Deathmatch
I’ve noticed a fundamental difference in the two candidates’ tactics. McCain’s recent campaign ads have bee rather large in scope. Both“The One” and “Celeb” poke fun at Obama’s popularity and “Broken” speaks abstractly about Washington being “broken.” None of these ads have specific policies as their centerpiece (most of them quickly refer to a few in the last 10 seconds). It’s clear they’re designed to raise over arching questions about Obama’s experience and leadership abilities and appeal.
McCain’s character carpet-bombing of Obama is more for effect than effectiveness. McCain himself has admitted that it’s especially hard to grab the electorate’s attention in August, so at least people will be talking about them.
Obama, on the other hand, hardly even mentions John McCain in his ads and when he does it’s in the context of specific issues. It’s not surprising he stays away from McCain’s character, because if more people knew about McCain’s life story, they might feel guilty not voting for him. “Hands,” for example, doesn’t mention John McCain at all and concentrates only on Obama’s energy policies. Obama’s most viewed clips in his campaign website media archive are speeches, town hall meetings, or endorsements from prominent Democrats. McCain’s top 2 ads on his YouTube Channel are negative (”Celeb” and “The One”).
Obama has been getting some well-deserved criticism from NY Senator Chuck Schumer for not hitting back hard enough. Here are some quotes from Johnathan Martin’s Politico.com blog:
“I thought the Britney Spears commercial was powerful,” Schumer said, referring to McCain’s television ad casting Obama as a vapid “celebrity.”
“I would answer back hard. What do you mean he’s not one of us? It’s John McCain who wears $500 shoes, has six houses, and comes from one of the richest families in his state,” Schumer said. “It’s Barack Obama who climbed up the hard way, and that’s why he wants middle-class tax cuts and better schools for our kids.”
I could only find three Obama ads (”Low Road Express,” “Pocket” and “Original“) that concentrate on criticizing John McCain. Interestingly, these have been posted in the last 4 days so maybe Obama is starting to get down with the heavy hitting.
However, Obama recently released a radio ad in Ohio that sheds some light on his strategy:
Ohio is an anticipated battleground state that was important to President Bush, but this time around Obama has a chance there. While McCain is carpet-bombing Obama’s character, Obama is playing the game on local level, nailing McCain on state-specific issues, like the DHL layoffs in Ohio. If you’re not familiar with this issue, check out the Ohio Daily blog about it.
Personally, I think these two strategies make sense. While McCain is trying to put out the raging Obamamania by trying to grab the spotlight, Obama is leaving McCain’s character alone and concentrating on pitting particular locals against him in the key battleground states.
McCain’s carpet bombs vs. Obama’s surgical strikes…which will win?
