There’s been a lot of fretting lately over Barack Obama, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party – his low poll numbers, the over confidence of his supporters and the wooing of Clinton’s disaffected supporters by the presumptive Republican nominee McCain and his surrogates; Meg Whitman, former Ebay CEO and Carly Fiorina, former HP CEO.
Well here’s a newsflash: McCain’s Opponent won’t be Obama.
Say what?
McCain’s Opponent: It’ll be Himself… on Youtube.
The McCain mini-movie(s)- “Strangled by Video tape”
As will be observed, McCain, the experienced one and ready to be commander-in-chief, has been around as a legislator for some twenty years.
Here’s the problem. Straight-talk McCain has a poor memory. A poor memory within a 24-hour period is beyond being a pattern. Is it age, flip-flopping or taken out of context?
It’s a different era in politics and the McCain gang has a lot of homework to get done. The new media – Youtube and the internet – is dominating and making bare the candidates. In other election cycles we had to gain access to newsrooms’ archives. Now, it’s a snap – point and click.
The Obama campaign’s ad writers have so many videos from which to select:
The Death of a Candidate – Strangled by video tape
McCain’s Truthiness – Olberman
McCain wholeheartedly agrees with Bush:
Then there’s what some call deceit:
Here’s the video in which McCain calls himself computer illiterate.
And like Bush, McCain doesn’t know what Google is
As against a candidate who offers a message of Change, The Carpetbagger Report comments: “McCain is more comfortable in the past”
McCain, Carter, and Google — the salience of the generation gap
My friend Alex Koppelman explained McCain’s problem very well:
Given Bush’s historic unpopularity, the linkage between Bush and McCain is quite damaging for the presumptive Republican nominee. Moreover, Bush’s presidency is fresh in voters’ minds. On the other hand, Carter lost his bid for reelection to the presidency in 1980. That means anyone who was old enough to vote for or against him will be 46 or older by the time this election rolls around.
According to exit polls from 2004, at least 46 percent of the people who voted for president last time around were younger than that. That’s a whole lot of people who might not get the joke as fully as McCain would like.
Or, as Oliver Willis noted, “McCain went from a 19th century comparison to a 20th century comparison. At some point in his campaign I suppose he might join Sen. Obama and the rest of us in the 21st century.”
That would be nice. And if he does join us in the 21st century, maybe he can learn what Google is.But as the campaign continued to unfold, this may prove to be a more substantive area for debate. I’d argue we need a leader who’s in touch with modern trends and technology. Who knows what email, networks, search engines, and net neutrality are. Who doesn’t look at modern life as something foreign, and the Internet as something scary.
This isn’t just about physical age; plenty of older people are culturally and technologically savvy. It’s about a candidate who seems more comfortable in the past, and lacks a vision for the future.
More comments like these will make Youtube:
“I will veto every single beer”
Pledging on June 9, 2008 to send unlimited troops to Iraq.
“Bringing American troops home is not too important”
You get the drift.
Now, Obama is no knight in shining armor. He’ll have plenty of gaffes. Some serious. On my T-sheet the most grievous is bowing to AIPAC; putting Israel instead of America first. That’s not Change.
Seriously, if Obama keep this up I’ll be reconsidering my efforts on his behalf – his VP pick will be a deal breaker. Paint me in waiver mode.
So what’s the choice?
McCain, a Bush clone who needs to catch up with the 21st century.
Obama, looking less progressive, moving to the right of center.
Bob Barr.
Stay home and miss making a historic vote – whatever the outcome.