Soccer Dad

Fred proves victor right

After Victor Davis Hanson observes:

Indeed, McCain as a vicious campaigner is a complete fabrication, but, again, a brilliant subterfuge on the part of Team Obama that, in fact, has run, via appendages, the far more vicious race. Obama and his surrogates have repeatedly engaged in racial politics (as Bill Clinton lamented when in fury he denounced the "race card"); when there was never evidence that McCain was using race as a wedge issue, it was clear Obama most surely was-preemptively, on at least two occasions, warning Americans he would soon be the victim of opposition racial stereotyping. His surrogates like Biden and those in the Senate continue to link legitimate worries about OBama's past with racism.

And more damning yet:

And third, a lot of moderates who would not vote for McCain liked him when he was a sophisticated, ironic maverick loser scoring points against the simplistic Bush and other cardboard-cut-out conservatives. Now he has the onus of winning a campaign and can't be a noble, tragic loser;so it is easy to say he is no good since he is less than perfect. The sure iconoclastic loser has an attraction that the mainstream conservative possible winner does not.

Fred Hiatt in today's Washington Post highlights this mindset perfectly.

It may be that it's easier for such a campaign to get blown off course. In an exceptionally pro-Democratic year, against an exceptionally unflappable opponent, it's not surprising that a campaign without bedrock policy goals would try first one thing, then another, with one of those things being character assassination.

I certainly can't prove that a McCain campaign built on respect and attention to issues would be faring better than the real thing. Without Sarah Palin to rally the base, and without the insidious questioning of Obama's patriotism, McCain might be even further behind.

And of course, after before exhorting McCain to take the high road, Hiatt noted:

The mud flies both ways in this campaign, with Obama and his allies relentlessly pounding McCain as out of touch, erratic, dishonest and, over and over again, dishonorable.

So why is it OK for the Obama campaign to sling mud then?

I realize that to some degree Hiatt's advice matches that of Bill Kristol. But Hiatt is pretty clearly telling McCain: "I like you as a loser." Kristol is actually telling McCain: "play to your strengths."

What McCain needs to do is junk the whole thing and start over. Shut down the rapid responses, end the frantic e-mails, bench the spinning surrogates, stop putting up new TV and Internet ads every minute. In fact, pull all the ads -- they're doing no good anyway. Use that money for televised town halls and half-hour addresses in prime time.

And let McCain go back to what he's been good at in the past -- running as a cheerful, open and accessible candidate. Palin should follow suit. The two of them are attractive and competent politicians. They're happy warriors and good campaigners. Set them free.

Provide total media accessibility on their campaign planes and buses. Kick most of the aides off and send them out to swing states to work for the state coordinators on getting voters to the polls. Keep just a minimal staff to help organize the press conferences McCain and Palin should have at every stop and the TV interviews they should do at every location. Do town halls, do the Sunday TV shows, do talk radio -- and invite Obama and Biden to join them in some of these venues, on the ground that more joint appearances might restore civility and substance to the contest.

Unlike Hiatt, Kristol isn't saying that negative campaigning is wrong for Republicans, he's saying simply that it's ineffective. Whether or not McCain will heed Kristol's suggestions - or if Kristol's suggestions could even help is beyond me. I think that Kristol underestimates the power of the media. Had the media been even remotely fair in its election coverage, the electorate would harbor way too many doubts about Sen. Obama's qualifications and associations for him to be a viable candidate.

And few things epitomize the media's unfairness than Hiatt's smug moralizing. (The Washington Post will endorse Obama.)