Tit for Tat
Alright, boys and girls, it’s official.
The gloves are off as the campaign that will choose our nation’s next president enters its high stakes final stages.
Yep that means the silly season has begun when both candidates and their surrogates struggle to control the news cycle with messages targeting the dwindling number of undecided voters who will probably determine the election results.
The challenge is that many of these undecided voters don’t feel strongly enough about the major issues of the day to have made up their minds based on the significant policy differences between Barack Obama and John McCain.
Many Democrats are wringing their hands over how the McCain campaign has seized the moment with the ridiculous assertion that Obama slandered VP candidate Sarah Palin by using the “lipstick on a pig” cliché when referring to McCain’s claim to an agenda of reform.
Reporters and most other observers know that Obama’s comment had nothing to do with Palin but no matter. The targeted audience isn’t interested in such details.
A straight talker no more, McCain has morphed his campaign into a well-disciplined Rovian-style machine which cares more about image and emotion then policies or facts.
Many of McCain’s closest and longest serving confidants are dismayed by the direction his campaign has taken but they recognize that the Bush folks beat their pants off 8 years ago so this may be what it takes to win.
Fortunately, Obama’s people are pretty smart too and they are not going to repeat John Kerry’s mistake of ceding this ground to the Bushies and their Swiftboating minions.
Remember way back two or three weeks ago when the Obama folks made so much hay out of McCain’s inability to answer how many homes he has? In addition to supporting Obama’s message that McCain is out of touch with the challenges of the average American family, it also matched nicely with McCain’s Achilles heel, perpetuated by the Jay Leno and David Letterman circuit, that he is old and forgetful.
Look for Obama supporters to point out McCain’s many flubs and malapropisms. A new Obama ad pokes fun at McCain’s admission that he doesn’t use a computer or send email. You can bet that campaign mavens from both sides will be struggling aggressively to control the messges of the day.
And it’s still only September. The old military adage goes “Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes” and both campaigns are obviously keeping much of their choicest ammo dry.
This year’s election may very well come down to the last two weeks when our airwaves will most likely be chock full of references to Tony Rezko and Charles Keating.
This is for all the marbles, my friends, so buckle up your seat belts. This ride is going to get bumpy.
