Jeffrey Feldman is one of the savvier Daily Kos diarists. In a post today, he offers some advice to the moribund/struggling/bumbling/incredibly lame Obama campaign and the campaign's destructive supporters:
STEP 1: STOP WITH THE ENDLESS PALIN DIARIES
I'm talking to you, friend. That's right. You--the diarist who thinks he/she has found the fact or scandal that definitively proves why Sarah Palin will be a bad Vice President, and who thinks he/she has found the most clever and convincing way to present that utterly devastating fact. Stop, already. We have seen it. No more. There are enough 'Sarah Palin is Corrupt, Stupid, Dangerous, and Not Ready' diaries to fill a thousand blogs. We get it!But even 10,000 more diaries like that will only help McCain--only help him...
STEP 2: TAKE A MINUTE TO REMEMBER OBAMA'S VISION
We can only win this election if the majority of voters in this country (A) know what Obama's vision for America is and (B) agree with it.Newsflash: People do not hear Obama's vision for the country when we say that John McCain is a 'liar' or that Sarah Palin is 'stupid...'
STEP 3: REMEMBER THE POWER OF REPETITION
If you remember one thing from the last four years of blogging about election debate rhetoric and what it takes to win, remember this: WHAT WE REPEAT IS WHAT THE PUBLIC REMEMBERS.If we repeat 'Palin, Palin, Palin,' over and over again between now and November--
STEP 4: WRITE IN A WAY THAT STOPS THE FEAR HEMORRHAGING
At the core of this whole obsessive meltdown is a very basic human reaction: we are afraid that the American public will once again be confused by the Republican smear machine and elect yet another dangerous President who will drive this country deeper and deeper into a hole. We. Are. AFRAID.
These are all excellent tips. Well the last one is a little loopy, but why split hairs? But are Obama-supporting communities like the Daily Kos capable of following them? For years now, the central aspect of the left's worldview has been its hatred for George W. Bush and everything else that bore the Republican taint. Now that the chips are down along with Obama's polling numbers, breaking this habit is proving nearly impossible. No one worships Obama more than the Atlantic Monthly's lead blogger, but even he has allowed his disgust and loathing for all things Republican to completely subsume his work as of late. It's a fact of human nature that when we're pushed, we scurry back to our comfort zones. For the modern American left, passionate loathing of its political opponents has long been its virtual barcalounger.
And that's to say nothing of the Obama campaign's problems. The hope/change thing has run its course, and Obama will have to say something different to cut through the campaign din. That's why I never worried about all the money the Obama campaign might have on hand. The money only matters if you have something worth saying. Since the Obama campaign's message the past week has been "We Don't Like Sarah Palin" and "John McCain is Old," we can assume the campaign's well of meaningful content has run dry. (Of course, they will be able to use all that money to make sure they lose North Carolina by only 15 points, but that's another dubious expense.)
Although the left will doubt my sincerity on this score, I find the devolution of the Obama campaign depressing. Obama was always too liberal for me, and there was frankly no imaginable way I would have voted for him. But back when he was riding high in January, I found him a tremendously attractive figure; I said as much both in print and on the radio. For what it's worth, I still think he's a decent man, albeit one who's greatly unqualified for the presidency. That his followers' bile has so thoroughly drowned out his personal decency and whatever may have been uplifting about the Obama campaign is thoroughly dispiriting.
One last point: A couple of years ago, I called erstwhile Netroots heartthrob and failed congressional candidate Paul Hackett "as mean-spirited a politician as I've ever seen...He has shown little except a mean streak. He relishes insulting others. He delighted in calling George W. Bush a chicken-hawk S.O.B. Sort of like a crude political version of Madonna, he loves to shock." Hackett was back in the news this week offering free and frankly disastrous advice for the Obama campaign:
The Palin/McCain ticket reflects a course of action on the part of the Republican party that deftly understands both the strengths and weaknesses of the Democratic ticket and aggressively attacks both. The only antidote for such an assault is a comprehensive and aggressive personal attack on the Republican ticket focusing on how the personal lives of Palin/McCain evidence their personal unreliability and therefore their lack of character and values to lead America coupled with an aggressive defense of the Democratic central theme of Change...
The message is simple and the professionals can refine it but essentially it should contain these elements:
"Sarah Palin? Can't keep her solemn oath of devotion to her husband and had sex with his employee. Sarah Palin? Accidentally got pregnant at age 43 and the tax payers of Alaska have to pay for the care of her disabled child. Sarah Palin? Unable to teach her 16 year old daughter right from wrong and now another teenager is pregnant. Sarah Palin? Can you trust Sarah Palin and her values with America's future? John McCain? Divorced from his first wife one month and marries a billionaire influence peddler and convicted felon. John McCain, a record of rash and impulsive decisions. That's not change that's more of the same."
Ennobling, no? It sure is more of the same, but not the way Hackett intended it to be.
I can tell the Obama campaign that this is a disastrous strategy. So too can the savvy Kos Diarist Jeff Feldman. But even if the Obama campaign wants to follow our sage advice, it may well not matter, The bile and unrestrained fury of the modern left will make much more noise than anything Obama has to say. This particular genie popped out of the bottle years ago, and it's a little late for the apparently few smart Democrats to begin plotting how to shove her back in there.
