Obama's Speech, and the Strategy Behind It
Republicans should be scared.
Not because Obama just delivered a great speech, but because it pretty clearly demonstrated what Obama has been up to for the last month.
As you may recall, the mainline press has spent the last few weeks pontificating ad nauseam about the ascendence of the McCain camp and the relative reticence of Obama's campaign.
Not long after Karl Rove's former deputy, Steve Schmidt, took over McCain's campaign, the Obama team essentially stepped back and handed McCain the initiative.
To most operatives, particularly those who worked with the Gore and Kerry campaigns, that seemed to spell a death wish on Obama's part.
After all, if there was anything the Democrats learned over the last two elections, it's the need to control the daily news cycle, to take the initiative and keep it -- not by reacting to GOP attacks, but by attacking the other candidate, hour by hour, day in and day out, until the electorate at large unconsciously thinks of the other side as being weak.
For the last month or so, the Obama camp appeared to recoil in the face of that challenge. It all but handed the initiative to the McCain campaign.
And now we know why. This wasn't a case of fatigue, as some suggested; nor was it a case of Democratic timidity rearing its head yet again.
Rather, it appears to have been a calculated decision on Obama's part.
As Mark Blumenthal and Marc Ambinder have reported, the Obama camp has some very positive numbers in the 18 swing states they're targeting.
As a result, they clearly felt they had the luxury of being able to ignore the national polling for a while. So long as their internal numbers -- for voter registration, voter turnout, etc -- stayed strong, it didn't matter to them if McCain pulled even nationally.
In fact, the more confident McCain became, the more it played right into their hands.
Read or watch the speech the again, and you should see what I mean -- tiime and again, Obama takes a GOP attack line against him and turns it on its head.
For example, look at how well he redefined the personal attack against his patriotism:
But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.
The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America -- they have served the United States of America.So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.
Put it all in context and Obama's recent strategy seems clear enough. It's a variant of the "rope-a-dope" strategy in boxing, where you let the opponent throw his best punches, exhaust himself on the offensive, and then unleash a barrage of your own.
Or as Andrew Sullivan put it, Obama "let them over-reach, and let them punch him again and again ... and then he turned around and destroyed them. If the Rove Republicans thought they were playing with a patsy, they just got a reality check."
That's obviously a risky strategy, one that takes a higher degree of confidence than a polarized electorate typically allows for. But Obama is a unique candidate with a unique constituency, a politician whose appeal extends across enough demographic groups that he felt he could bear that risk responsibly.
And last night he delivered. It was the first great speech of my generation, and it sent the GOP headed towards 2012.
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You are absolutely correct. Not just the speech, but the entire orchestration of the Convention demonstrated a calculated strategy. It provided the most effective means of spinning - managing - the traditional media that is aiding and propping up McCain in order to see a "fight to the finish." Obama stringing McCain out there with his insidious personal attacks played right into Obama's court, during the time when most voters aren't paying attention to the elections. And when Obama had the stage with a huge audience, he blasted those attacks as baseless and petty, and positioned himself as a fighter.
David and David (Plouffe and Axelrod) are true political geniuses, and Obama's a great candidate.
Aye!
Agreed. Also, by letting McCain shoot off at the mouth for two months, it gave him PLENTY of ammo to use once the debates start...an
On another note--further evidence of the genius of this campaign was on display yesterday when they announced that they wanted everyone to whip out their phones and text their friends to get them signed up for alerts from the Obama camp. TWICE. I mean, this campaign is working on all cylinders.
Yep. And it shows the kind of political judgment and skill that even supporters weren't sure he had.
This guy is the REAL DEAL.
P.S. Attaboy Howard Dean. Great job.
I like the "fighter" analogy.
And last night, it was Barack Obama in a unanimous decision!
Yeah, Obama totally destroyed the republicans with a speech....
America, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Let's not screw it up and get four more years of the same. This is our defining moment and we the people, not the politicans, have the power to make it happen.
Obama/Biden
Yes we can!
And I'm not only loving their stragery, but I'm LOVING the overreaction that McBush has done with Sarah Palin!!!!
obama bomaye!!!!
The DNC was one big emotional event, giving me tears almost every day I watched. I've been on a cloud -- high on hope every since.
Michelle Obama with their two beautiful girls; Senator Kennedy (tears), HILLARY CLINTON (a class act), BILL CLINTON, JOE BIDEN & his family (more tears seeing his Mom) - it was all surreal (not to leave out any of the great speakers). My most tearful moments were when HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON stopped the roll call and nominated Obama. Not only did my tears flow, but I gained a new admiration and respect for her. She should be seriously considered as the next appointed Supreme Court Justice; hopefully she would accept the position of a lifetime. (I wanted to give her a hug and tell her the place in history she carved for herself (with one unselfish, courageous, and beautiful act) is eternal. I can now see her head carved on Mt. Rushmore -- but with eyelashes, and pointed away from the others)! Bill Clinton fascinated and moved us (as only Bill Clinton can do) with his supporting speech.
The moment bringing the most tears to me was Obama finishing his speech; the confetti rained down, and the families of his campaign appeared onstage. The stadium packed (up to the nosebleed seats) with lights flashing, and thunderous applause from the crowd was overwhelming. The speech ending was our pivotal moment, fulfilling Dr. King's dream. We all rejoiced as the United States of America!
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