10 September 2008

Is this the wrong tempest at the wrong time for the McCain campaign? Is this 'controversy' starting to backfire?

Did the McCain campaign pick the wrong issue out of which to make a quasi-controversy? News yesterday and today was filled with talk of whether or not Barak Obama called Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin a pig.

By most non-partisan accounts, Obama was not talking about Palin. The Illinois Senator was referencing the way McCain has dressed up George Bush's economic, foreign, healthcare and education policies as something new. As a matter of fact, Obama didn't even mention Palin's name in context of the "lipstick on a pig" colloquialism

Conservatives who got the talking points immediately began to attack him. However, others couldn't force themselves to use this issue to unfairly bash Obama.

Mike Huckabee said on Fox's Hannity & Colmes last night (Sep 9) he did not think Obama was calling Palin a pig:

HUCKABEE: It's an old expression, and I'm going to have to cut Obama some slack on that one. I do not think he was referring to Sarah Palin. He didn't reference her -- 

Despite some of her comments about Obama, Republican supporter Rachel Campos-Duffy appeared on CNN today during it's 3PM hour. Campos-Duffy was asked if it was a fair criticism to be leveled against Obama.

She said it was obvious Obama was not talking about Sarah Palin when he used the "lipstick on a pig" phrase:

CAMPOS-DUFFY: If you look at the whole clip, it's really not fair. I don't think Barak Obama is a stupid enough politician to think it's a good idea to call Sarah Palin a pig or a stinky fish. It's just really obvious that that's not what happened.

Campos-Duffy also went on to say she doesn't think Obama is sexist.

Surprisingly, not even Republican supporter Elisabeth Hasselbeck (The View) thought the comment was sexist or that Obama was calling Palin a pig as she appeared on the show this morning.

See video below:

Hasselbeck says the controversy is "overblown" and that Obama's comment was "not tied to Sarah Palin".

Obama tore into the criticisms this morning (Sept 10) labeling it as a "phony and foolish diversion". He also said there isn't "a dime's worth of difference between what he's offering and what we've already gotten."

"Spare me the phony talk about change. We have real problems in this country right now," Obama told the indoor crowd in Virginia.

The McCain campaign in recent days appears to be struggling to fend off swirling controversies around Palin's record and past associations. Keeping the media's eye on this 'lipstick' talk takes their eye off other things.

This fake controversy has given the Obama campaign a way to act as matador to the charging McCain bull. No pun intended.

Republicans keep going at Obama on issues unrelated to 'the issues', and Obama keeps fending them off while creating a record of false outrages the public can look to the next time they cry wolf.

For example, Palin's "rockstar" status and the way in which McCain is using her popularity makes one think back to McCain's summer attack ads which called Obama a "celebrity" candidate. That message went out the window as soon as they had their own "rockstar".

With this talk, it becomes easier for the Obama campaign to argue the McCain campaign has turned into 'Chicken Little' proclaiming the sky is falling every time someone questions their policies or their lack of plans which differentiate McCain from Bush.

It has allowed the media to dig through archives of information and pull up every 'lipstick on a pig' quote McCain and other republicans have used against Democrats. Everyone from McCain himself to Dick Cheney has used the exact same phrase for whatever issue they were talking about at the time.

Worse, the attention is currently back on Barak Obama and off of Palin as the 'victim' of an alleged media conspiracy.

Not that I want to give advice to the McCain campaign but they should pick their battles. It seemed like a winnable distraction last night until Obama used the opportunity this morning to lambaste McCain for lying.

Obama also planted the seeds of disbelief for every time the McCain campaign shouts 'sexism' or whines about being treated unfairly by the media in the future. It also allowed him, again, to link McCain to Bush's failed policies.

Source Material:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200809100010