About four years ago I described what I called the Republicans’ ‘bitch slap’ theory of electoral politics. Stuff like the Swift Boat attacks on John Kerry and McCain’s Celeb/P Diddy assault on Obama aren’t really about the attacks themselves. In themselves, they’re often too cartoonish to be believed in any literal sense. What they’re about is smacking the other guy around and making him take it. There’s no better way to demonstrate someone’s lack of toughness or strength than to attack them and show they are either unwilling or unable to defend themselves — thus the rough slang I used above. That not only makes the other guy look weak. It also transforms him into an object of contempt, which together are politically fatal. It’s this meta-message of weakness that resonates far beyond the literal claims. And it’s this that Democrats so often seem to miss — explaining the factual inaccuracies of the claims, demanding that the attacks stop, all the while reinforcing the intended message of the attacks in the first place.
You can even catch a hint of the mentality in the McCain camp’s huffing and puffing Thursday afternoon. The new and somewhat improbable line from the McCain camp is that they’ve actually been doing their best to go easy on Obama, to hold back the stuff that would really make him suffer. But now that Obama’s gone ahead and raised McCain’s inability to remember how many houses, now he’s really gonna get it with a super-mean Rezko ad and maybe even Reverend Wright. “He’s opened the door to this,” a McCain official told Marc Ambinder, in a campaign version of the wife-beater’s “You brought this on yourself!” As if McCain and his Rove lieutenants paid much mind to closed doors.
In effect, the devastating Rezko ad McCain says it never wanted to have to run is pretty weak. Which is pretty much what you’d expect for an ad put together in three or four hours by a campaign shell-shocked by a media firestorm they couldn’t put out by screaming POW, POW, POW.
What we’ll see now is whether Obama keeps McCain on the run with a continuing line of attacks or whether they’ll let up after this one reactive pick-up from McCain’s mistake. The House? gaffe exposes two of McCain’s biggest vulnerabilities — 1) the contrast between his old soldier pseudo-mystique and the pampered life he’s led for almost 40 years and 2) the age-related wobbliness which has his campaign aides keeping him largely off limits to the traveling press. These dovetail with his loose-cannon approach to critical foreign policy questions.
These issues — particularly 2 and 3 — are substantively critical issues. 1 is to the extent that it sheds light on McCain’s general ignorance and indifference to bread-n-butter economic issues and his willingness to flip between progressive and Bushite tax policy over the course of a couple years. But the tempo of this election and the fall out from the ‘celeb’ attacks will be determined in large part not by factual particulars but by whether Obama can show that when someone hits him hard he hits back twice as hard. Not cowering, ignoring or complaining. This is about the score and not the libretto.
Pundits and yakkers start rapping McCain for non-stop POW, POW, POW.
Robin Leach comes to John McCain’s defense on luxe multi-house lifestyle.
The CIA issues an official denial of the allegations in Ron Suskind’s new book that the White House ordered then-Director George Tenet to forge documents intended to link al Qaeda to Saddam Hussein: “To assert, as Suskind does, that the White House would request such a document, and that the Agency would accept such a task, says something about him and nothing about us.”
Philip Pan weighs in on China’s transition to capitalism at TPMCafe, suggesting that the country would be better off if the changes were led by the communist party, which has shown exceptional resilience to violence and upheaval in its nearly 60-year old history.
Fresh back from Beijing, Jennifer 8. Lee notes that the Chinese pulled out all the stops for the Olympics: “Easy flowing traffic, lack of migrant workers (who are like the Mexicans of China), and happy shiny volunteers who speak English everywhere. Even the weather cleared up for a few days last week.”
I can confirm that Sen. Obama has not called to tell me that I am not going to be his running mate. I can read the tea leaves as well as anyone, and I think this is pretty conclusive proof that I am not yet out of the running.
I’ve been nothing if not coy about my shadow campaign for veep. Instead of telling as many people as I could that I have no interest in being asked to run, I’ve turned the traditional campaign for No. 2 on its head and told no one that I have a very real interest in being asked. I bet Joe, Evan and Kathleen didn’t see that one coming.
At first it seemed like a long shot, but as the week has dragged on and Obama still hasn’t announced his choice, I realized that this leaves the door open. As long as he hasn’t announced, or at least called in advance to let me down easy, I figure I’m still in the mix. And just think of the possibilities: Obama/Kurtz–OK for America.
I’ve gathered the children here at home and we’re waiting for the call. I keep peeking out the front window to see if the news trucks are gathering or the traffic is slowing down to catch a glimpse. Nothing yet, but I heard exclusively through a friend of a friend’s hairdresser that it’s all but decided. Can’t get any more solid a confirmation than that.
The AP is reporting that Joe Biden is the one.
CNN is carrying a similar report.
Earlier this evening, ABC reported that a Secret Service detail was on its way to Biden’s Delaware home.
Late Update: It’s official. The Obama campaign’s email announcing the decision is here.
The McCain campaign is already out with a new TV spot hitting Joe Biden with some 2005 footage of Biden saying he’d be honored to run for president with McCain.
Late Update: Our take on the choice: Biden pick has risks, but it also signals a vigorous debate with the GOP on foreign policy.
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) issued the following statement on the Biden selection:
“Joe Biden is the right partner for Barack Obama. His many years of distinguished service to America, his seasoned judgment and his vast experience in foreign policy and national security will match up well with the unique challenges of the 21st Century. An Obama-Biden ticket is a very impressive and strong team. Biden’s selection is good news for Obama and America.”