McCain Goes Negative

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright October 5, 2008
All Rights Reserved.                    

              Less than one month before the Nov. 4 election, GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has turned negative, hoping to make up an aggregate 6% deficit.  While only the Electoral College counts, national polls show a growing voter trend away from McCain to Obama.  With time running out, McCain knows that the only way to catch up is to pound Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Il.) character.  Whether proven or not, outrageous accusations raise doubts for those too busy to check the facts.  Republican Vice Presidential candidate Alaska Gov. Sara Palin accused Barack of “palling around with terrorists,” referring to his past association with Bill Ayers, a member of the ‘60s radical group the Weather Underground.  Ayers, now an English professor at the University of Illinois, lives in Barack’s South Side Chicago neighborhood.  

            Palin’s mudslinging could boomerang, antagonizing voters seeking real answers to real problems facing the country.  With the House and Senate passing emergency financial bailout legislation and President George W. Bush signing the bill Oct. 3, Palin’s salvo could be viewed as a cheap shot.  There’s nothing other than rumor and innuendo to suggest Barack ever “palled around” with Ayers.  “Our opponent is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country,” Palin told a rally at a Tennis stadium in Carson, Calif., 15 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.  Palin’s hyperbole goes to the heart of a campaign that prompted former Bush chief consultant and deputy chief of staff Karl Rove to project Barack wrapping up at least 273 electoral votes.  That’s bad news coming from Bush’s chief architect of his two electoral victories.

            Palin just finished debating Democratic VP nominee Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) Oct. 2, with most polls showing Biden on top.  Palin, while charming, felt content during the debate at Washington University in St. Louis not respond to the host’s questions, preferring to give predigested stump speeches.  Accusing Barack of “palling around” with Ayers isn’t supported by the record that shows them both serving on a board while Barack worked as a community organizer in Chicago’s South Side.  “This is not a man who sees America like you and I see America,” said Palin, painting Obama an un-American.  “We see America as a force of good in this world.  We see an America of exceptionalism,” not recognizing foreign polls showing a damaged American image over the last eight years, certainly since the Iraq War.  Palin doesn’t believe there’s any image to fix.

            McCain and Palin can’t run on Bush’s coattails because his aggregate approval rating has dropped below 28%.  Palin tried to distance the McCain campaign in the Oct. 2 debate, chastising Biden for dredging up the past.  It’s difficult to forget the immediate past when only on Friday did Bush sign sweeping legislation to save the economy.  Bush lobbied hard for the $700 billion rescue plan, telling a national TV audience that the country was close to economic disaster.  Redirecting the focus to attacking Barack’s character is the only trick left in the bag.  “What’s clear is that John McCain and Sara Palin would rather spend their time tearing down Barack Obama that laying out a plan to build up the economy,” said Obama campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan.  Saying at repeated campaign stops that Barack “pals around” with Ayers helps indict Palin’s already shaky credibility.

            Exaggeration and distortion don’t work well in the age of fact-checking and public records.  Preaching to choir won’t change too many independent minds, especially those that see the attacks as a cheap shot.  Whether the Obama campaign wants to or not, they must respond quickly to bogus attacks.  Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the Democrat’s 2004 nominee, ignored attacks on his military service by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth,” a GOP-funded 527 IRS Code political group that disseminated relentless lies about Kerry’s military service.  Whether truthful or not, adding adverse publicity distracted the Kerry campaign and might have contributed to his loss.  Seeing the same pernicious propaganda originate from the Palin’s office could backfire.  Letting shady groups like SBVT do the dirty work helps shield the campaign from the negative fallout and a possible voter backlash.

            Telling voters that Barack “pals around” with terrorists creates so much hyperbole that it detracts from any credibility on more important matters.  Since Sara’s Sept. 3 acceptance speech, she cast herself into McCain’s attack dog.  Whether she knows it or not, there’s limits to the degree of exaggeration and distortion permissible in the public dialogue.  Dredging up Obama’s past associations also exposes McCain’s shady dealings with convicted felon Charles Keating Jr. in the Lincoln Savings and Loan scandal.  There’s plenty of mud to go around, if the McCain campaign goes down that path.  Most post-debate polls show Biden getting the better of Palin, prompting the self-described “hockey mom” to go on the attack.  Palin’s turned McCain’s Straight Talk Express into a vengeful spin machine, leaving voters more skeptical.  McCain and Palin must do more that sling mud to win on Nov. 4.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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