A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Christine Bowman
John McCain is so far out-classed in this electoral contest that he no longer knows where to go with his campaign. He doesn't have a leg to stand on in terms of most policy arguments. He can't compete on rhetorical skills or personal charisma. Voters are uneasy with "experience" since experience seems to have got us into the messes we find ourselves in as a country today.
But he's still got ridicule.
When McCain first secured the GOP nomination, his early ads and messages emphasized his personal history. Vietnam POW, strong on defense and so on. Only a few brave souls [1] dared to challenge him on the military/patriot/hero narrative, but that alone hasn't been enough. Maybe that message veered towards pomposity, or just failed to be in synch with the times. Meanwhile, John McCain's many gaffes and the fact of his age haven't helped, either.
New guys have stepped in to shape the McCain message [2], and they are focused on turning Obama's strengths against him. Karl Rove famously used this strategy before, though he hardly invented it. War hero and highly experienced Senator John Kerry? In campaign messaging terms, that made him an anti-war traitor as well as a weak-kneed flip-flopper on policy. Go figure.
Now that Barack Obama has demonstrated leadership ability on the world stage, great popular appeal at home, and a cool head and clear intelligence as a campaigner and in formulating policy -- "despite" his ethnic heritage -- he, of course, must be portrayed as a Jesus wannabe [3], an airhead celebrity [4] or as simply too "uppity" [4] and elite.
Mockery. It's all John McCain's got left, besides overt racism, which right-wing supporters will gleefully exploit in McCain's name.
Mockery worked for Papa Bush against Michael Dukakis. And for Junior against Kerry. But will voters buy it again this time?
Not likely, but also not impossible. Barack Obama, more than his predecessors, is a good fit with the times and the national mood. McCain is not.
* * *
Also see, McCain manages to insult Obama and religion in one 60-second ad. [4]
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
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