could rehabilitate themselves in McCain’s former image, but it appears they have chosen political oblivion.
A while ago, the Economist had a cover with the two of them captioned “America Got it Right” (or something like that – I can’t recall exactly). I was strongly in that camp. I had my preferences, based on likely Supreme Court court directions and a host of other issues, but this was the first campaign I could think of in which neither side truly horrified me (voting since Bush I first term).
I was in that camp. McCain has changed my mind. I think it’s the wrapping himself in Bush campaign handlers and strategists that did it – this didn’t need to be a negative campaign. This didn’t need to stoop to the same levels that defeated McCain in '00. Some may rightly point out that this is a long time coming, from the inclusion of the same lobbying interests he bucked years ago, the shift to appease the same religious leaders he once butted heads with, to many other changes to the model he projected the last time around. But I guess the Britteny ad was the last straw for me in regarding McCain with respect.
It was one thing to disagree with his policies yet support him as a candidate. It’s another to disagree and consider him as base as Bush.
Especially since he spent the majority of the primary season, while we were all waiting to see who the Dem nominee was going to be, shouting from the rooftops that it was going to be a civil and honorable campaign. Didn’t take him long to repudiate that, did it?
What bothers me about this ad isn’t how negative it is, since it’s soft kitten paws compared with what we’ve seen from the Republican attack machine in recent elections, but simply how retarded it is. “Don’t vote for Obama, people like him! He’s good looking! He speaks well! What a jerk!”
By likening your opponent to a celebrity as a means of setting yourself apart, what are you really saying about yourself? That you’re uncharismatic, uninteresting, and have a hard time commanding the attention of a nation?
If you think your experience and leadership makes you more qualified for the job, talk about how you’d handle nuanced issues. Don’t talk about what kind of lettuce the other guy eats.
No kidding. I would ask whether or not we can start sharpening the forks, but the thing is, there’s still plenty of time left for Obama to step on his own dick.
Absolutely. I don’t even fault McCain that much, really. More than anything, it’s a sign of how much we’ve forced politicians to dumb down elections. As an electorate, we crucify anyone who says anything substantive, because real solutions always have a down side. All your opponent then has to do is focus on that, e.g. “he just wants to raise yer taxes!!!1!” and you’re done. So you just spar back and forth over who has the best image and the best sound bites.
You know, the saddest part is knowing a strategy like that works. When I first saw some of these McCain ads, I thought, “He’s pathetic.” Then I thought, “He’ll win doing this shit.”
Wouldn’t have worked. The qualities of a candidate are inversely and perversely proportional to the qualities that make a President. Reagan was warm, sunny, and personable with years of experience hitting his mark and reciting his lines with the appropriate simulation of sincerity, even when he hadn’t the slightest idea what the script was about. His shallow vapidity made him a nearly perfect candidate. Any such attack on him would be seen as publicly boiling a puppy.
So on the one hand he’s a faggot who drinks organic tea and eats fancy lettuce. On the other hand, given the juxtaposition of him with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton in the ads, he’s going to use his outsized personality to go after our white women.
Seems like those would be mutually reassuring. If he does manage to snag some of our white women, he won’t know what to do with them.
I think the whole thing reeks of desperation, and while factors like the economy and the war still could muddy the prospects of either candidate, Obama’s playing a strong, smart, forceful game, and McCain’s only strategy is to pick and preen and distort and complain. It all seems so small and petty for a “hero” and it doesn’t help that his presentation is usually thin and reedy and unfocused. I think people generally like to listen to confident, charismatic orators, and while that won’t necessarily convince everyone, it will still serve as a stark contrast to the candidate who has nothing inspiring to bring to the table.
McCain attempting to hang that “elitist” tag on Obama rings a little hollow coming from a man who runs around in a private jet wearing $500 Italian shoes.
I hear Obama likes arugula and lattes, though, which of course places him completely beyond the pale!
