October 2008

You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October 2008.

Quick Take

October 30, 2008 in Campaign 2008, Opinion by Tony Steidler-Dennison | No comments

A few quick thoughts on the Obamamercial from last evening.

Overall, it was very, very nicely done. It succeeded at every level in conveying both an urgency to solve the pressing problems of the day and a calm in the man who’s asked to lead those solutions.

I was concerned by two items. The first was the statement that anyone making less than $200,000 will get a tax cut. Unless I misunderstand the numbers, this seems to be a change from the “over $250,000″ tax cut rollback.

The other item was the statement that Obama will “increase domestic oil production.” (I hope that’s an accurate quote - I don’t have the video running.) In any event, I was struck that the statement seemed to be a complete capitulation to McCain’s plan to increase domestic drilling.

If I understand either of these correctly, they could easily be fodder for the McCain campaign for the next six days. And, frankly, they’d represent a slightly bothersome shift by Obama in the last week of the campaign.

Short of those items, the ad was, honestly, brilliant. It’s hard to imagine how anyone could come away from it with any further belief in the McCain-Palin “radical secret Muslim terrorist black man” narrative. The timing was great and the content was spot-on - as we’ve come to expect from this remarkable campaign.

Tags: , ,

What Have We Just Done?

October 30, 2008 in Campaign 2008, Opinion by Tony Steidler-Dennison | No comments

Josh Marshall perfectly summarizes my previously nebulous thoughts on the problem with modern campaigns:

The peril of the modern political campaign is not its nastiness (come on, we’re all adults). It’s that it supplants a real debate, so that by the time the election actually happens and a victor is declared, it’s not entirely clear what we all collectively just decided. Did we just vote for universal health care, or against that cranky old man and his dimwitted running mate?

I’m confident that in this election, I’ll vote for the policies of my candidate and party, but that’s been a rare occasion since I started voting in 1980. All too often, the vote’s been cast against the policies or personality of the opposing candidate. As Josh points out, that just leaves a muddled taste on the palate post-election.

Tags: , ,

WTF Quote Of The Day

October 17, 2008 in Campaign 2008, Republicans by Tony Steidler-Dennison | No comments

“The opportunity to show American television watchers anyway that you get to have a sense of humor through all of this or even just this really would be wearin’, tearin’ on you so an opportunity to show that sense of humor and that side of all of this I look forward to it.”

- Sarah Palin, 10/17/08, on her upcoming appearance on “Saturday Night Live.”

Tags: ,

Acorn Smoke

October 15, 2008 in Campaign 2008, Democrats, Republicans by Tony Steidler-Dennison | No comments

The McCain campaign continues to blow smoke about ACORN. In today’s salvo, he referred to it as “voter fraud,” and accused ACORN of “tampering with America’s most precious right.” He, of course, also noted that, “Senator Obama has had relations with ACORN in the past. Those, like his relations with William Ayers and others, needs to be fully … Americans need to be fully informed.” Typical of the recent desperation of the McCain campaign, even this short statement is misleading on several levels.

First, voter fraud occurs when faked or otherwise ineligible votes are actually cast, or when eligible votes aren’t counted. It’s simply wrong to call the registration of ineligible or fictitious voters “voter fraud.” Call it “registration fraud” if you will, but there’s a wide gulf between the two in terms of the impact on the election. Fictitious voters still need to show up at the polls, get past the registration table and somehow cast a ballot to commit voter fraud. Is registration fraud acceptable? Of course not. But, until and unless the fraud results in an actual ballot being cast (unlikely in most states), it has virtually no impact on the election.

Then there’s the threadbare assertion by McCain that “America needs to be fully informed” on the issue of William Ayers. If McCain or America are uncertain of Obama’s relationship to William Ayers, they haven’t been paying attention. The Obama campaign has explained the relationship in a consistent fashion for at least several months.

But, that’s not really the point, is it? McCain’s playing a game with this “relationship.” The game goes like this.

“I understand you ran a stoplight at the corner of Main and Cedar last week. Tell me about that,” I say.

“I didn’t run a red light,” you respond.

“Why won’t you disclose what happened at Main and Cedar last week?” I press.

“I am. I didn’t run a red light.”

“It’s not so much about whether you ran a stupid red light,” I continue. “It’s about your inability to level with us. It’s about your honesty. It’s about your judgment in what you choose to tell people.”

In other words, there’s no correct answer. It’s an old, old political game of forcing your opponent to prove a negative.

Unfortunately, Obama will probably need to spend yet more time answering the question in the next three weeks - maybe tonight, as a matter of fact. Hopefully, he’ll answer concisely then ask why McCain continues to avoid providing a real plan for the American people.

Tags: , , ,