Missing the Point of McCain's Ads
I've gotta disagree with Markos and Josh Marshall on this one. McCain's new "hot chicks dig Obama" ad is not intended to be a racist dog-whistle. If it was, they would have put more effort into it and they'd be playing it in heavy circulation in the South. Instead, the ad is a hastily thrown together, low-budget web ad that only political junkies like Markos and Josh are likely to bother watching.
In other words, this particular dog-whistle isn't directed at racists; it's directed at liberals. The McCain camp knows that all they have to do is put a few young white women in an anti-Obama ad (even one they don't intend to air), and Obama's liberal defenders will instantly flip out and accuse them of being racists. That then gives them the opportunity to, once again, play the role of the victim and accuse Obama and his defenders of "playing the race card." Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
The McCain camp knows that whenever the discussion turns to race, it's a bad day for Obama, so they are deliberately trying to bait Obama's supporters into making accusations of racism. They're trying to stoke white racial resentment indirectly by setting themselves up as the falsely accused.
So can we please stop with all the breathless outrage over stuff like this. It's completely counterproductive. This isn't 1963 and the country as a whole is not the Old South. To the extent there are still people out there who are susceptible to subliminal suggestions that Obama wants to run away with their daughters, well, they're not likely to vote for Obama anyway. So there's no need to raise the alarm. These ads, in and of themselves, are not going help McCain--at least not for reasons that have anything to do with racism.
The McCain camp is not stupid. They're not trying win the election by directly triggering latent racist impulses in white Americans. They're trying to trigger liberal outrage and over-reaction, knowing that many white voters will see the ensuing accusations of racism as unfair and unwarranted.
So let's stop playing this game. Obama is ahead in the polls and he'll win as long as this election is about whether we want four more years of Bush's policies. So let's focus on that and ignore the bait the McCain campaign is dangling in front of us.
In other words, this particular dog-whistle isn't directed at racists; it's directed at liberals. The McCain camp knows that all they have to do is put a few young white women in an anti-Obama ad (even one they don't intend to air), and Obama's liberal defenders will instantly flip out and accuse them of being racists. That then gives them the opportunity to, once again, play the role of the victim and accuse Obama and his defenders of "playing the race card." Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
The McCain camp knows that whenever the discussion turns to race, it's a bad day for Obama, so they are deliberately trying to bait Obama's supporters into making accusations of racism. They're trying to stoke white racial resentment indirectly by setting themselves up as the falsely accused.
So can we please stop with all the breathless outrage over stuff like this. It's completely counterproductive. This isn't 1963 and the country as a whole is not the Old South. To the extent there are still people out there who are susceptible to subliminal suggestions that Obama wants to run away with their daughters, well, they're not likely to vote for Obama anyway. So there's no need to raise the alarm. These ads, in and of themselves, are not going help McCain--at least not for reasons that have anything to do with racism.
The McCain camp is not stupid. They're not trying win the election by directly triggering latent racist impulses in white Americans. They're trying to trigger liberal outrage and over-reaction, knowing that many white voters will see the ensuing accusations of racism as unfair and unwarranted.
So let's stop playing this game. Obama is ahead in the polls and he'll win as long as this election is about whether we want four more years of Bush's policies. So let's focus on that and ignore the bait the McCain campaign is dangling in front of us.
posted by A.L. at 3:40 PM
3 Comments:
you're probably right.
Still, I thought the part where the blond girl talked about wanting Obama to come in a "bust up her chiffarobe" was a little over the top.
I might otherwise agree with you, but people on the right and the waste bins at Faux News will just make shit up if we don't give them what they want.
It doesn't matter if we talk about it or not.
Seems to me that there needs to be some discrimination - as in choose your battles. I agree with AL that some of this stuff is tossed out to take attention away from the areas where McCain is weak - and to tweak the Liberal folks into pitching hissy fits.
Best bet - focus on the issues where Obama shines.
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