David Axelrod has released a memo this morning that points to the tough and substantive strategy that will guide Team Barry from this point forward. "We will respond with speed and ferocity to John McCain's attacks and we will take the fight to him," vows the brains of the Obama campaign, "but we will do it on the big issues that matter to the American people. We will not allow John McCain and his band of Karl Rove disciples to make this big election about small things."
You know I love it whenever Team Barry butches up. But still, what are the big issues of the day that the Obama campaign will be addressing in this critical spell? The campaign's latest add provides a hint. The AP reports:
The newest ad showcasing their hard line includes unflattering footage of McCain at a hearing in the early '80s, wearing giant glasses and an out-of-style suit, interspersed with shots of a disco ball, a clunky phone, an outdated computer and a Rubik's Cube.
"1982, John McCain goes to Washington," an announcer says over chirpy elevator music.
"Things have changed in the last 26 years, but McCain hasn't.
"He admits he still doesn't know how to use a computer, can't send an e-mail, still doesn't understand the economy, and favors two hundred billion in new tax cuts for corporations, but almost nothing for the middle class," it says. It shows video of McCain getting out of a golf cart with former President George H.W. Bush and closes with a photo of him standing with the current President Bush at the White House. "After one president who was out of touch, we just can't afford more of the same."
The big issue of the day, therefore, is that John McCain wore ugly suits. In 1982! Thank heavens the Obama campaign has determined to yank this campaign towards more substance.
In many private conversations in recent days, I've noted the intellectual exhaustion that currently characterizes the Obama campaign. With the hope/change thing having run its course, Obama and his team quite literally have nothing to say. If John McCain were Barack Obama, he'd spend the next three news cycles whining "Ageism!" in regards to the Obama campaign's new spot. But as we all know, John McCain isn't Barack Obama. Instead, I'm quite confident that McCain and his team will revel in the pathos that this ad unwittingly reveals.
