Anyone who turns away from intelligent debate in favor of mudslinging not worth the dirt they are standing on. So that makes Rick Davis utterly worthless. Davis is the head of McCain’s campaign and rather than engage in a sincere and thoughtful discussion of the two candidate’s positions and explain why his candidate is the best he’s decided that an ad that comparing Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton is better. It is outrageous to compare two messed up blonde fads with an honest political candidate.
Obama has clearly demonstrated an intelligence and seriousness that demands at least an ounce of respect. Davis clearly wants to deny him that. More disturbing is the cocky, “so-what” attitude Davis displayed in responding to CNN’s questions about whether the ad’s are negative (which they clearly are). Asked Davis says, “Will people think of this as negative advertising? Look, it’s the most entertaining thing I’ve seen on TV in a while. I wouldn’t anticipate anything about this being negative.”
Apparently Davis thinks very little of American’s ability to discern what is real and important. That he makes a point to mention entertainment value is completely disheartening. Politics aren’t supposed to be treated as “entertaining,” they are supposed to be treated as serious business that effects our lives— because that what it is! I’m no fan of McCain’s recent tactics (which is sad since I used to respect him), but this goes beyond everything else. It is an insult not only to Obama but to the intelligence of Americans in general.
4 Comments
I think you’re missing a key point here: politicians are only able to fulfill their purpose if they are elected to office. You advocate the exclusive use of rational debate and statistically-based arguments here, which is an excellent sounding idea. However, you fail to acknowledge the fact that the last candidate to use this method, Ross Perot, failed to effect ANY change whatsoever because he failed to win. John McCain could very well run a smear-free, calm cool n’ collected campaign, but it would not do him, or those who voted for him, any good.
The name of the game is winning the election first, THEN running the country. I’m confident McCain would happily run ads rationally explaining his personal plan for running the country if he had a 20% margin over Obama, but it’s neck and neck (in reality, Obama is in the lead) and he needs every point he can get if he wants to ACTUALLY change the country, instead of just talk about changing the country.
Well I guess those of us who’d actually like to think would rather see the issues addressed.
A campaign needs to prove it is the best suited and that is it. By contrast McCain’s campaign seems to be arguing, not that he’s the best choice, but instead that Obama is some sort of rock star incapable of doing anything useful and unsuited for politics completely. Clearly Obama is young, but it is just as clear that he’s not some random clueless babe in the woods.
I think you fail to accept that Obama is willing (to a degree) to entertain a debate of the key issues. It didn’t work for Perot because no one took him seriously. Obama and McCain are serious contenders, it only takes them being serious about the task at hand for this to turn into a election worth considering. Right now all I see is McCain making small minded comments to belittle Obama— labeling him a false messiah and his supporters some sort of cult for instance.
As a semi-intelligent person I am unwilling to accept the notion that we can only decide who is best by hindsight. Any reasonable person can judge the past clearly. The trick is trying to sort through the baloney in the present to judge who may make a past that we are happy with.
In the end I can say this much. Where once McCain could have had my vote he now stands no chance. The Bush years have been a wonderful education in seeing though bull-shit and fear mongering. McCain used to be above that, but not anymore. I don’t care why he’s doing it. The test of a person’s integrity is if they do the thing they feel is right no matter the circumstances. Most politicians fail in this regard (Obama is no exception), but McCain is failing in a remarkable way.
I really don’t feel like you addressed my point at all, but I imagine YOU feel you did, so I’ll leave that be.
I believe that Obama is willing to entertain a debate of the key issues as well. In fact, we as a country have an established tradition to that effect: they’re called the presidential debates. I am confident that, during the presidential debates, Obama and McCain will both debate key issues statistically and intelligently.
However, campaign ads are not designed to be a long distance, time-delayed forum. They are designed to get votes. McCains ads are (finally) serving this purpose.
Perhaps I am hopelessly Machiavellian, but it seems to me that, for a man of McCain’s age, running an effective campaign is the only option. This is his only shot, and while the Paris and Britney ad was inexpert, the false messiah ad was controversial, damning, and tapped into a strong thread of popular feeling concerning Mr. Obama.
I guess what I’m saying is: don’t hate the player, hate the game. It does John McCain no good to have your respect instead of the presidency. You’re fooling yourself if you think Obama is above it, too.
To reiterate what I said in my previous post, I don’t accept what you seem to be advocating as the only method of choosing a candidate. Anyone willing to win by any means necissary displays a lack of character not suited to lead a democratic country. Furthermore, a system where one wins the election first and “THEN [runs] the country.” Is, as I already mentioned, an impossibly backward way of viewing the election process.
Campaign ads are not meant to be a forum, they are meant to give information to voters. Comparing Obama to Paris Hilton doesn’t inform me of anything, nor does comparing him to a messiah. If you want to attack Obama on the issues go for it. He’s not perfect, it can be done. But that isn’t what’s happening.
As a politician I am sure that Obama is capable of going in the same direction as McCain. However, the difference is that Obama has made a strong effort not to. McCain seems desperate to me, a old boxer relying on low blows to hold onto his last chance at glory.