The issue: McCain supports increased drilling and relaxing of federal environmental rules.
I mentioned this story yesterday when I first saw it hit the wires and waived a massive warning flag about whether the Gore endorsement timing could effectively bury this story.
Well I was right about the toxicity of this story… and I’m glad to see that its just building…
Matt Drudge single-handedly kept a radioactive campaign issue alive that should hobble the McCain campaign’s moderate gains in appearing environmentally friendly. In fairness, the Washington Post kept it alive by running it front page, but Drudge’s emphasis will likely lend it the talk show circuit critical mass that could make this a major shit storm for McCain.
Already losing badly to Obama on the environment, where voters say they trust Obama to handle Global warming and other environmental issues 55% to 28% over McCain (Washington Post-ABC Survey), this curious move looks like the campaign is willing to throw up the white flag, or at least rob Peter to Paint Paul by sacrificing environmental credibility for greater credibility on energy and the economy.
With 6% of voters now citing Gas/Oil prices/Energy as the single most important issue in their choice for president, and a whopping 33% citing Economy/Jobs, McCain may playing issue triage with his policy decisions as barely 1% of voters cite the environment as their “most important issue.”
Nevertheless, this seems like a particularly foolish strategy, as it smacks McCain immediately with the radioactive label of “friend to big oil,” not particularly the favored spot on the energy issue, even if more drilling would potentially spell lower gas prices.
Fact is, the benefits of new oil exploration wouldn’t be seen for several years, and even then, domestically produced oil would still be subject to the fickle commodities market, which is governed by more forces than the ratio of American supply and demand – particularly a lagging US dollar, increased Asian oil consumption, overall refinery capacity, the continued purchase by Bush of oil for the strategic reserve, and of course, OPEC decision making. (plus etc. etc.)
Where this news really fly worse than a lead balloon is the key battleground state of Florida, where Obama has been steadily making inroads with key demographic groups in hopes of chipping away at McCain’s lead (which right now hovers around 8%)
Remains to be seen the effect on McCain’s poll numbers now that we’ve seen his dimwitted proposal to essentially rape the environment and keep the SUVs running!
My previous post announcing Gore’s endorsement of Obama speculated as to which Gore we would see this evening when he gave his endorsement speech… the milquetoast “Bruce Banner” Gore or Incredible Hulk Gore! Refer to Gore Endorses Obama, Finally! What this Means for Obama!
The Verdict: The Hulk, but with caveats.
The Good: Gore went on the attack! He gave a great speech, equally inspiring and biting!
Best Point: Gore got in this brilliant, although overly verbose counter attack neutralizing the chief critique of Obama as inexperienced.
Nevertheless, the other party seems to think that age and experience are factors that will work in their favor during this campaign. But our shared — our shared experience as a nation tells us otherwise. I remember when one prominent Republican wondered out loud whether the Democratic nominee, and I quote, “really is grown up enough to be president.” Another used the phrase, quote, “naive and inexperienced.” Yet another said, quote, “the United States cannot afford to risk the future of the free world with inexperience and immaturity in the White House,” end quote.
Who are they talking about? Every single one of those quotations came from the campaign of 1960, when the Republicans attacked John Fitzgerald Kennedy for allegedly lacking the age and experience necessary to be president. Richard Nixon’s slogan in that campaign was “experience counts,” to which John F. Kennedy responded, and I quote, “to exclude from positions of trust and command all those below the age of 44, would have kept Jefferson from writing the Declaration of Independence, Washington from commanding the Continental Army, Madison from fathering the Constitution, and Christopher Columbus from even discovering America
Right on Target?: No statement was right on target. Fact is, not once in the speech did Gore directly attack John McCain. This is a critical and epidemic error of the Democratic party that has spelled its demise for the last two elections and even though this election seems practically a slam dunk with everything skewing Democrat, it must be corrected post haste or I’ll say it… McCain will win.
Do I Hear An Echo?: This speech had moments with eerie structural and rhetorical similarities to both Bill Clinton’s 1992 convention speech (both recollect boyhood memories of JFK) as well as Clinton’s 1992 stump speech which reiterated the iconic line “We Need a Change.” The major difference, Clinton’s speech critiquing the economic climate of 1992 was a direct assault on the policies of an incumbent, whereas this time around, the Democrats are undertaking a high wire expending much unnecessary effort trying to link McCain to Bush in order for these attacks to work.
What He Should Have Said: For as masterful as Gore’s speech was, it didn’t have any “Oh my god, he really nailed him” moments such that the speech could have legs in the TV news and talk radio circuit.
Fact is, Gore has gained mega-capital as the grand Swami and pre-eminent Guru of environmental policy – and has the Nobel Peace Prize hardware to prove it.
While I’ll give Gore the let that perhaps he was saving this play for later in the campaign, Gore needs to come out and use that Nobel Peace Prize for the weapon that it is by bludgeoning McCain’s environmental.
All he needed to say was one high value shock statement like “I’ll wager my Nobel Peace prize if McCain is elected…” and then take your pick… Gas will be $10 a gallon? Manhattan will be underwater in under 30 years? Oil company profits will sky rocket even more? Take your pick. Point is, Gore has that hunk of medal, why doesn’t he put it to good use by dominating the news cycle for a week with a highly charged statement?
As I said predicted in my earlier post, Gore glossed over the opportunity to provide rapid response support by using his big stage to take McCain to task for his earlier in the day proposal to increase drilling. Purists may object saying “well it was such a pretty speech, he didn’t need to dirty it up with attacks,” but then elections aren’t generally won with “pretty.” Ask Gore, ask Dukakis, ask Kerry.
Where Was His Editor Moment: In a “Gore the statesman” moment, he praised McCain. Not only did it receive “Boo’s” from the crowd, and not only did it give credit where its hardly due, but it could possibly serve as truncated-statement ammunition by the Republican’s at a later date.
As the general election begins, let us remember our obligation to honor the highest values of our democracy and conduct this campaign in a spirit of respect for the Republican nominee. No, no. In that case, I’m glad I brought it up because, as Senator Barack Obama has said, John McCain is deserving of that respect. He has demonstrated bravery in war and as a prisoner of war, and has served in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate for many years. Moreover, he has demonstrated a willingness to debate some critical issues, including the climate crisis that many Republicans have refused to discuss at all.
This is precisely the attitude that will lose the election for the Democrats.
Favorite Moment: I’ll let this interlude speak for itself…
If you think the next appointments to our Supreme Court are important, you know that elections matter. If you live in the city of New Orleans, you know that elections matter. If you or a member of your family are serving in the active military, the National Guard or reserve, you know that elections matter. If you’re a wounded veteran, you know that elections matter. If you lost your job, if you’re struggling with your mortgage, you know that elections matter. If you care about a clean environment, if you want a government that protects you instead of special interests, you know that elections matter. If you care about food safety, if you like a “T” on your B.L.T., you know that elections matter. If you bought poisoned, lead-filled toys from China or adulterated medicine made in China, if you bought tainted pet food made in China, you know that elections matter. After the last eight years, even our dogs and cats have learned that elections matter.
Something massively cathardic in hearing Gore basically subtly suggest to everyone “If you elected me in the first place, all this wouldn’t have happened.” (Full disclosure: The Hatchet Man worked on the Gore-Lieberman Benedict Arnold campaign for two years.)
Biggest Failing: Gore’s biggest failing was assuming that his brilliant dismantling the Republican “impotence, neglect, and failure” of the last four years would be understood as foreshadowing what’s to come under McCain. While he’s entirely correct, this was too intellectual of a parallel for most voters to reliably draw and resulted from Democratic myopia which assumes everyone sees McCain as the logical extension of Republican ideology that he is. The themes of 1992, when Clinton-Gore ran against an incumbent riding out the 12th year of Republican failings, are less analogous to non-incumbent McCain because the theme “we need a change,” was a direct attack in 1992, but is only an indirect attack in 2008.
Complete text of the speech available here.
Poor, poor John McCain, his Alzheimer’s is getting so bad that he seems to contradict himself on a now daily basis! John, the White House isn’t a convalescent home!
This one though may take the cake…
John McCain’s latest “Safe” ad start out with this lying through his teeth dignified assessment “Only a Fool or a Fraud Talks Tough or Romantically About War”
Noble lies sentiments, but perhaps McBush forgets that he said this in his not so well thought pandering to wrestling fans on this WWE Monday Night Raw footage!
“And whatja gunna do when John McCain and all his McCaniacs run wild on you? You want to pull out of Iraq, well I say No Surrender! America can win the war against terror. I’m going to introduce Osama Bin Laden to The Undertaker!”
For those of you unaware, The Undertaker is a towering American wrestler pictures below…
So which is it McCain, are you a fool or a fraud!?!? I say both!
Even scarier, today’s published results from the Washington Post-ABC News Poll conducted June 12-15, 2008 indicate that on the issue of “The U.S. Campaign Against Terrorism,” respondents trust McCain over Obama 53% to 39%!!! (I should note, this was the biggest disparity of any issue and Obama is beating McCain on 8 out of the 11 polls issues)
But I ask WTF!?! McCain is trusted more than Obama on terrorism even though he’s decided the best recipe for justice for the mastermind of 9/11 should be to put Osama in the ring against a ‘roid injected, greased up wrestler? Is he running for the President of Thunderdome or the White House???
Let’s show this video to the families of the 9/11 victims and see what they think about McCain’s proposal.
Earth to Obama camp?! You have bloggers looking for clips of Al Gore’s speech, nows its 11:40 PM PST and you still haven’t put it up on Youtube or BarackObama.com for me to link to. Live streaming it was great… but shouldn’t that mean it will be made available the instant the speech ends? These little things are what lose you votes in the campaign because now I’m searching around for video rather than writing another blog about how much of a Paris Hilton Princess Meghan McCain is. (Refer here)
Instead, I click on the “Watch It Live” link and this is what I get?!
Can’t I watch it un-live???
The campaign really should do a better job of taking care of its bloggers! Like providing a cache of images to use etc.
Granted, the Obama campaign is far more savvy with the web than the stone age McCain campaign who is still relying on carrier pigeons. I’m not entirely sure if I’m hyperbolizing. McCain is definitely not the candidate of the future.
I still find it delightfully quaint that McCain uses the terminology “Multimedia” on his site.
Al Gore announced (finally) that he will formerly endorse Obama as part a Detroit Michigan Rally taking place at 8:30 EDT.
A few hours from now I will step on stage in Detroit, Michigan to announce my support for Senator Barack Obama. From now through Election Day, I intend to do whatever I can to make sure he is elected President of the United States.
Over the next four years, we are going to face many difficult challenges — including bringing our troops home from Iraq, fixing our economy, and solving the climate crisis. Barack Obama is clearly the candidate best able to solve these problems and bring change to America.
This moment and this election are too important to let pass without taking action.
That’s why I am asking you to join me in showing your support by making a contribution to this campaign today:
https://donate.barackobama.com/gore
Over the past 18 months, Barack Obama has united a movement. He knows change does not come from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or Capitol Hill. It begins when people stand up and take action.
With the help of millions of supporters like you, Barack Obama will bring the change we so desperately need in order to solve our country’s most pressing problems.
If you’ve already contributed to this campaign, I ask that you consider making another contribution right now. If you haven’t, please take the next step and own a piece of this campaign today:
https://donate.barackobama.com/gore
On the issues that matter most, Barack Obama is clearly the right choice to lead our nation.
We have a lot of work to do in the next few months to elect Barack Obama president, and it begins by making a contribution to this campaign today.
Thank you for joining me,
Al Gore
What took you so long? Granted Gore timed his endorsement to offend the least, for if it came too close on the heels of Hillary’s withdrawal from the campaign, it could result in ex-Hillary supporters getting their panties in a twirl have had a diminished effect in building party unity.
Gore’s endorsement does three main things:
1) Unifies more disenchanted Hillary supporters behind Obama, who now see another important party standard bearer providing his endorsement.
2) Focuses media coverage onto Obama.
3) Nets Obama a surrogate who is great for fund raising, unifying the Democratic base, but until now has proved worthless in helping Democrats on offense.
The second and third points are critical in gauging the overall effect of a Gore endorsement.
With the Obama camp doing a mediocre at best job of controlling the 24hr new cycle, they are definitely in need of an upstaging event (like this) to focus attention back on Obama.
Nevertheless, they are pulling attention at a time when their biggest weakness has been offensive production, which has been all but non-existent from their surrogates and media war room!
The timing of tonight’s likely puff piece Gore endorsement speech only further hurts Obama’s sputtering offense against McCain as it pushes today’s McCain Energy Policy speech, which called for more drilling, to the back pages – an unforgivable missed opportunity as McCain’s poorly received energy policy speech today reinforces the one offensive message that Obama has successfully gotten to stick – that McCain is merely McBush – another oil obsessed Republican in big business’ corner.
The Obama’s rapid response team will hopefully pounce on the opportunity to keep this issue alive by having Gore wage a direct attack on McCain’s energy policy, extending what would have been a two-day news event (Gore endorses + 1 days of pundit analysis) into a one week McCain stomp (Gore endorses and attacks, Pundits talk, McCain defends, Obama and a bunch of celebrities further attack as the story gains legs – viola! Rinse and repeat.)
The real question is just which Gore is showing up tonight? The hard swinging Incredible Hulk orator who can single handedly turn public perception (just refer to his masterful speech assailing Bush at the Commonwealth Club of California (Link))? Or the weak Bruce Banner Gore, who seemed tentative in attacking Satan Bush during his 2000 loss, often hides under his “elder statesman” blanket, and is so frequently conspicuously absent when his party is in need?
Clearly for an Obama campaign doing a good job of advancing their positive message, but a lousy job attacking McCain, they need Gore unleashed… the fire and brimstone Gore… The smash mouth Gore… A Gore that provides them with offensive production!
If Gore delivers an inspired speech that acts as a reprise of his 2002 Commonwealth Club speech, only this time directed at McCain, watch out! If he delivers what I expect, this endorsement will be more or less a yawn.
He’s been sitting on the sideline all year… Let’s hope he’s been putting that time to good use.
This adorable, spoiled Louis Vuitton toting celebutant is John McCain’s 4th child, but is really his 1st child from the marriage he wants everyone to remember.
This charming spawn of McSatan and his Ice Princess wife lives the good life… Designer everything, luxury New York loft bought and paid for by Mommy (and her kept man hubby McCain), private jet flights, no current job to speak of except “campaign Princess.” She makes Paris Hilton look low rent! (and the Hatchet Man should know, he used to ghost write for the heiress herself)
And now she’s helping Daddy get elected so she can get the coveted slot as First Daughter! Take that Paris and Heidi Montag! You better support Obama or you’ll have new competition for that cover space on In Touch Weekly!
Never mind the fact that she voted John Kerry in 2004 and is a self described social liberal, she got properly brain washed (with peroxide) such that she finally switched affiliation from Independent to Republican this week! (I think the threat of getting cut off probably had something to do with it)
But let’s take a look at the life of Meghan McCain through a slideshow of pictures taken from her blog McCainBlogette.com
1) Here’s darling little Meghan being chaffeured to a campaign jet, with souvenirs from her Everglades “fun in the sun” trip. (She says it was a climate change event…riiiight… I saw the accompanying pictures racing around on pontoon boats and working on her tan… I’m sure she’ll be roughing it in Alaska for that next climate change events soon, right?) Isn’t the spoiled life taxing???
2) Sometimes its exhausting having Mommy and Daddy pay your way through life! After so much fun in the Florida Sun, sometimes McPrincess needs to kick back in a luxury hotel suite and enjoy the simple pleasures of life, like a room-service grilled cheese sandwich. Just like Mom’s personal chef made back home!
3) Some people might criticize Meghan McCain for being born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but they’re forgetting about the golden plates that accompanied the silverware! Like at this banquet for Daddy. With so much opulence and the frequency of $5,000 a plate meals, who can blame a daughter for packing away a bit of junk in the trunk!
4) Sometimes being a rich American Princess can be so lonely! Its hard to find other people who relate to the life challenges that come when everything is handed to you on a plate! Thankfully, there are others like Meghan who grew up in the wealthy aristocracy and benefited from their family’s name… like Donatella Versace. OMG, here the two of them are sharing their kinship! I can only speculate what was discussed, but I’m sure they traded hair bleaching techniques, bet each other whose dress is more expensive, and discussed Meghan’s career path as a fashion designer, which Donatella had to keep from laughing at.
You have to love our friends at MoveOn.org, for seemingly being the only institution on the left to actually understand that winning requires relentless attacks on McCain which expose him for what he is: a faux war hero; a rickety, Alzheimer suffering septugenarian; a say anything, do anything career-politician; a corrupt, military-industrial complex-loving warhawk; an out of touch yet heartless ultra-conservative; a Bush clone; et al.
I’m also happy to see John Cusack (who really should get more work) taking a stand on the issues that matter. Its nice that other liberals besides Alec Baldwin are willing to put their balls on the line for real change in America (kudos particularly to Oprah and Scarlett Johansson in this regard as well – who despite anatomically lacking, metaphorically delivered)
Anyways, brilliant video and follow the equally brilliant link.
Sad day in news with the passing of Tim Russert. He was one of the “good ones”. But I did always respected Tim for taking politicians to task on “Meet The Press.” In an era where TV news host are either rabid partisan hacks (O’Reilly) or complete powder puffs (Charlie Gibson, Brian Williams, Katie Couric, Anderson Cooper, et al.), Russert would at least attempt to keep real journalism alive by staying objective but still providing some pushback! Many a time, his interviews would make news in and of themselves because Tim would actually do the research to know when to call out a politician’s BS!
This weekend should be full of tributes to this great journalist, and rightly so.
Nevertheless, there are two areas where the media so far is glossing over the larger implications of Russert’s death:
1) Russert was a key witness in the CIA Leak Scandal
First things first, Karl Rove and Dick Cheney may secretly be popping corks and toasting Russert’s death. With Russert’s passing, goes a key witness in the Valerie Plame, CIA leak investigation.
Right as Scott McClellan goes turncoat and agrees to meet before the House Judiciary on Plame, this Karl Rove lucky break tragic event occurs. If you don’t recall, Libby claimed Russert informed him of Valerie Plame’s identity, a claim Russert flately denied, thereby providing the bombshell testimony that landed Libby in the clink (sorta, except for that partial pardon from a certain Presidential friend that allowed him to escape Club Fed.) Had Russert testified even that he was unsure, Libby wouldn’t need the partial pardon nor the full pardon that’s coming his way.
The exact effect Russert’s passing will now have on McClellan’s reprise of the Plame Affairs is still TBD. Hopefully, the testimony Russert already provided stands as sufficient record. Nevertheless, though Libby dropped his appeal based on his partial pardon, I’m no legal scholar, but I believe he has the right to re-exercise that appeal. (Note: This needs to be verified)
Consequently, a Libby appeal hedged on Russert’s inability to stand witness provides the Plame Scandal Participants an interesting out. Not only will it buy time, but now sans Russert, an appeal has a slightly better chance of letting Libby wriggle free.
But beyond that, it will be interesting to see if new McClellan / Plame allegations are deflected using Russert – or possibly worse, new allegations involve Russert who now, for obvious reasons, provide no further clarification. 
More than likely, Russert’s unequivocal denials of knowing anything about Plame’s CIA involvement prior to Robert Novak’s column precludes any “legal defense grave robbing,” and prevent a man who can’t defend himself from becoming Libby, Rove, and Cheney’s ultimate scapegoat.
2) Russert’s death significantly alters the Presidential debate picture.
Russert was a likely shoe-in as a Presidential debate moderator.
While both campaigns are publicly offering up prodigious schedules of debates, they wildly vary in preference for formats, which means once they finish their negotiating, it should leave the public with a whittled down schedule of 3-5 Presidential debates and another 2-4 VP debates)
Fact is, with Russert’s passing, there are few high profile, experienced, objective yet pointed moderators left. With half of TV news now consisting of radical partisan hacks, and seemingly the other half powder puffs without credentials to take a Presidential candidate to task, its hard to imagine that Russert would have been passed over had the candidates agreed on 4-5 debates – though likely he would have been teamed with perhaps Brian Williams or other panelists.
Russert would definitely not have been the first choice of the McCain campaign, particularly because Russert is known for pointing out inconsistencies – of which McCain suffers from plenty – and Russert asks pointed questions – something that the Alzheimer’s suffering septuagenarian routinely falters on.
Now, what would have been a likely Russert moderated debate (at least in the form of Russert plus panelists) will potentially fall into the lap of a less established moderator, in the vein of Anderson Cooper, who enjoys less license to dispense with the kid gloves. (Cooper should also be on the McCain’s nix list to avoid him looking ancient contrasted against both Cooper and Obama).
Of the remaining moderators, you have:
Lehrer who is legacy to get at least one moderating assignment
Gibson, who despite embarrassing himself in the Gibson / Stephanopoulos ABC Democratic Debate by failing to ask a single substantive question, may still get the call by seeming innocuous yet palatably seasoned (though I’d be shocked if he was high on Obama’s list)
Next to go Bob Schieffer may be aging out of the running. (and really, you have to ask yourself, what the line in Vegas would have been for Schieffer to outlive Russert?!? Its a mad world!)
Conceivably Wolf Blitzer or Larry King could get the nod, but I don’t think either are particularly favorites -and in perhaps my least intellectual, but most truthful analysis – I think its because Wolf on some subliminal level looks like a Wolfman. Honestly, every time I look at him, I question how this strange hairy man got where he is. But more substantively, Wolf parades as a anchor of gravitas, but loses his credibility every time he delivers his patented sensationalized teasers that never live up to their billing. Between his Wolfman sort of appearance and sensational lead in’s that never live up to their billing, Wolf in my mind is the sideshow act of anchors. But I digress…
Given the Hillary factor, a woman may swoop in to get the debate moderating spot, but I hope its Barbara Walter and not Katie Couric.
Rounding out the potentials: all the 60 Minutes dinosaurs, semi-retired Tom Brokaw (who is a likely choice if he wants it), Sam Donaldson (blah), Matt Lauer, Ted Koppel (yawn), and strong candidate Brian Williams.
Consequently, a betting man would have put money on a Russert moderated debate … and to take it a step further and going out on a major hypothetical prognostication limb, a Russert moderated debate would have likely benefited Obama to the tune of an additional 1-2% bump as Obama did exceedingly well in the 2008 Democratic Russert debate and Russert’s questioning style and choice of questions highly favors Obama’s off the cuff ease.
Perhaps the greatest testament to magnitude of Tim Russert’s death is saying it won’t just affect the way the news is covered, it will affect the way the news plays out.
Obama launched a new website FightTheSmears.com to combat the well funded Republican misinformation campaign being waged in cyberspace against him. As his campaign sent out in a statement:
It is time to stand up for a new kind of politics and combat the dirty smears and baseless attacks.
As we move toward November, those who seek to use fear and lies to divide us will only become more desperate in their attempts. To combat their efforts, we have released a new website to equip you with the right information to fight smears and rumors about the campaign.
Officially, the site debunks such claims as Michelle Obama used the term Whitey (a term I actually find endearing personally), Obama is a Muslim, and that Obama ever said if you send him $2,000 for a wire transfer fee, he’ll give you 25% of a $40 million sum of money locked up in a Nigerian vault. (Okay, that last one hasn’t been making the rounds yet)
While I applaud Obama for proactively attacking these innuendos, taking the defensive is always a flawed campaign strategy. In politics, the best defense, is offense. The only time a campaign should ever defend itself, is while simultaneously taking the offensive.
Fact is, the truth is practically meaningless in the modern political era – and anyone who is telling you otherwise is lying! Opinion and innuendo passes for political journalism, not just frequently, not just constantly, but entirely! Political journalism is delving to lower lows than *gasp* celebrity journalism – and while I like to say I’m happily riding the wave, my ethics as a journalist extend beyond those of mainstream political reporters as I don’t portend to be anything but an entertaining partisan hack! (Truth in representation is true integrity.)
FightTheSmears.com will prove valuable in the new era of blog oriented rapid response and better arming “viral arm chair, DIY surrogates,” nevertheless, creating a site like this bespeaks a potentially critically flawed campaign strategy from the Obama Camp – that of believing you need to answer the opposition and maintain the high road. If this is Obama’s gameplan, this is a recipe for disaster.
In 2004, John Kerry’s camp got so enmeshed in defending Kerry’s impugned honor as a war veteran, they stopped attacking Bush. Every press release sent out defending Kerry’s record took the place of one attacking Satan’s George W. Bush’s atrocious record. The campaign’s fate was sealed when they used the Convention to bolster Kerry’s lagging credentials, rather than hammer Bush… consequently Kerry suffered one of the weakest post Convention bounce in the polls (3-4%) in modern televised election history.
This brings us to Obama. Fact is, the media operates without facts! They report whatever is said and by the time the truth comes out, American’s have lost interested and move onto the next scandal that’s been thrown at them.
The one concrete truth in politics is that there are no concrete truths! There is only what you can get American’s to believe – hence the reason American’s still think Gore claimed to invent the internet, still think there was something fishy about John Kerry’s war medals, and why some South Carolinians still think that McCain had a mixed race bastard child (which I’m pretty sure is entirely true). All of these pseudo-facts were the brainchild of one of the few political minds who has successfully realized politics has moved beyond objective truth – Karl Rove.
The only way to suffer any consequence from outright lying, is if the rival campaign successfully calls you to task – an unbelievably taller task than it might seem – because no one pays attention to defenses when they can instead pay attention to the next attacks! And even if Campaign A does claim a lie was perpetrated by Campaign B, all that Campaign B must do is say Campaign A is lying, and unless absolute bombshell evidence is released, Campaign A is still worse off because – and here’s the best part – Campaign B merely has to suffer the fact its been accused of lying while Campaign A has to suffer the combined effects of the original lie by Campaign B, plus the effects of subsequently being accused of lying about lying as a counter!
And the irony, since media increasingly refuses to take sides on “He Said, She Said” issues in politics, unless there is overwhelming evidence, the lying campaign almost always makes out better. The media will only take a side in light of overwhelming evidence, and in the time it takes to accrue overwhelming evidence on concrete issues or vague innuendos, the public has made up its mind for one side and bored of the original argument.
The strategy is beautiful in both its simplicity and its efficacy. If you attack fast enough and hard enough, you never have to answer for the veracity of any of it!
The moral of the story, Obama should NEVER go on the defensive. No campaign should ever go on the defensive. The only defense is an attack! If Obama wanted to defend himself on the charge that Michelle Obama used the term “Whitey,” he should have used a 501c3 hit squad to pay a Hispanic woman to come out claiming that Cindy McCain used a racial epitaph against her. (watch his pole numbers in Florida after that one!) Sure, it wouldn’t be a defense per say, but it would effectively diminish the “whitey” debate and do more damage to the McCain cause.
Ironically, it would cost $10,000 to arrange a stunt like this, but cost McCain $10M in campaign damage. (Yes, I will take black ops donations)
In closing, this is the new age of politics. One in which campaigns are viewed as what they are, wars of attrition in which truth is increasingly rendered more irrelevant by the lack of a media with any back bone. Unless media exalts the ideals of great journalists like Walter Cronkite by eschewing unprincipled reporting and passing of opinion off as fact – we are doomed to succumb to the smears.
Obamas Hatchet Man - Raising Cain Against McCain 
