ABC have got hold of a Reverend Wright ad that the McCain campaign made but never aired:
Watching it, you can see why they never seriously considered airing it. Quite apart from any ethical considerations, it's just a bit lame, and would have kicked up a bigger backlash than any benefits it might have brought them. Hillary Clinton did Obama the biggest favour by keeping the primary race going long enough for the Wright footage to rise to the surface earlier in the year. It was already old news by the time of the general. So whilst I applaud McCain's restraint in not making Wright an issue, I think it was the right tactical decision too.
There is a line of argument, made by a Republican consultant during ABC's piece, that if McCain had used the issue of Wright strategically and consistently throughout - rather than running a one-off ad - then they could have made it work. I'm very sceptical about this. Negative "framings" of a candidate work when they're rooted in a strong element of truth about the candidate's character. Kerry was a bit of a spineless poseur. But Barack Obama as a secret, angry radical? That was never going to fly. (Except with MP of course). Any consistent line of character attack should have focused on something like the opposite - that Obama was too cowardly, too keen on staying popular, to make the tough decisions America needs (remember all those 'present' votes?).
Watching it, you can see why they never seriously considered airing it. Quite apart from any ethical considerations, it's just a bit lame, and would have kicked up a bigger backlash than any benefits it might have brought them. Hillary Clinton did Obama the biggest favour by keeping the primary race going long enough for the Wright footage to rise to the surface earlier in the year. It was already old news by the time of the general. So whilst I applaud McCain's restraint in not making Wright an issue, I think it was the right tactical decision too.
There is a line of argument, made by a Republican consultant during ABC's piece, that if McCain had used the issue of Wright strategically and consistently throughout - rather than running a one-off ad - then they could have made it work. I'm very sceptical about this. Negative "framings" of a candidate work when they're rooted in a strong element of truth about the candidate's character. Kerry was a bit of a spineless poseur. But Barack Obama as a secret, angry radical? That was never going to fly. (Except with MP of course). Any consistent line of character attack should have focused on something like the opposite - that Obama was too cowardly, too keen on staying popular, to make the tough decisions America needs (remember all those 'present' votes?).
I think you're exactly correct: "that Obama was too cowardly, too keen on staying popular, to make the tough decisions America needs (remember all those 'present' votes?). "
The fact that Oprah was with Rev. Wright, but then left (in 2001? 2002?) should have allowed McCain to mention, again and again, that Obama never fought against wrong powers on his own side.
In talking, Obama was unable to talk Rev. Wright out of unreasonable hate whitey talk. If he ever tried.
And the use of Wright should have been to show how Obama's resolve had been tested, and found to be weak.
But maybe that's mostly moot, now...
The more Obama follows Clinton (and Bush) foreign policies, the happier I am.
My guesstimate at Iran getting a nuke under Obama within 4 years has gone from 20% down to 10% (5% with McCain).
Posted by: Tom Grey | December 09, 2008 at 05:20 PM