Wednesday, September 10, 2008

They Do It Because it Works

No one really thinks that presidential hopefuls really like trumping through the snow in New Hampshire in January or chomping down cheap beef at Tom Harkin's annual steak fry the prior summer in Iowa.

(The steak fry is actually this weekend...hoping that CSPAN will be there taping as they were last year.)

They do it because their desire to win exceeds their distaste for these sorts of monkeyshines.

No newsflash here.

Likewise, I really don't think anyone with a shred of sense on the GOP side really thinks that democrats are categorically a bunch of pussies when it comes to national defense or are driven by a desire to take your guns and revert us to a socialist state. The Algonquin round table at the DNC, similarly does not really think that the Republicans want to keep black people down just for kicks or stick it to the workingman.

But they do these things because it's been proven to work, electorally. It's explains exactly why Obama had tepid-at-best response to folks branding Bubba as a racist during South Carolina. The cries worked to his advantage.

Believing this, I got a kick out of McCain's latest crybaby video aimed at Barry's lipstick gaffe.

(I'm also reminded of Michael Kinsley's definition of a gaffe in politics...accidentally telling the truth.)

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Wasn't it Hitler who called this type of thing "Big Lie?"

I may have to dig out my copy of Mein Kampf, nevermind the google confirmed it.

Dan said...

There you go. The Nazi comparison.

That's always a difficult analogy to make.

"You know, Hitler took the guns away, too."

Unknown said...

No comparison, but just wondering who first coined the term to the idea you espoused.

Unknown said...

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - George Orwell

Dan said...

Like the truth about McCain wanting to spend 100 years in Iraq?