OK, folks, time to put the remotes down and stop talking about Britney Spears. Get your game faces on, because this campaign is changing quickly.
The last few days have been consumed with accusations and then defense over whether Obama is a empty suit, a vacuous celebrity. The implication, of course, is that McCain is running the 2004 campaign again and try to make Obama into the east coast liberal snob Kerry became. The holy grail here is the critical "media narrative" needed to frame a candidate in so tightly there is no escape. Just ask Al Gore.
I've noticed a new media narrative being created that is much more dangerous than the "liberal effete" frame now being bantered about.
The Britney Spears framing is only a subtext, a introduction to the overall theme that is about to be dropped on Obama.
First, just a quick note on how campaigns work. You set out an overall framework for the campaign, what ad agencies call the "big idea". Maybe it's Gore is a liar or Kerry is weak on national defense. Obama's is obvious: McCain is four more years of George Bush. Once you have the big picture framed, then it's just a matter of filling in the gaps. Start looking for examples that support the umbrella structure and start spending money. By the time election day rolls around, the opponent, if you're successful, has been defined exactly the way you want. There's a little more to it than that, but you get the idea.
So is McCain framing Obama as an effete, untested, empty celebrity, or is there something else going on? (Keeping in mind that any effete smell that gets on him will only help their side.)
Let's take a look at the recent evidence:
From The The USA Today:
A decreased level of violence in Iraq should allow the U.S. to continue reducing combat forces there, starting with shorter deployments, President Bush said Thursday.
Rocky Mountain News:
Sen. John McCain said he is the one who showed real courage on Iraq by supporting the troop "surge" when public opinion was turning against the war.
AP:
Republican John McCain's campaign on Saturday sharply criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for canceling a visit to wounded troops in Germany, contending Obama chose foreign leaders and cheering Europeans over "injured American heroes."
AP:
BAGHDAD - The monthly U.S. toll in Iraq fell to its lowest point since the war began, with 11 American deaths as July drew to a close Thursday after the departure of the last surge brigade.
...
"The progress is still reversible," President Bush said Thursday in Washington. But he said a new "degree of durability in gains" should permit him to announce further U.S. troop reductions later this year.
And there you have it. The building framework for the election season. The war was a success after all, thank god we had a great leader like George Bush in this time of trouble and we'd better not leave before the job is done or it could slip back into chaos. Never mind that the surge was a joke, the deployments were originally extended by Bush to make the escalation possible and that they can control how much violence occurs to some degree by sending troops out on fewer patrols, etc.
And, yes, we've heard this before, but by making the war into a success they are much more able to take apart Obama's greatest strength: being against the war from the beginning. (**cough**Rove**cough**)
So again, imagine this framing: "Obama wants to surrender on the eve of victory." Ouch. Hurts way more than Britney comparisons. We've gotta get out in front on this.
What do you think will be the best response?