McCain Campaign Lie Strategy -- Will It Work?

The McCain campaign is being called out on some of the lies they have been telling. The campaign spokesman says that they are in this to win and don't care what the "media filter" says.

I think we will get a test of their theory that the "media filter" doesn't matter anymore. This is to a large degree about who controls the information channels now. The conservative movement has been building to this with their well-funded "liberal media" campaign. They have they're mouthpieces like Rush constantly telling his audience not to ever believe the media. The right has a very large following. The result is that most of the public believes that the major news media is a propaganda machine for liberals and should not be trusted.

And they have the advantage that repetition of messages does work. They are running ads that say Obama will raise your taxes, force sex talk on your kindergartners and all that stuff -- even one that says Obama is the anti-Christ. They have the money to run those ads over and over on shows that lots of people watch. And they have the wealthy and corporate-backed front groups running ads and robo-calls and smear campaigns, etc. against Obama. People don't necessarily watch or believe mainstream news, but they will see these ads again and again.

So do the authoritarian conservatives have the power to override facts and "create their own reality" as they did in the lead-up to the Iraq war? I really don't know the answer and wouldn't bet my house on it either way.

Remember, tobacco company marketing is able to get people to kill themselves, but to hand over much of their money in the process. Modern marketing methods can convince almost anyone to do or believe almost anything.

See the forest.

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Comments

[SamThornton]

As to whether McCain's "lie strategy" will work, it's not the lies so much as it is the subject of the lies and the subject of the discussion about the lies. McCain wins so long as the discussion is not about substantive issues. This is classic misdirection, away from the big issues of war, peace, economy, and social equity, and into the inconsequential issues of personality and personal history.

Call it the "politics of distraction," or whatever. McCain knows -- and his campaign aparatchiks have publicly acknowledged -- that his campaign is not a campaign about "the issues." McCain knows he can't win on those. As more Democrats expend time, energy, and rhetoric about the McCain-defined agenda, the less likely they are to capture the electorate. It's long past time to accept the McCain political agenda, and start discussing what's actually of importance.

[bushflipflops]

One question I haven't heard discussed, is what will happen to the Republican party if McCain somehow wins the Presidency by blatantly lying? He would start his administration with half the country hating him, and depending on his policy postitions he will alienate even more. If he tries to move to the center at that point he will lose most of the evangelicals who only supported him because of Palin. Will that support continue when he pushes her into the background to handle the old VP duties instead of the co-presidency that office has become? We could have a President with an approval rating in the low 30's before the end of his first year in office.

If the Republicans are ever going to rebuild their brand they will need to lose this election and clean house in their own party. Then maybe they could make a comeback in the Congressional midterms in 2 years and the Presidency in 4 years. If they actually win this election by lying then the Republican party will be completely destroyed in 4 years. Democrats would win even more seats in the Senate in 2010, bringing them close to a 2/3 majority. The Democratic majority in the House would increase as well, and we could be looking at a lame duck President in January 2011 with a Democratic Congress that has override power. It would be Andrew Johnson all over again, but the parties would be reversed.

[archibald p merriweather]

I'm curious as to why no one has painted the GOP's big business stance as decidedly anti-nationalist. seems plain to me, if you love your country, protect your countrymen. I think for one thing, people don't realize that most big business in this country isn't american business...

[JCPOK]

As to the principal question, I think the answer is clearly NO. McCain has undermined his own brand. His credibility is shot. From now until November, voters will be skeptical of everything the guy says. That's a horrible position to be in if you are running a campaign and trying to get your message across.

[ComicBookGuy]

McCain is destroying his own brand. If McCain isn't careful, Obama's message could become, "It's the LIES, stupid!"

[Freesia2]

Well, I guess at the end of the day no one can accuse John McCain's campaign of lying about everything. They truthfully tell us that they're lying. How honest. How ironic.

[avraamjack]

Dave,
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I am surprised that I have not seen any comment on the inadequacy of Obama'a ads.
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The problem is that Obama is not spelling it out.
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Obama should label his opponents as the "WAR, RECESSION and BANKRUPTCY" party.
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Many people still sort of like Bush on a personal level so calling McCain another Bush does not hurt that much. Most Americans do not really understand the lobbyist problem so that attack has a limited advantage.
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You have to spell it out.
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Democrats are the PEACE , PROSPERITY and SAFETY party. Republicans are the WAR, RECESSION, BANKRUPTCY and JAIL YOUR DAUGHTER FOR GETTING AN ABORTION party. That is the choice which must be presented.
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Failing to control the tems of the debate means failing the debate.
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[Zao]

I agree with you completely that the lobbyist commercial is probably missing 80% of the audience. Obama needs to simplify some of his messages. Remind people that our current warmonger (don't call them "neocons") Republican administration, got us in a war for the wrong reasons and that McCain/Palin are only too willing to start more wars, which would cause a draft to be reinstated. I don't believe Obama should try to get "folksy," like Palin, but he has to simply some of his messages.

I wonder how many voters even know what an "earmark" is.

[avraamjack]

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Thank you !
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Complete agreement is a nice thing .
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