Sunday Watch, 8-3-08: In Which David Gergen Collides with the Straight Talk Express and Walks Away from the Wreck
(Originally published on CJR.org, the Web site of the Columbia Journalism Review.)
ABC’s This Week began with the same montage that every other broadcast has featured this week: the clips of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton coupled—or is it tripled?—with Barack Obama in McCain’s spot seen ‘round the world, along with a clip of Obama saying that he “doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.” I suppose it’s the job of the Sunday show to trot out the detritus of the presidential campaign for viewers who (1) are close students of said detritus, or (2) have been on Mars the previous week.
But still, George Stephanopoulos began with an effort to change the subject—to the story of why Nancy Pelosi had not permitted a House vote on offshore drilling. Why, he asked her? And again why? And why again? And again? Because, she finally said, offshore drilling would offer only trivial benefits in comparison with the undrilled lands to which the oil companies already have access; because the President and his party are blocking a vote requiring drilling on those lands as well as serious, comprehensive, long-term remedies. Unfortunately, Washington fights sound petty even when they are deeply consequential, and neither journalists nor politicians have discovered how to make them sound as dramatic and consequential as they deserve to sound.
But on to the round table, this week happily subtracting Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts, who substitute lazy sneers and knowingness for illumination, in favor of Donna Brazile, Jake Tapper, and David Gergen to contend with conservative gravitasmonger George Will. Will was right about one thing: McCain’s nasties were effective if in no other way than that round-tablers were sitting around discussing them. Does anyone else in the news business appreciate how this game works?
Gergen said soberly: “Something’s working against Barack Obama….You have to believe that the assault by the McCain people was one of the factors that is undermining him. But I think…it’s a short-term gain at the long-term expense of John McCain.” Whether that long-term expense pans out, of course, will depend in no small part on what the pundits do more of from here on out: admire his tactics or deplore his insinuations.
Gergen went on to say that “this [assaulter] is clearly not who he is”—the sort of insider my-buddy’s-such-a-nice-guy that drives us outside-the-Beltway types to wonder what, exactly, is so clear about it. I implore McCain’s apologists to read Matt Welch’s McCain: The Myth of the Maverick, to address the vivid statements by Republicans as well as Democrats that McCain’s temper is virulent and his purity opportunistic. McCain, Gergen said, “wanted to run a very high-minded civil campaign on the issues, but now he’s brought these Bush people in, what Ed Rollins calls the Rove junior varsity.” The devil made him do it, presumably.
But Gergen was not ready to let McCain off the hook. “The challenger’s got to put the Bush administration more on trial than it has,” he said awhile later. Stephanopoulos agreed, and asked a good question: Why we haven’t we seen a series of ads that show McCain and Bush side by side? Donna Brazile was sure the ads would come.
George Will, whose grasp of what Americans like when they’re not tossing balls on a diamond is tenuous, insisted: “Three times now Obama has injected race into the campaign.” (For good measure, Will called Obama—you’d think he could have come up with a fresher word—“presumptuous.”) Donna Brazile reminded us charmingly a bit later: “The fact is that he is black.” Will reached into a grab bag of insults directed against Obama’s hypothetical “elitism”—all imputed, of course, to impressionable voters. Obama, Will assured us, reminds them of Fred Astaire, of that elitist windsurfer John Kerry; he’s “too upper-crust.” Stephanopoulos noted that the word “being thrown around all week”—I missed it—was “fussy.”
Credit Gergen with the acumen to see the bigger picture and the honesty to call it what it is: “Everybody knows he’s black but there has been a very intentional effort to paint him as somebody outside the mainstream; other. He’s not one of us. It’s below the radar screen. I think the McCain campaign has been scrupulous about not directly saying it. But it’s the subtext of this campaign. Everybody knows it. There are certain kind of signals. As a native of the South, I can tell you, when you see this Charlton Heston ad, ‘The One,” that’s code for ‘he’s uppity.’ ‘He ought to stay in his place.’ Everybody gets that who’s from a southern background. When McCain comes out and starts talking about affirmative action, I’m against quotas, we get what that’s about. That gets across.” He might have thrown in the new McCain slogan: “Country First.” Or the earlier one: “An American President for America.” Or: “He’d rather lose a war than lose a campaign.”
The question for Obama now is who in the campaign, if not Obama himself—who can’t afford to look angry—will link this ugly crusade to George W. Bush, the leader of McCain’s party over the past eight years and the avatar of botched intelligence, ruinous war, torture, plutocracy, and recession. For that matter, who in the mainstream media will make note that the anti-elitist candidate’s $520 loafers (noted by Isabel Wilkinson on the Huffington Post) and extremely wealthy wife deserve some attention even if neither of them, to my knowledge, windsurfs?
If, as Stephanopoulos said, the low road “may be [McCain’s] only strategy,” what will journalists do about it? Hitch a ride with the Straight Talk Express? Tag along quietly?
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ms. brazile is the only commentator anywhere who conveys kindness. but sometimes she has too much faith. gergen is an old gop pro sniffing the post-gop wind. he was cool selling the hicks the old mystical-southern race folk wisdom us poor yankees cannot fathom. the panel predictably eats this crock up. somebody needed desperately to say it's the jewish yankee NORTH that grasped and acted on the truths of race in america. that southerners are ignorant about race was why the civil rights movement was neccessary. the sad truth is that obama and the slavish dems do not want bush and mccain to be the center of attention- they themselves want to be the center of attention. however, none of them could conceive that anyone would actually CAMPAIGN against obama- and certainly not effectively. they think the only fair campaign is a losing campaign; like, for instance, a campaign about issues after everybody has flipped and sold out all their convictions on the issues. but it is so bad this time that barack will win with a dem campaign template that is a proven loser under any but war-depression conditions. -- green '08. the party for universal health care right now.
We need to change the public discussion from "How suitable is Obama for office?" (Even if the answer is "Very") to "How suitable is McCain for office?" (Where the answer is clearly: GEEEEAHG!!! >choke
I happened to catch the referenced show. Excellent post about it.
Doesn't anyone in the media have a yellow "bullsh*t" card they can raise? Are ALL guests either shills, or too well behaved to call out a colleague who is peddling crap?
Gergen and Brazille, not to mention George himself, would have been well within their rights and responsibilities to challenge George Will. If any of them have the market cornered on being presumptuous and uppity -- not as code words -- but in lieu of "arrogant," it's Will.
Who's married to the millionaire who helps launder his campaign expenses, wears the ridiculously expensive loafers, and supports Bush's Follies? Again, Mr. Will? Couldn't quite hear ya.
Thanks to Bob Herbert for pointing out the two phallic symbols in the Paris/ Britney / Obama ad.
There are 2 things missing from this campaign:
1. Accountability - The media does not hold McCain accountable and they certainly don't challenge the
ridiculous comments the surrogates make on the air, even when they know the statements are
false.
2. Rapid fire - The Obama surrogates are not responding. After Obama drops the message, his
surrogates need to get on the air and don't let the matter rest. Bring the issue to life. Two days
later, reveal the next chapter. Keep the viewer wanting to know what's next!
Let's take it to them....we can do this!
I could not agree more. This country is going down the drain with the media talking point fighting for what how they can improve their rating rather than improve the country. The spinners are most times out there to just talk and talk any nonsense. Is it not the responsibility of this folks to fight for the true, the betterment of the country? Shame on them and thank you David Gergen.
The most tragic aspect of the talking heads is they get in the way of hearing from the candidates directly. We only hear their spin on the truth but we almost never are allowed to hear the truth directly.
The talking heads control the country's awareness and thereby make a mockery of Democracy.
We only hear sound bites from the candiates wrapped in tenfold quantities of spin. We never get to hear the candidate in full context. We never hear the issues that really matter because the talking heads focus the attention of the country on the insignificant.
I wish I knew the candidates better than I know the talking heads.
What will the MSM do about it? Is this a rhetorical question? They will line up to kiss the winner's fundament with a passion that knows no equal. They will mob the loser like piranhas on a wounded bull. They will have no more interest in truth, fairness, integrity, or accuracy than they have had for the last eight years.
I like this article, and I'm pleased that somebody is addressing the subtext. Unfortunately, tens of millions of Americans will not hear either messrs Obama or McCain speak between now and the election. The presumptive Democratic candidate needs to do more. Otherwise, I'm afraid I can't see him prevailing.
u right... but i think the real question you should be asking yourself is, what can we do to help??
It's important to remember that this is only the first week of August. Forget what the pundits are saying. They'll forget what they've said themselves in a month or two and completely reverse field. It's the nonaligned voters, who begin to form certain general attitudes in the heat of the summer, that require all of Obama's attention. It's the ads that can do the damage, the ads that plant seeds. That can be fatal, because the nonaligned voters are the ones that are needed to win. If that seed gets planted early (Kerry wasn't really a war hero.) its roots might be that much more entrenched and difficult to pull out.
So, although the real action won't heat up until the weather cools, the right strategy for Obama is one that I've read in several posts - run ads that attack McCain's record, his temper, his shoes...
I've said it before: New Politics will only work when Old Politics doesn't. Obama came up in Chicago - advanced degree in Old Politics. Use it. Or lose.
The Democratic candidate will lose the Presidency yet again unless he wakes up immediately and realizes that, as much as we find them distasteful. negative campaign commercials work. Just look at the polls today.
Obama must play to win. He must play dirty. He must run campaign commercials that point out McBush's failings. My God, there are plenty of those out there, and he should not count on the American media to report them.
And he must be sure that these ads he needs to run are simple enough that the low-information American voter can understand them. Stop overestimating the intelligence of the voting public and PLAY TO WIN.
Credit Gergen for telling it like it is. When he said it, I went "YEAH!".
But one of the most telling moments for me was when Will said Obama is not good at hitting back, and Donna Brazile let out something like a snort, which she called an "unscripted moment". She was telling it like it is.
Obama NEEDS a fighter on his side. He is not good at this part of the game. He NEEDS a Hillary, or a Joe Biden or a Wes Clarke. Or else he will be taking McCain's punches without really effectively counter punching.
I tried posting this yesterday to another article.
"... when you see this Charlton Heston ad, ‘The One,” that’s code for ‘he’s uppity.’ ‘He ought to stay in his place.’ Everybody gets that who’s from a southern background. "
Gergen has no way of knowing what everybody in the South gets. This is the fallacy of "alleged certainty.
While on the subject of "staying in his place," "Gergen told CNN it was a mistake for Obama to release a statement detailing "exactly" what Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told him. "We have a long tradition in this country that we only have one president at a time," ... "He's the commander in chief and the negotiator in chief. I cannot remember a campaign which a rival seeking the presidency has been in a position negotiating a war that's under way with another party outside the country. I think he leaves himself open to the charge … that he's meddling, that this is not his role, that he can be the critic, but he's not the negotiator
Er, um, critical of Obama for not staying in his place.....
like Bush is God? everyone beyond ourshores wants a human with heart as our president.
I have always liked listening to David Gergen because he seems balanced and fair. Donna Brazile is also good.
Stephanopoulos was extremely obnoxious with Nancy Pelosi. Stephanopoulos and other media need to spend more time learning about the various complicated issues surrounding the energy bill and the Republican political games.
New laws to control speculators are included in the energy bill. Pelosi explained that Bush did not want the add new controls for speculator.
I totally agree. Gergen is my favorite, he knows what he is talking about and is fair. He also gets beneath the usual strategy talking points and brings original thought to the table rather the the regurgitated stuff that we get inundated with.
Who's more a more sneeringly elitist than George Will? His ivy league arrogance is palatable. Yep, that Obama is uppity alright. He should be serving Will, Rove and McCain their chatuebriand with truffles at the Country Club with a white towel over his left arm. How presumptuous of a mere black boy that doesn't know his place. Hey, George. You have one finger pointing forward, but 3 are point back at you. Hypocrite.
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