How will Obama deal with McCain's bitch slaps?
To understand this post, you have to read this very carefully.
An example of a couple successful politicians who understood this "bitch slap theory" well are here and here.
An example of a politician who didn't get this at all is here.
One of the big reasons that I believed Obama was a good bet to win the Dem nominaiton, and the reason I've believed he was always a good bet to win in the general, is because he seemed to understand quite well the BSTEP. Throughout the primaries, when he was attacked, he almost always either held his ground and/or responded as appropriate, and did it much better than the Kerry campaign ever did. There was early evidence that he understood this. This is an awesome example (Obama from 1:35-2:45).
Lately, now that the Rove proteges have moved in and McCain has been throwing lots of ridiculous claims at Obama - blaming him for high gas prices, saying he'd lose a war to win an election, saying that he doesn't have time for visiting, and therefore doesn't care about the troops, etc. None of these things make any sense on an intellectual level to anyone who already isn't a deeply partisan republican. At all.
What these are these are classic Rovian bitch slaps, and team Obama's response has been surprisingly weak in the past few weeks. I don't think the attacks are nearly as good (in a political sense) as the Swift Boat stuff, but they are out there.
As a TPM commenter recently noted:
Quote: This game of pushback has little to do with the truth and more to do with who wins the bitchslap contest. No one really believes the swiftboaters, but neither does anyone respect a candidate who will not fight back. Maybe the McCain campaign isn't as overmatched by the Obama campaign as it previously appeared. Keep an eye out to see if team Obama gets its head out of its ass. If they don't get better at responding to this, McCain may have a chance.
Finally, an effective response is NOT to complain and say, "McCain is running a dishonorable campaign." That is pathetic whining. Rather it is to say, "McCain is the one responsible for high gas prices, McCain is the one who is willing to send Americans to die to win the election, McCain is the one who doesn't care about the troops, etc." Team Obama hasn't shown they have the balls to make these claims, even though there is certainly as much intellectual support for these claims as McCain's.
An example of a couple successful politicians who understood this "bitch slap theory" well are here and here.
An example of a politician who didn't get this at all is here.
One of the big reasons that I believed Obama was a good bet to win the Dem nominaiton, and the reason I've believed he was always a good bet to win in the general, is because he seemed to understand quite well the BSTEP. Throughout the primaries, when he was attacked, he almost always either held his ground and/or responded as appropriate, and did it much better than the Kerry campaign ever did. There was early evidence that he understood this. This is an awesome example (Obama from 1:35-2:45).
Lately, now that the Rove proteges have moved in and McCain has been throwing lots of ridiculous claims at Obama - blaming him for high gas prices, saying he'd lose a war to win an election, saying that he doesn't have time for visiting, and therefore doesn't care about the troops, etc. None of these things make any sense on an intellectual level to anyone who already isn't a deeply partisan republican. At all.
What these are these are classic Rovian bitch slaps, and team Obama's response has been surprisingly weak in the past few weeks. I don't think the attacks are nearly as good (in a political sense) as the Swift Boat stuff, but they are out there.
As a TPM commenter recently noted:
Quote: This game of pushback has little to do with the truth and more to do with who wins the bitchslap contest. No one really believes the swiftboaters, but neither does anyone respect a candidate who will not fight back. Maybe the McCain campaign isn't as overmatched by the Obama campaign as it previously appeared. Keep an eye out to see if team Obama gets its head out of its ass. If they don't get better at responding to this, McCain may have a chance.
Finally, an effective response is NOT to complain and say, "McCain is running a dishonorable campaign." That is pathetic whining. Rather it is to say, "McCain is the one responsible for high gas prices, McCain is the one who is willing to send Americans to die to win the election, McCain is the one who doesn't care about the troops, etc." Team Obama hasn't shown they have the balls to make these claims, even though there is certainly as much intellectual support for these claims as McCain's.
