After McCain Ad, Obama Dumping Defensive Game
‘He’s Tougher Than He Was in Primary Season,’ Says Ted Strickland
This is the week that Barack Obama got sick of the high road.
“And while Senator McCain’s plan won’t save you at the pump anytime soon, I have to say this, it sure has done a lot to raise campaign dollars,” said Mr. Obama, speaking at the Austintown Fitch High School in Youngstown, Ohio, on the morning of Aug. 5. “Senator McCain raised more than one million dollars from the oil industry just last month, just last month, most of which came after he announced his plan for offshore drilling to a room full of oil executives.”
The crowd booed. Mr. Obama seemed to enjoy it. And a few moments later he had them wildly cheering as he proposed giving them $1,000 each to help alleviate the burden of expensive gas. The money, he thundered from the podium, would come from the windfall profits of the oil companies.
Before he was done, he attacked Mr. McCain for not doing anything to promote alternative energy during his “26 years” in the Senate. The number came off his tongue like an indictment. And he mocked Mr. McCain for saying, on Aug. 4, as Mr. Obama quoted him, “I want to drill here, I want to drill now.”
“I don’t know where he was standing. I mean, I think he was in a building somewhere.” He paused to chuckle with the crowd.
“This plan,” he continued, “will not lower prices today—it won’t lower prices in the next administration.”
The counterattacking communications strategy that got Mr. Obama through his nomination battle against Hillary Clinton is, for the moment at least, gone. It broke down in the face of last week’s withering character attacks from an increasingly disciplined McCain campaign.
The tactical adjustment has been unmissable.
“They are clearly back on offense, which is obviously where you want to be,” said Howard Wolfson, who was communications director for the Clinton campaign.
Hence, after being compared to Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and David Hasselhoff, the Obama campaign stopped complaining about the indignity of it all and brought the focus of the national political conversation around to energy—an issue, like most, on which polls show a lopsided advantage for the Democrats—and John McCain.
“Counterattack has two forms,” said Bob Shrum, the Democratic strategist who was John Kerry’s senior adviser in 2004. “One is direct response, and the other is you open up a new flank, and that is what he is doing here.”
“They lay down a predicate that McCain is responsible for the negativity,” Mr. Wolfson said, “and then are more free to run ads like the one today.”
The ad in question was an unapologetically negative one, released on Aug. 4 and accusing Mr. McCain of being “in the pocket of big oil.”
Two days earlier, on Aug. 2, Mr. Obama telegraphed that a change was coming. Speaking at a press conference in Florida, he said, “Their team is good at creating distractions and engaging in negative attacks and planting doubts about people. We have to make sure that we keep focused on people’s day-to-day concerns. And we’ve got to drive that very hard. And I will keep on driving that hard.”
Mr. McCain has been savaging Mr. Obama as an energy “Dr. No” who is opposed to offshore drilling and all other concrete measures to reduce the burden of expensive gasoline on struggling voters. When Mr. Obama proposed the idea of saving money on gas by making sure car tires were properly inflated, the McCain campaign mocked him as unserious, passing out tire gauges to their press corps as a gag.
This week, Mr. Obama has responded by rolling out an energy plan that calls for tax credits to hasten the transition of the automobile industry to hybrid and plug-in cars; reduced electricity use; and greater use of sustainable fuel to break the country’s dependence on foreign oil. But he also responded to the McCain criticism that he offered nothing immediate by proposing that the windfall profits of oil companies should fund $1,000 rebates to help Americans with gas. And he modified another position, saying he favored selling 70 million barrels of oil from the nation’s strategic reserves to lower the price of gasoline, and that he would consider expanding offshore drilling.
“They’re going around, they’re sending little tire gauges, making fun of this idea as if this is ‘Barack Obama’s energy plan,’” said Mr. Obama, speaking at another campaign event Tuesday afternoon in the gym of the Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea. “Now, two points—one, they know they’re lying about what my energy plan is. But the other thing is, they’re making fun of a step that every expert says would absolutely reduce our oil consumption.” He added, “It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant! They think it’s funny that they’re making fun of something that is actually true. They need to do their homework. Because this is serious business. Instead of running ads about Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, they should go talk to some energy experts and actually make a difference. Come on!’’ Next Page >
- Poll
- Obama (D)
- McCain(R)
- Spread
- RCP Average
- 49.8
- 42.3
- Obama +7.5
- Candidate
- Favorable
- Unfavorable
- Spread
- Obama
- 55.9
- 36.7
- +19.2
- McCain
- 49.6
- 41.7
- +7.9
Tinseltown celebrities operate on the principle that ANY publicity, even bad news, is better than no exposure at all. Could that be the "secret" of the recent McCain strategy ?
But by now he has just about run out of nasty and stupid things to say about Obama, so who knows what may we expect next, but we may be sure that the Karl Rove stooge who is now spreading the manure for the McCain campaign has more tricks up his sleeve.
The media abound with assertions that the public is sick and tired of all the partisan bickering and the dirty campaign tricks; yet, they also all assert, about the use dirty tricks, that "it works". Both true ? It seems like a case of massive cognitive dissonance.
By now we have learned that John McCain is incapable of conducting a reasonably intelligent and "clean" campaign, so the dirt slinging is likely to continue. And the most recent polls seem to indicate that it does "work"- - for a little while.
Obama (until now ?) has been maintaining a gentlemanly distance from the use of verbal excrement, but the gloves appear to be coming off. With his superior rhetorical gifts Obama will fairly puree McCain in any sort of verbal confrontation and still retain his dignity and integrity. The same most decidedly cannot be said of John McCain. We may see that the truth is that "it" doesn't "work" for very long unless it is practiced with skill and a convincing approach.
Tinseltown celebrities operate on the principle that ANY publicity, even bad news, is better than no exposure at all. Could that be the "secret" of the recent McCain strategy ?
But by now he has just about run out of nasty and stupid things to say about Obama, so who knows what may we expect next, but we may be sure that the Karl Rove stooge who is now spreading the manure for the McCain campaign has more tricks up his sleeve.
The media abound with assertions that the public is sick and tired of all the partisan bickering and the dirty campaign tricks; yet, they also all assert, about the use dirty tricks, that "it works". Both true ? It seems like a case of massive cognitive dissonance.
By now we have learned that John McCain is incapable of conducting a reasonably intelligent and "clean" campaign, so the dirt slinging is likely to continue. And the most recent polls seem to indicate that it does "work"- - for a little while.
Obama (until now ?) has been maintaining a gentlemanly distance from the use of verbal excrement, but the gloves appear to be coming off. With his superior rhetorical gifts Obama will fairly puree McCain in any sort of verbal confrontation and still retain his dignity and integrity. The same most decidedly cannot be said of John McCain. We may see that the truth is that "it" doesn't "work" for very long unless it is practiced with skill and a convincing approach.
mccain is very stupid and am very sorry to say that. i have respect for the man that served his country very well but the way his running his campaing shows little of him. where am from, we consider people that are old to be wise but his doing the opposite. if it was obama that was running this sort of campaing, it would have been a very bad news.
i dont really support any of the candidates but the current situation of the american economy has me worring. if mccain cant prove that he has something different to bring to the table from what we are seeing in the current administration,which he has benefited greatly from then he will have alot of work to do in making people like me believe that he will be a better choice than obama. so i give him an advice that he should do himself a favour and drop out of the race cos negative ads are not the problems of the american people right now.
if he countinues the way his going, i will have no choice then to back barack obama cos his everything that mccain isint.
sandra.
I had a lot of respect for McCain in 2000, but he's changed A LOT. I still respect that he was an officer back in the 1960's, but he's no gentleman with honor. In my book, an honorable man asks for American votes by debating issues -- the Moses and Paris Hilton junk was insulting. And, I don't like that he called his wife names in public and suggested she be in that biker beauty pagent, yesterday, either.
Call me old fashioned, but I like Mr. Obama's dignity.
Plus, I'll be right upfront. I want to keep my Social Security. I don't want to have to move in with my son. Mr. McCain called Social Security "a disgrace" and wants to privitze it. No thanks.
Wait until the real debates begin. McSame will not know what hit him. When this C-minus student faces a brilliant, top-of-the-line legal mind from an ivy league, he'll understand that there is more to a presidential campaign than running Paris-Britney ads.
Keep dreaming nobama fans. If you just pull your head out of the sand you will see middle America will see a honorable man is the man who has serveved his country and proudly wear the America flag. An empty suit like Mr Hussein Obama thinks the best energy plan is to inflate your tires and a scheduled tune up, a empty headed like paris hilton will fall over for that. The premise behind Mr Hussein Obama energy plan is to assume American people are stupid driving around with a deflated tires. How else Mr Hussein Obama think of American people??? Social security will go bankrupt either way unless something is done with the program. Under Mr Hussein proposal of big gorvement it will go under rather quick.
I think the comments for this article are from ill-informed, stupid people. If Obama wins, there will be no more Social Security or economy because it will be a total wreck! He wants to tax tax tax, and he is promising things to people that he can't possibly deliver. Our country is bleeding, and any good economist will tell you we don't need tax and spend measures!
No doubt the next president has a lot of problems, and it won't be easy. Therefore, I wished there were more honesty coming from the Obama camp concerning the economy and the fixes. Bribing everybody with $1000 won't solve it, but only make it worse. Windfall profits tax will only inflate gas prices, just as it did during the Carter administration.
I can't wait until the debates. Then, maybe the public will get the facts on what this Obama guy is all about--he isn't ready to lead, he is a celebrity.
Lots of wishful thinking. McCain is continuing from where Hillary left off. Obama's toast.
Next to your article McCain is running an ad with Paris, Britney and a question mark. Seriously. That's how they spend the money the oil industry has invested in them. No wonder T.Boone Pickens stopped funding Swift Boaters and is now pushing wind power.
John McCain is desperate, but not serious.
I think that at long last the American people are seeing Obama for what he is... A complete fraud, a leftist with a paper thin resume who shouldn't even manage a store, let alone a country... Moreover he is a racist who is trying to use the racist card to shut his opponents up. It may work in academia where his kind have destroyed most social sciences departments, but it doesn't work with the voters!
It's hard to see the word "tough" in a sentence or headline about Obambi. He makes Dukakis look like a badass. Has a bigger wuss ever run for president? Hillary could take him. Politically, the Effeminate One keeps talking about "economic justice", that's a euphemism for "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." Marxism IS change I suppose.
People, including the people in the oil business, are going to throw their money behind the candidate they agree with. Where the money comes from has no bearing on whether the candidate is right or wrong on the issue.
So more people in oil are behind McCain than are behind Obama. Big deal. If the merits McCain's position on the oil issue solid, then it only makes sense that oil folks will support him.
"Cui bono" will only get you so far as a political philosophy. It's far too simplistic as a blanket litmus test.
Reading the above comments, it is clear people who say they think McCain is nasty at least do not hold themselves to a higher standard than the one they pretend McCain operates on. In fact, the vituperative takes on McCain -- aging, dottering, in the pocket of big oil, warmonger, lobbyist-lover, etc. -- have been a staple of both the Obama campaign itself and its allies in the media since McCain won the nomination. The linking of McCain with Bush (pathetic itself, in that no one believes it for a minute) seek to morph Bush Derangement Syndrome into McCain Derangement Syndrome. Republicans make the biggest mistake of all when they flinch at absurd charges about going negative launched at them by people who have at the same time been demonizing them for decades. Karl Rove is a model of dispassionate political analysis these days (which lefties would know if they ever actually watched Fox Neww instead of demonizing it also) compared with Obama and his supporters. Compared with the comments above, Rove, McCain and all the rest on his side are gentlemen. May they not be too gentlemanly, I say. As Sean Connery put I believe, speaking of Capone, "when he comes at you with a knife, you come at him with a gun." That's politics, folks, long may it thrive.
I find it laughable that Obama's fans refer to him as brilliant. He got into Occicental and Columbia on quotas. The man never wrote a legal article while at Harvard, indeed his election as President of the Harvard Law Review was an act of quotas at its worst. He was offered a tenure position at University of Chicago without ever having published anything while legal scholars with lists of publications were passed up, again an act of quotas. Obama freezes when faced with serious questions from reporters and not the kid glove treatment he demands lest he bring up charges of racism. Obama of the 57 states in America, president for 10-12 years, inflating tires will save as much as offshore drilling, is hailed as brilliant by his fans. For those too ignorant to know or too blind to care, the Naval Academy's curriculum consists of rigorous mathematics, science and engineering not feel good courses like Alinsky's Community Organizing. When McCain attended Annapolis people got the grades they earned not what aside quotas granted. Obama might be America's first affirmative action president but anyone who has seen quotas operate in real life will understand that his election will be a disaster.
When a political ad is effective, the other side cries and whines it is negative. The Paris/Britney and the Moses ads are simply presenting the facts with Mr Obama own words. How is that a negative ad? I only suggest it would be a better ad if there is a spot reserved for the Rev Wright/Bill Ayers condemming America in the mega church that Obama sit in for 20 plus years. The American people need to be reminded the company that Mr Obama keeps.
Obama's just now getting tough? The man who wants to bring racial unity to the country has called a war hero,who has an adopted daughter from another race, a racist; a former president, with an outstanding record for helping blacks, a racist; and now that the polls have him tied with McCain, he's calling the American people racist. SMEARS on John McCain, Bill Clinton, and his fellow AMERICANS is as negative and tough as you get. And it is a strategy that will lose it for this slick and nasty jerk with the faux presidential seal. John McCain will be the 44th president of the United States.
OMG. Why does everyone who hates Obama on here always refer to him with some sort of crappy euphemism? Is this supposed to make Obama supporters realize the error of their ways because you toss lame insults about his name? At least McSame has a nice ring to it :) lol.
If you want 4-8 more years of Bush then vote away for McCain it's what you deserve. I think you'll find come November however that the majority of Americans want change and change is Barack Obama the next and greatest President of the United States EVER.
The opening sentence of this article already reveal the level of media bias as expected from the liberal media. Mr Obam has traveled to this place on the LOW road, implying american people are racist if they dont vote for him. Call me racist if that keeps the empty suit out of the highest office in the world so be it.
It's funny that there's mention made of 'your' social security and yet he can be against privatization of social security. That indicates to me that person is unread on the issue, and yet have an opinion, however incorrect and without basis it is. I would encourage you to UNDERSTAND the history of what social security was intended when first established. It was supposed to be a VOLUNTARY program for those that didn't have enough financial security to retire. It has now become a ponzi-scheme safety net for those who are either too lazy or stupid to make their own retirement decisions and personal financial sacrifices. Now the burden and expectation falls to the government to provide for the otherwise ill-prepared.
And me, because I work my ass off and make a very good salary, lose money everyday because I have money I'm forced to invest in a very low interest account when my private investments would be outperforming SS, which SS may or may not be there for me when I retire. (That's what is known as an opportunity cost, in case you didn't know) What a country we live in where I have to piss away my hard earned capital on the likes of you, because you expect the government to provide because 'life just isn't fair, gosh darn it'.
Hypocrisy at the least, ignorance and stupidity at the most, but democrat through
and through no doubt.
Obama will win. More people put their money on it..
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_electi...
If you think McCain will win, then why isn't people gambling on it???
You need some bitterness counseling. But thanks, I didn't know that our problems today stem from the social sciences...By the way, I'd be careful phrases like "his kind".
You tell em, Mr. O.!
BARACK ON!!
It was naive to think that the Chicago bred politician Obama was being too soft thus far without reason.In a street brawl the astute fighter waits for the mud to be thrown on him first in order to viciously hit back. Such tactic always goes well with lay gentleman spectatorscrowding around to name the better fighter. Now Obama can even hit hard and if need be, below the belt, and get merrily away
Social Security was supposed to be voluntary??? uhh.... where'd you come up with that? Fool.
The Social Security act was signed into law by FDR in 1935 as a means to provide an economic safety net for the elderly, widows, mother and child welfare and the blind. It was part of FDR's New Deal responding to the Depression.
That it should be "privatized" is short sighted and plain wrong. The poorest would suffer. Profits would be key, and we all know that when profits are involved, people screw people.
Should it be modified, for example with means testing? Sure. But the primary reason SS is in "trouble" is because of the baby boom, not mis-managment as some would suggest, or because of "lazy" people taking advantage.
Those right wingers who want to get rid of it are all the same - they hate any Govt. program.
Until they need it that is...
"he isn't ready to lead, he is a celebrity."
Uh...wasn't Ronald Reagan a celebrity?
I mean seriously. What does this line of argument get you?
He was nobody till he saw this moment to make positive change in this country after the ruinous reign of King George and Tricky Dick II.
McCain was out there hobnobbing and becoming a celebrity well before Barack Obama was the focus of America's (and the world's) attention.
Read the policies of both men. Make an informed decision. But don't rely on message politics and lopsided talking points.
We can do better.
Reagan was the California gorverner for nearly two terms before he ran for President. What did the Lord Obama has done?
The Bush administration has kept your sorry soul safe for the last 8 years. How a bout that?
Obama is done. You can feel the momentum shifting to McCain. Who the hell is Obama? A half-black guy from Chicago( which now needs the National Guard to come in to keep "da hood" in its place). He has a "whopping" 3 years experience in the Senate. We know MUCH of his campaign is racially driven. How is it that butt kisser Hillary was thrown "under the bus" by blacks? Racism/pride and nothing else. He has a history of racist pastors, hinting at racist comments( I don't look like the guy on dollar bills), has NO foreign policy experince. His wife"being finally proud" to be American- she could have moved ages ago. Stupid rappers making disgusting comments against the white candidates. Nah, he is in the sewer too much. And for the fools who think the McCain ad associating Obama with Spears and Hilton was bad you are WRONG. It puts the doubt in the mind of the voter... Obama an empty suit. A very good ad and it gets talked about a lot. Good ad. We all know Obama has peaked and when/if McCain picks Romney he will close the deal in a pretty close race. Many Democrats will go with McCain as well as Independents. Obama's racist associations have hurt him. Even Al Sharpton is pictured with him. Kind of like "the black KKK" for many white people. Sorry, Obama is done. You know he is in "dive mode." Let the "kid" get some more experience and we all know if he had blonde hair and blue eyes with his lack of anything, he would have been LONG GONE and Hillary the Nominee. But racial and PC madness dominate when it comes to OBama. McCain in a solid win.
It was about time. Now Obama should not forget to start questioning McCain's supposed foreign policy expertise, too. Wesley Clark paved the way with his "untried and untested" remark which Obama should have built on rather than to refute it. It is precisely the apparent outrageousness of the remark that makes it so valuable. Obama (and his surrogates) should repeat the as often as possible until everybody gets Clark's point: McCain has no record to prove that he would be a capable Commander in Chief.
McCain is the affirmative action baby. The TRUTH is Obama didn't even put his race on his application for Harvard Law School -- so he got in on merit. Also, McCain graduated last in his class at the Naval Academy and would not have been admitted if his father wasn't an Admiral...much like Bush at Yale and Harvard Business School (Bush couldn't even get in to U of Texas Law School because his grades and test scores were so low). You are just like the McLame campaign -- ignorant of the facts.
Does Stupid people become Conservatives and Republicans or do they become stupid after becoming one. I guess the former is true. Every state below average IQ of 99 voted Republican and every one above average of 100 Voted Democrat. Not convinced? Read the comments here, most stupid ones are of course from the republican . When W took power in 2001, the Surplus was 114 Billion. After 8 years of squandering and settling of family feuds we have it at half a Trillion deficit, which is per year basis. Dollar lost it value by 40% because of this deficit, which inflated the Oil/Gas price by more than $1.5 per gallon. In other words if the deficit or Surplus was held at 2001 level, the Gas would have cost only $ 2.50/Gal. Gee thanks George (Curious George would want to change his name since it has become an oxymoron)
I respected that "white haired Dude" when he was the maverick. Now he is keeping bad company. Don’t you have anything against Obama other than "Hussein" and couple of Blondes known for their tantrums.
It has been told, that the more Ignorant you are, the more crooked you become. Then it is obvious that the crooked Republicans want to play the subtle race card by placing a black man between two blonds. Then again what else you expect from a party that "Celebrates Stupidity and take pride in Ignorance" . You guys are a disgrace to this nation!!!The party of Lincoln is dead, replaced by a bunch of ignorants. I am concerned..look at the venom they spew.
I respected that "white haired Dude" when he was the maverick. Now he is keeping bad company. Dont you have any thing against Obama other than "Hussain" and couple of Blondes known for their tantrums.
It has been told, that the more Ignorant you are, the more crooked you become. Then it is obvious that the crooked republicans want to play the subtle race card by placing a black man between two blonds. Then again what else you expect from a party that "Celebrates Stupidity and take pride in Ignorance" . You guys are a disgrace to this nation!!!The party of Lincoln is dead, replaced by a bunch of Ignorants. I am concerned..look at the venom they spew.