A friend from India told me this joke a while ago. It seems apropos now:
An Indian politician was visiting the US. On his visit he dropped by a Senator’s office in the Senator’s home state.
The Senator began to brag about his power. He opened his office window and pointed at the bridge in the distance. He asked the Indian politician, "Do you see that bridge over that river?"
The Indian politician nodded. The Senator said, "That’s my handiwork." The visitor was impressed.
To return the favor, the Indian politician invited the Senator to visit him back in India. The Senator took him up on the offer.
While the two politicians sipped tea at the Indian politician’s office, the host went to the window and opened it. He pointed at the river in the distance and said to the Senator, "Do you see that bridge over that river?"
The Senator said, "What bridge? I don’t see any bridge over that river".
The Indian politician responded, "Exactly! That’s my handiwork." The Senator was suitably impressed.
Its not "change" if you supported the "bridge to nowhere" that you now claim you were against. Its not "change" if the bridge doesn’t get built, but your state pockets the money anyway.
You didn’t finish the real joke that is upon us: not only did Palin’s state pocket the money — they are now apparently going ahead with their plans for building the “bridge to nowhere” anyway, using “other” resources.
Sounds like a textbook example of MONEY LAUNDERING to me!
Hello… Obama activists! Don’t be shy! You can call a spade a spade! There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that! (Okay, you can call it a spade with lipstick!)
NB, the Republicans are being called on their lies, but they dont care. They figure the low info voters will only hear their false claims, and never the retractions or the corrections by the media.
Obama’s challenge is not only pushing back on the lies, but changing the narrative so the McCain ticket are considered liars on every claim they make, as they make it.
I’m sorry I didn’t make myself very clear. “Changing the narrative” is not gonna make it any easier for the “low info voters” to follow your narrative.
You need LOUD, one/two word, easy to hear, easy to digest, easy to remember SOUND BITES. That’s what this election has come down to. In spite of everything. As always.
Both Kerry and Gore lost their elections primarily because they took “too long” to explain the complex issues they thought were critical for the public to know and understand. We are talking about the 10% or so of the voters that are apparently still undecided. The very fact that they are still “undecided” should have amply warned you that they are neither very bright nor well informed. And that’s whom you are betting everything on?!
The Karl Rovians are gonna do it to you again. McCain has already stolen your key sound bite on “Change”, and obviously the not-so-Maverick is not even ashamed of it!
You better come up with some new sound bites. Soon. Sound bites they cannot steal.
PS to #3: In his recent NYT blog Prof Krugman admitted how jealous he was of Bill Clinton’s DNC speech where the ex-President explained the most important “wonkish” issues in plain English. Obama should take a hint.
NB, I agree about the sound bites. Clinton is a master at finding the right language. I think I wrote something similar earlier. The key here, in taking the initiative and dictating the narrative, is to attack. Obama campaign went on the offensive yesterday and today the narrative is taking hold.
It’s really simple: McCain/Palin lie. Now, you can dress it into many soundbites, as Obama did today: “lipstick on a pig”. But the underlying theme is these people lie and cannot be trusted to run this country. They are either incompetent of corrupt. Either way they are like Bush, and the results will be the same.
Unlike some others who have gone into full frontal panic on the progressive blogosphere, I am not particularly concerned with the polls. After the Republican convention and the Palin introduction a bounce was inevitable. I’ve seen enough general election campaigns to know how short-lived post-convention bounces can be. I have emailed close friends that I thought the tracking polls would register the bounce up to today, and then McCain should peak, and the tracking polls should begin to pull back. I’ll see how McCain does in the Gallup tracking tomorrow for signs that the honeymoon is over and the Obama offensive is having effect. Already it looks like, McCain has peaked at 49% in the last two days on Gallup tracking. That means his initial surge in the poll has stopped, and tomorrow’s number should be very interesting to watch.
The general election campaign officially began yesterday. Today’s NBC poll, the latest number, shows Obama up 1 point. The internals that cause some concern are the swing to McCain of women voters. However, again, I would expect this to shift back as the initial thrill of identity politics gets replaced by the reality of the policies. This shift will not happen with the hard right, but it should happen where it matters, the voters in the middle. These voters are just starting to pay attention.
One note about “low info voters”. It is commonly assumed that this means blue collar voters. Not so. There are plenty of votes out there – genuinely undecided – who are up for grabs. Their politics generally favor Obama. So he can win them if he can control the narrative.
Straight from the transcript of Palin’s speech:
“”…And I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending: nearly half a billion dollars in vetoes.
I suspended the state fuel tax, and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress.
I told the Congress “thanks, but no thanks,” for that Bridge to Nowhere. “”
Doesn’t her deep-rooted-conservative faith tell her that the liars will face eternal damnation??
Or is the practice of virtue limited to bashing gays?