TPM Reader KD not optimistic …
As a black guy I can appreciate what McCain is doing. The subtext of the add is hot WHITE chicks dig him. The genius of the strategy is that Obama cannot call him out without being accused of playing the race card again. Apparently now in America, it is worse to call out subtle racism than to actually practice it.
Now that McCain has in effect inoculated himself against the charge, you can expect to see these type of subtle ads kept being run. McCain will never run an add saying that Obama will sleep with your white daughter, but his ads will all have a subtle insinuation of this theme. The goal will be repetition. And they are counting on the media to play and talk about the ads. I dont think Obama can do anything about it.
If Obama loses, his decision to kill the 527’s will be a key reason why. Right now they would be carpet bombing McCain into the stone age (no pun intended). Move On on other 527’s would have numerous ads on how McCain thinks Americans are whining about the economy, how confused McCain always is, etc. McCain would be on the defensive, instead of making Obama react to every new ad.
The only hope now is that Obama’s ground game. His ads have been most unimpressive. They lack creativity. The media really do not want to talk about them. One hopes that this all will change. Right now I give McCain’s new campaign manager an A+. He may be despicable, but he knows what he is doing.
