Andrew Sullivan nails it on Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s secret weapon — less what he does to Republican Sen. John McCain then what he holds back on doing and provokes McCain to do:
Obama’s not-so-secret weapon in an international crisis: his calm. McCain’s not-so-secret liability in a tense election: his hotheadedness. This race is about policy and the times. But it is also about temperament and character. That’s why, in my judgment, it has broken so clearly in Obama’s direction. He actually reassures and he manages not to take the bait almost all of the time. More to the point, he gets his opponents to destroy themselves, while he glides forward.
He then links to his Times column HERE.
Issues still matter in American politics, despite the belief of some who think personally going after candidates and even those who dare write things they don’t like or agree with is way to destroy a candidacy or “the messenger.” But IMAGERY still counts for a great deal in politics, just as it does in advertising products.
If you look at McCain’s early, post-GOP convention campaign, he was having trouble getting press attention as the press was focused on its new toy, Obama’s candidacy. McCain’s selection of Gov. Sarah Palin wowed the GOP and the press as well. Since then, McCain and his campaign have seemingly flitted around offering contradictory tones and specific messages. McCain himself has indeed appeared hotheaded, raising the question among more than one pundit: What would have happened if John McCain had been in the White House during the 1960s Cuban Missile Crisis?
But there is indeed a bit more. A LOT of Americans have truly had enough of the mega-partisanship epitomized by talk radio and permeating American’s political culture that name calls and demonizes politicians, a entire party, the press, and those who might report or write things not in keeping with the party line. They crave a return to a more thoughtful, deliberative and HEALING type of politics that brings people together. By not taking the bait (so far) Obama is appearing to be calm and the most unifying figure in the race.
Could this image disintegrate if he gets into office? Perhaps. But by not biting the baited polarization hook — and perhaps setting a few of them out there that McCain all-too-eagerly chomped on — Obama is emitting an image that is reassuring during a time of intense multiple crises.
To put it in another way: this election is shaping up to be like an election between the Prom Queen and the Drama Queen.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.