The Politics Of Stupid

Who played the race card against whom? And in what order, and why?

These questions -- endlessly turned over in the media yesterday -- actually represent the playing of an even more dastardly and insidious "card" against the entire electorate. The stupid card. Right now, both John McCain and Barack Obama are playing it. But not in the same way, and not with the same level of enthusiasm.

The answers to this week's race controversy were actually pretty straightforward. Yes, Obama was drawing attention to his blackness during his "dollar bill" remarks, as have scurrilous pundits and talk radio hosts and his (anonymous) chain email antagonists. It's inevitable at this point, and Obama is utterly within his rights, at any rate, to make mention of race and the possible ways that can seep into the campaign. But also, Obama did get a touch too sloppy with his use of the plural pronoun "they," which, if you parse his remarks, could only have meant President Bush and John McCain. (All plural pronouns refer to antecedents, after all.)

But the race card? It's a stretch, and the reason you know that's the case is because McCain operatives say they elected to play all their response cards this time in order to pre-empt the real thing from happening down the road. Nice move, if you can get away with it. But when Harpo Marx tried that trick in the movies, his fellow card players, rather sensibly, just up and left the table.

What should be doubly unsettling for Democrats is the fact that McCain's campaign appears to have convinced Obama to play some stupid cards of his own.

Instead of the cucumber-cool "dirt off ya shoulder" Obama who consistently appeared, at least in public, unruffled by the Clinton campaign's more surreal gambits, John McCain's "Celeb" advertisement -- replete with comparisons to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton -- appears to have Obama rattled enough that he's taunting McCain in response, asking "Is that the best you can do?" in Iowa on Thursday.

When was the last time Obama taunted anyone (off the basketball court)? It's not his style -- though one could imagine Sen. Joe Biden pulling that off as a running mate. Meantime, the Illinois Democrat is just playing McCain adviser Steve Schmidt's game. In response to their "Celeb" television ad, the Obama camp rattled off a nervy response that, for all its accusations that the other side was trotting out the "same old politics," looked an sounded a lot like, well, the same old kind of political response ad.

Black and white freeze frames? Check. Stern-but-not-angry female voice? Check.

So McCain won the day by being a better shadow-boxer. Perhaps Schmidt, a Karl Rove protege, has convinced The Maverick that this is the only kind of fight he can win, what with voters broadly trusting Democrats on domestic issues and foreign leaders lending credibility to Obama's supposedly invalid national security priorities. But that's not the game Obama has to play. Think about it: last week, most political observers were marveling at how well the trips to Afghanistan, Iraq and Europe had gone for the Democrat. The focus was on whether the Anbar Awakening began before the "surge" in Iraq, or whether a 16-month withdrawal was what a sovereign Iraqi government would in fact prefer. Little details like that.

Staying smart is sometimes thought to be the strategy preferred by mushy-headed liberals who are afraid of down and dirty combat. But for Obama, it's already paid high dividends. Forgetting that now would be stupid.

Comments

[mick3]

They say that Kerry lost by not responding quickly enough to attacks. Now they're saying that Obama shouldn't respond at all. He must be feeling the way Hillary felt when the Right was attacking her for being a woman. Actually, both Obama's and Clntnon's problem has been their being Democrats, rather than belonging to the party of greed and endless war.

[S1m0n]

"When was the last time Obama taunted anyone (off the basketball court)? It's not his style"

"Hillary, You're likeable enough."

[RudyV]

That's not a taunt--it's a lie, and not even a little white one.

[smags72]

Yeah, that's NOT a taunt - it was in RESPONSE to a question to her about why do a lot of people not 'like' her. He was actually very nice about it, in my opinion.

[Herrington]

The Republicans and their MSM operatives have worked very hard for a very long time to make America dumb. You may think the arch enemy of the Republicans is entitlements. Its not, its public education. If people weren't educated there would be no entitlements. So first things first.

The unremarkable statistic that most college educated people are liberal seems to have set off the wrong alarms for the poor Repugs. They, perversely blamed the influence of liberal professors for the phenomenon, which ends up in a chicken and egg argument at best.

So in terms of priorities, Democrats need to equal or exceed Repug efforts. Repugs intend to dismantle public education, through NCLB and vouchers and Democrats need to push back with the urgency that the fate of the country rests on this issue, because it does.

In any case, with 50% of the population not functioning with a full deck in terms of critical reasoning abilities or even historical perspectives, the probability of Repug victory is considerably higher than it should be. And the prospect of the American population waking up and seeing the light and reason of progressive stances is utterly impossible. Candidates will have to deal with the conditioning of two generations of Repug poisoning of the intellectual well. Therefore they may have to compromise here and there.

[jbatch]

The real stupid card is the perennial focus on campaign tactics, not policy substance. The press and the American public and Obama should be say, "The reason McCain wants to talk about race, or experience -- the reason he wants to make you afraid -- of me, of terrorists, of immigrants -- is simple: he doesn't want this campaign to be about policies and issues of substance. Because if it is, he will lose. The plain fact is, Republicans and McCain have been selling you fear, so they can take your money and your benefits and give it to Exxon. Paris Hilton? The Republicans gave her a $90 million dollar tax cut when they cut the inheritance tax. ..

In every election the Republicans manage to make the campaign about something other than the issues and we let them.

The winner isn't the one who follows the polls; it's the one who shapes them. And so far, that's been the Repugs.

[Nonamnesiac]

The media has relegated this campaign to be among the stupidest in history because their standard bearer -- the guy they want to win -- is the stupidest candidate to run for the office in many years. This stupid guy -- John McCain -- graduated 894th in a class of 899 from his war college yet says he knows how to win wars -- he knows how to apply the lessons he didn't learn at war college.
McCain's stupidity is evident in his decisions -- voting against MLK day as a national holiday, voting against civil rights legislation, being part of the Keating 5, voting repeatedly against veterans bills, making jokes about rape, a meteoric temper and on and on -- he's a dimwit. His comments about the economy, his wilingness to engage in never-ending war regardless of costs, lives and limbs lost and even whether the war is in our national interests also shows his stupidity.
So the politics of stupid is intentional. If stupid is the drumroll the media creates for this campaign, the priviliged guy who graduated 894th out of 899 in his war college class (McCain) becomes as acceptable for President as the guy from a lower middle class background and a single mother who ended up in any Ivy League school as editor of his law review solely based on his brilliance (Obama).
The media dummifying this race is an intelligent media strategy to play to the stupid guy's strengths.

[Fabienne]

The most effective way to deal with the media is to turn them off. The more ratings they lose, the sooner they'll go down.

[Herrington]

Agree with everything with one exception. I think W is actually dumber than McCain. At least McCain was smart enough to have once considered the evangalical scum to be, scum.

[Rog49Thomas]

Precisely correct.

Some additional observations.

(1) No one ever went broke (or lost an election) by underestimating the level of intelligence of the MSM or the average voter.

(2) The RP strategy is very clear: sow enough doubts about Brother Neo so that voters will go for the safer alternative. Try to push Brother Neo to make adjustments in his positions to antagonize the maximalists in his camp (who when they see the choice is 80% of what they want withNeo or 0% without him - will for some strange reason pick 0%).

As well the goal is to control the debate by dictating the talking points - even if they're silly. Debating whether Neo is like or not like Paris and Britney keeps him from talking about other matters. Focusing on offshore drilling diverts attention from Iraqistan, lack of health care.

[Dirowe]

You say "Instead of the cucumber-cool "dirt off ya shoulder" Obama who consistently appeared, at least in public, unruffled by the Clinton campaign's more surreal gambits, John McCain's "Celeb" advertisement -- replete with comparisons to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton -- appears to have Obama rattled enough that he's taunting McCain in response," .

The difference is the media. They did not want Clinton to win. Obama has to respond because the media is not acting responsible. They the media have to be reminded of their responsibility for the Iraq war and going along with the BS. and not asking responsible sane questions. They have a herd group mentality. They are being played by Karl Rove. He knows exactly how to play the media.
We really need to try to change the media in the country. Very few think critically.

[Transit]

Playing cards, whether poker,black jack or race, is a game with winners and losers.

Yes, Obama does occasionally refer directly or indirectly to the fact that he is black (or at least half-black). Not to do so would be tantamount to denial. But he doesn't taunt or flout the fact in the real sense. When he does make these references it's done with a self-assurance and "stolz".

Back before the wall fell in Berlin, German television showed three black US soldiers dressed in civies downtown in a sort of "man in the street interview." The reporter asked the men what it was like being a black in Germany. One of the young soldiers kind of smiled as he tugged on his shirt collar and said, "It gives you and edge!"

Obama's blackness may indeed in some instances give him an edge. And he may have a charisma that sends hundreds running to the speaker area to be up front to hear him. But most Americans are listening to what he has to say regarding policies and his plans to deal with a shaky future that's waiting in the wings for our country. They're not card players.

[Heru1]

Oh here we go with another 'they're equally culpable' analysis. No, my friend, McBush is the only one who played the stupid card in this game. A Black man doesnt get to play that card. What Obama should do is shame the devil.

[zenobiadarcy]

I absolutely agree with this column and the numerous others on the subject of the MSM stupidity, and the influence this nonsense has on the outcome. I do not think they are listening. Someone needs to tell them again. Nobody has been discussing what is happening behind this lunacy. Senator Clinton seems to be pretending again that it is not she who has control over what part she plays at the convention. She is telling her supporters not to nominate her. We know what that means. I am going into hibernation for a few years. Nobody is minding the store. Again. Still.

[rbloom]

I thought Obama was the Democrat who could be tough when he needs to be -- you know, "the Chicago way." Treats the voters like adults, not dolts, but won't take crap and will throw an elbow if necessary.
So, where is that guy? He's looking a lot more like Kerry today, and that really concerns me.
All that "this is just silly" stuff is weak, weak, weak. And the squeals of "Oh, he played the race card!" just play into McCain's hands. Hillary used the same ploy, and it worked for her too. The so-called response ad was really just a defensive "Did not!" to which McCain naturally replied "Did to!"
Obama and his supporters need to stop the outraged complaining and just hit McCain back -- hard. Take the offensive. Show his flipflops, the patently false troops ad, and say it straight out: "John McCain is a liar. He will say anything he thinks will get himself elected. We've just been through eight years of a lying president and a lying administration. Do we really want four more?" Or something much like that.
Everybody knows now who started it. The question is whether Obama is going to be able to finish it.
Do it the Chicago way. And do it now.

[mawrm]

I think the Obama camp is playing smart just like they did during the primaries - don't expend your ammunition early, just let your opponent fire away and waste his bullets. Then closer to the election where it hurts, you can fire at will and bury him. All these ads are going to come back and haunt McCain in a major way. At some point McCain's going to try to pivot to present himself as an "honorable American" and these ads are going to show otherwise. This was the exact problem that Hillary Clinton learned the hard way when she went negative on Obama - she got stuck with the negative narrative and had a hard time burnishing her image, forcing her to show a sort of split personality that turned off voters. John McCain already being known as "the maverick" with a hot temper is treading on dangerous territory trying to use this sort of negative campaigning. I would strongly recommend the Obama campaign pursue an ad using McCain's own words about running an honorable campaign to indict him.

[QuirtEvans]

mawrm, I think rbloom is right on this one. Rick Davis talks tough and no one takes offense. MSM bows its head respectively and spends three days straight discussing Rick's issues. I think we learned from Kerry's campaign that refined and dainty responses are not attractive to the media or the voters.

"He prefers to lose a war than lose a election!" Slam! Pow! One for McCain.

But wait, You asked for it McCain with your scurrilous charges, here comes the Chicago way right back at you.

"I am disappointed." How refined and genteel.

"You're playing the race card. We wont allow you to do that." Pow! Zoom! Another to the McCain team.

Dag nabit, now you're really asking for it. Here comes the full power Chicago way: "I never meant to suggest that my opponent was in any way blah blah blah."

I'm not a repub, just a dem who remembers the Chicago way and that ain't it.

[Nonamnesiac]

Obama is Kerry is Hillary and that, in a nutshell, is the problem. They're all a bunch of neo-liberals every bit as dishonest and barbaric as the neo-Cons and the Republicans. That's why the Iraq occupation is bi-partisan, the assault on the Constitution is bi-partisan and unbridled free-trade is bi-partisan.

There are two different sets of bureaucrats who end up in office, depending on which party wins, and they represent different constituencies and that's where the fighting over issues comes from, but they're all bought too.

And after all is said and done, Obama/Hillary/Kerry/Biden are not that much different from Bush 1/Dole/Nixon/Reagan -- which is why they always end up agreeing on things like deregulation (a Teddy Kennedy initiative), privatization (remember Al Gore's "reinventing government cutting government jobs and giving them to private concerns?) and on and on.

So the Chicago way and the Kennebunkport/Crawford, Texas way in the end, despite rhetoric to the contrary, are not very different and the results of elections count much more to the army of political job seekers and lobbyists then to the citizenry, as all who lead will pretty much do the same thing and use the media to portray those mediocre, minimal things much greater than they actually are. And good paying jobs will either go offshore or immigrants will come here and do them cheaper than Americans will with the consent of Congress and the White House.

[jwod]

The mainstream media won? Are you kidding? The stupidity of the playground 'nyah nyahs', being kicked about by pundits, at X thousand dollars a minute certainly, if not finally, packed it in for me with this campaign. I don't care what either candidate says anymore, nothing will change my vote for Obama.

[lynettema]

Obama's ad, the response to the "oil" ad is maybe not his best, but it's a good solid ad. It is an adult, smart, respectful ad. Why is responding to these ads and calling them what they are, "the same old politics," stupid? What would you have Obama do? Let Rove's Radicals walk all over him? I appreciate Obama's calm under fire demeanor. I appreciate his humor when the rest of us would like to wipe their smirks off their faces. This IS the kind of smart leadership we need in the WH.
If we listen to McC, we will end up again with buyers remorse as McC would end up with an approval rating of 29%. If the American people really want to end this war, McC is not their man. If the American people want affordable health care, McC is not their man. If the American people want to end our addiction to oil ( not just foreign oil) McC is not their man. If the American people want to end the shredding of our Constitution, McC is not their man. If the American people want a sensible answer to illegal immigration, McC is not their man. If the American people want Social Security preserved, McC is not their man. Vote smart this time. Vote for the smart guy. Vote Obama.

[annieR]

The race card being played by the McCain campaign is more insidious than anyone has yet suggested. It's straight from Karl Rove's diabolical brain. The code word underlying it all is "arrogant." For racially prejudiced people, that's a very loaded word.

[UnbiasView]

The race card gets played from both sides and it is getting quite old.

[Fabienne]

I don't see how an African-American can play the race card unless it is dealt to him or her, as white people have held the entire deck for most of the history of this country.

[BookDesigner]

HuffPost's Pick

What's this "race card"? I've never seen one in any card deck. Is a presidential election a card game?

Fact: Barrack Obama is a black American.
Fact: Barrack Obama is the most qualified candidate for president since Robert Kennedy.

Fact: the Republican candidate, even ignoring his character flaws and lack of ethics, is so inept I wouldn't hire him for any position in my business.

This election some white people will vote against their own best interests simply because Obama is black. It's visible, no need for the Republicans to point it out -- I don't know why they bother. Perhaps because they think we're both blind and stupid.

This time, let's elect an intelligent president, for a change. We'll be glad we did.

[11907281]

I wonder if the author thought the Kerry campaign did a bang up job 4 years ago? I mean really, "is that the best you can do" is considered the stupid card ??? I'm against dirty smears of JM, but was this response not the verbal equivalent of the shoulder brush? It seems like the Dems are expected to wear glowing white gloves while eating wings, and not get anything dirty.

[UnbiasView]

John Kerry was the ultimate example of anything called a "stupid card" . . . pick 20 other Dems and they could have won in 2004.