A Case Study in the Difference Between Republican and Democratic Campaign Tactics

(updated below)

This item at the Huffington Post notes that John McCain routinely wears a pair of $520 imported Ferragamo calfskin loafers to campaign events.

Now, this story might get linked to by a few left-leaning bloggers (like myself) who are trying to make a larger point about the state of campaign coverage, but that's about all the publicity it's going to get. I very much doubt that the topic of McCain's footwear will ever be raised by the press corps, mentioned in a campaign commercial, or serve as fodder for late-night comics.

But try to imagine, for a moment, if Barack Obama (or any previous Democratic nominee for that matter) had been photographed wearing these shoes, much less wearing them while meeting with the sandal-clad Dalai Lama. Here's what would have happened. 

Within hours of the story appearing on the internet, every single right-wing blog would have linked to the photo and published a post mocking Obama and using the word "elitist" at least once. Over the next week, every conservative columnist would find a way to incorporate some reference to the shoes into his column, and every conservative talking head on television would go out of his way to mention the shoes on air. Before long, CNN and MSNBC would start doing little "light-hearted" segments about the emerging "shoe controversy." These segments would include several photos of Obama wearing the expensive shoes running in a continuous loop on the screen while a "Republican strategist" and a "Democratic strategist" appearing in little boxes on the side of the screen spar back and forth about the relative importance of the "controversy." The Republican strategist would mock Obama mercilessly and breathlessly claim that this shows how out of touch Obama is with "regular American people." The Democratic strategist would concede that it looks bad but that what the American people really care about are the issues. 

By the second or third day of this, the now infamous shoes would become fodder for the late night comedians, and by the next week, all the political pundits and talk show hosts would be grappling with the suddenly important question of whether Obama has an "elitism problem" and debating what he needs to do to appear to be a regular person. The RNC and various Republican groups would waste no time exploiting the "shoe controversy" in various advertisements, mailers, and web-videos.

In short, had this involved a Democratic presidential nominee, you can rest assured that every single American would have heard about it at least 100 times by election day. But because this involves the Republican nominee, it will very soon be lost down the memory hole. Indeed, the attention will be so minimal that McCain will probably continue to wear the shoes to campaign events, even while accusing his opponent of being an out-of-touch elitist.  That, my friends, says about all you need to know about the current state of American politics.

UPDATE:  As if to underscore my point, McCain's campaign director issued a memo to the press today which was included the following passage: 

Only celebrities like Barack Obama go to the gym three times a day, demand "MET-RX chocolate roasted-peanut protein bars and bottles of a hard-to-find organic brew -- Black Forest Berry Honest Tea" and worry about the price of arugula.

This coming from the guy who wears $520 imported calfskin loafers.

Seriously, though, can you believe that was from an official McCain campaign statement? That's the level of maturity we're dealing with. As I never tire of pointing out, there is a pronounced maturity gap between the way Republicans and Democrats run campaigns. It's like watching a team of 5th graders debate a team of college students, endlessly, year after year.