McCain's Genius 'Good Cop/Bad Cop' Game

It's not very often that I'll compliment John McCain, but his campaign's strategy over this now-infamous North Carolina GOP ad hitting Obama is one shrewd move.

Some pundits have caught on, but only half-way.

It's true that the damage has been done by the ad just being out there and run on networks which cover it (before it even airs on the paid airwaves, mind you), so McCain can afford to come out against the ad, as he has done so a few times.

But, there's a longer term game here, no matter who the nominee is for the Democrats.

If the nominee is Obama, then the ad from the North Carolina GOP did earlier damage to him and will be well-forwarded around the internet by the time the general election comes around. That helps McCain, of course.

But, McCain and his team obviously are hoping that it does enough damage in North Carolina to begin to knock Obama out of the race, so Hillary Clinton is the nominee. It's already been floated that McCain has called off the dogs when it comes to Hillary Clinton, because that's who he wants to face.

If he gets what he wants, this ad episode really helps him. Right now, McCain is viewed much more positively by voters than Hillary Clinton. She would go into a general election pretty well disliked, most intensely by those Obama supporters who became first-time Democratic voters just to vote for him, and may feel she ripped it away.

The first time Hillary Clinton launches an attack ad on McCain, guess what he's going to do? He will stand up and recall this episode - saying that he deplores this kind of slash-and-burn politics, and even stood up for Barack Obama when he was getting unfairly attacked, while Hillary Clinton stayed silent. He will lay his claim to the "new kind of politics" mantle that Obama supporters find so attractive, while solidifying the positive feelings the majority of voters have of him.

In doing so, he'll hope to peel away some disillusioned Obama supporters and independents who tend to hate attack politics. But, more importantly, he'll cause enough of them to not dislike him so much that they come out, hold their noses for Clinton just to stop him. They'll just stay at home, or so is the plan.

The irony, of course, is it is the most classic of 'old politics' - let someone else go on the attack, so you can look like the nice guy trying to stop it. But, he's playing it perfectly, and as a consultant, I have to give them a little golf clap.

Comments

[peachfuzz]

The good copbad cop routine is usually done BY 2 SEPARATE PEOPLE.

When performed by the same person, it is commonly known as schizophrenia.

[GrandpaMcCain]

Who cares? McCain has no chance in hell at the presidency, and tr0lls like teacupsnpots are dreaming if they think Republicant's will gain either chamber of Congress. Sh'yeah, just like when you told us that Democrats would never gain control of Congress again.

[bethinCary]

the good cop/bad cop routine is not working at all.
.
I live in Cary, NC-and reading editorials in the Raleigh N&O-it's having a backlash against the GOP here..

More GOP voters are registering Inde or even switching-to vote against local GOP members running for seats in upcoming elections because of dirty ads like this..

NC voters are all-to-aware of Jesse Helms style race-baiting ads--and are turning against it..
NC is quite a bit more cosmopolitan/progressive with growth of its' bigger cities now- than it's give credit for.
The Doles and McHenrys' are gonna be gone soon.
Even popular mayors like McCrory of Charlotte-who stick to Bush/GOP politics-are seeing some declining numbers in approval ratings.

I say good riddance to it too.

[RAND7044]

I disagree. If it were close to the genral election you may have a point, but this is way too early for this kind of bullshit. The blowback could get to be huge. Aside from which, it leaves the other side with way too much time to respond. Think Obama has a pastor problem and McCain doesn't? Think again. Parsley, Hagee, Robertson, and the late Falwell are just a few of the names on the crazy pastor list. Imagine a commercial of McCain in his own words calling these people agents of intolerance and hate, the cut to the picture of him hugging and glad handing with them all. Think Catholics in Ohio and Pa haven't notice that he is hanging around with someone that called their church a whore. Are you kidding me? Not to mention the fact that alot of Republicans aren't racist and tired of being painted with that brush. In order for this ad to have been effective, it should have run very close to Nov.

[unitron]

I've been holding my nose and voting anti_Republican here in NC for a few decades now.

I really don't think this is about McCain (which doesn't mean that his campaign won't get some mileage out of it ).

In the North Carolina governor's race Beverly Perdue and Richard Moore are the Democrats who've been pounding each other over the airwaves for a couple of months now. On the Republican side there are four or five guys who are relatively unheard of outside of their individual areas of the state.

This ad is about making Moore and Perdue look bad, and it smells like all the other ads over the years from the Jesse Helms machine.

I just wish I could figure out why the NC GOP is going after both of them now, before the primary, instead of saving their money for the general election campaign against only one of them that starts right after the primary.

I know they're up to something nefarious, I'm just not yet sure what.

[blim]

The timing of this ad--right after PA and just before IN and NC might suggests that the Clinton campaign forged a win-win with the GOP--true Rovian technique--remember Hillary eagerly took the backing of the great "right wing conspiracist" Richard Mellon-Scaife and Billy went on the Limbaugh show in Texas. It makes no sense to run a GOP gubernatorial ad 7 months before the election. The Clintons wanted to keep the smear against Obama alive and well since these two states will likely be decisive. And, they are not above sullying a couple of gubernatorial Democratic contenders to achieve their goal--just look at what their sense of entitlement and power mongering has done to the Democratic Party to date. They have no shame and will stop at nothing to win Also, note the choice of the woman at the end of the ad--isn't this part of supposed constituency? And, in the end, John Mccain can look like a sweet old respectable gent. Mr. Schmeltzer, you are right about this being a shrewd move by Mccain but it was a Clinton inspiration.

[unitron]

That was supposed to be a hyphen after anti. My shift keys often have a mind of their own.

[GDliberal]

If mccain was really serious he could run something like this-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QW5RivftMA
to expose the ncgop.

[darthmaul]

Fight fire with Fire, put an add in the NC TV media with quotes (paraphrased here) of McCain's Rev Hagee saying that "God sent Hurricane Katrina to destroy New Orleans, How Hitler wasn't that bad etc..." Then point out that McCain actually welcomed Rev Hagee's endorsement Then have Obama say that he doesn't agree with this type of political message.

[SharonWantsToTalk]

And then also remind them that Karl Rove is working for McCain. And that he was the driving force behind Bush's elections. And another tangent you could work on would be to remind voters how Rove himself started the whisper campaign against McCain in the 2000 Republican Primary. What kind of integrity could Johan McCain have if he employs the very man that degraded him 7 years ago.

[DMSmith]

All McCain has to do is come close enough to be fraudulently put in office as Bush was twice.

[peachfuzz]

That's why Obama is on a voting drive. If it is not close. it is harder to steal.

[taylorU]

I don't get it. We all know that politics is a game. If it's so obvious that McCain and especially Clinton, say things that they don't mean just to get votes---why are we, the people falling for it? These days, politics feels like the one thing in life where being disingenuous pays off big dividends. It's funny, once a president gets into office we make sure they don't lie, but when they're running for office and they figure out how to deceive the public and get away with it, we applaud them.

When you compare the 3 candidates, one of the qualities that sets them apart is integrity. When Obama didn't denounce his pastor, that was as stunning as it was uplifting. When he spoke about the fact that people can be left so poor by it's government that they keep religion, guns or anything they find important close to them--he may have chose his words poorly, but was he was accurate. All Christians look to God in times of tribulation. It's a sad commentary that McCain is given applause for deceiving our people and Obama is crucified for having integrity and being honest. Our country/media just doesn't believe that such an honest person as Obama could exist in politics. But they do and every generation or so, we see such a person rise up and we should decide as one nation that enough is enough and applaud the few brave who chart new courses for America.

[cloudy]

I think that Obama's advisors are right that Obama is the stronger candidate to run against him in Nov. Someone earlier suggested that the columnist (Eric) thought McCain was sincere. That is an OBVIOUS misreading. The point isn't that he's sincere (he's a politician, after all) but that he is shrewd. I too think McCain is shrewd and might very well unite the Repugs by picking someone (say Huckabee) with fundamentalist appeal to unify the RW. McCain should not be written off, and I for one am HORRIFIED at the prospect, after 5 1/2 long stupid years in the Iraq War (the US was MUCH better off militarily-strategically before we attacked) with his imperialist visions of staying in Iraq until we get whatever it is we seek there.

Like many Democrats, I (who see the Clinton Administration, for all its good stewardship of the economy and balancing the budget, for which he deserves ENORMOUS credit, as throwing progressive issues and interests, including moi, under a bus as president) am all the more appalled at HRC for her obvious willingness to seriously jeopardize the chances of the Democrats in Nov for HER own agenda. It isn't even as if there were some list of PUBLIC demands that she wants to extract as concessions from Obama, and her campaign is basically a negative 'kitchen sink' approach which I believe is so that she could run in '12 against a Repug incumbent, and win.

[23000Days]

This is so typically republican, an so seen before that's it's unworthy of comment.

[PioneerKing]

Dude you have go t to be kidding you can not believe that McCain's wink and a nod are sincere.
It was straight out of the republican"s playbook they have been playing that old saw since Ronald Reagan. It is an old Lee Atwater tactic.
Too bad you're just realizing that this is what the republicans do and the folks in the media play the public like fools by airing the commercials for free so they get even more air time.
McCain is going to be doing this oh so out raged crap until November so that he can give the appearance that he has risen above politics as usual.

[katefranklin]

There's too many reasons to list how Pennsylvania scored John McCain a victory. While she's run a Rovian campaign so far, Hillary is going to enter the general election needing to recoup all the Democratic base she's abandoned during the primary. There will be Hillary Clinton - the much-despised out-of-touch defeatist liberal, standing on the debate stage with John McCain: the unifying war-hero centrist. I offer Hillary congratulations in advance of her receiving the second place booby prize in November.

[castlerider]

That guy teacups is the one living in a pipe dream if he thinks Americans are going to let go of these hard lessons learned from having rethugs in control.
Anyone with a brain knows that if Gore won , or was allowed to take his place as the winner, which he was in 2000, there's no way Gas prices would now be over $1.80. He'd have pushed automakers to give us better mileage, and would have demanded alternative energy sources that would now be now coming down the pike. Thanks a lot, idiots who voted for Bush.

Your post kicks *ss. Thanks.
It really, really, helps to look at the big picture. Hopefully, Barrack will be considering employing some definite, hard learned strategic big-picture moves in this campaign that are there for the taking.
You make a very good point about Hillary... She's shown her hand (and Bill's) way too much these last few months, and a great majority of voters like myself are very let down and not impressed. Her not taking on populist stances when she was the one person who could have, of ALL the candidates, while all those of us here on the left were looking to support her shows that she is flakey and will do whatever it takes. Maybe she was thinking she'd change after she assumed the White House... A woman has the right to change her mind, but principles are too strongly needed for the position she hopes for.

[Rokjok777]

Read the book Deer Hunting with Jesus by Joe Bageant to understand why McCain will win.

[teacupsnpots]

McCain will beat eith Barack or Hillary by at least 5 points and probably more...

The Dems will also lose both Houses along with this.

2006 was all a pipe dream.

Too bad.

[23000Days]

It"s dandy in la-la land to night, isn't it? Hope they don't wake you.........

[liberalghost]

I suspect Democrats will hold the House, but will lose the Senate. Enough democrats now hold the democratic Congress in sufficient contempt to think voting for either party has no effect on the nation's downward spiral. By November the democratic swell will have subsided.

Instead of Obama, I would have liked to see Rangel run. Instead of Biden and Dodd....Feingold.