“Rope a Dope”

Andrew Sullivan discusses why “Barack Obama’s strategy of calm is provoking his rival into fatal errors.”

McCain never seemed to learn from the Clintons’ misjudgment of their rival. A key element of Obama’s strategy is classic rope-a-dope. He gets his opponents to splutter with irritation as “that one”, as McCain contemptuously described Obama in last Tuesday’s debate, glides towards them in the polls. He does his thing, raises masses of money, keeps his staff in perfect order and focuses on issues and themes. He can segue from the inspirational agent of change of the spring to the reassuring conventional pol of the autumn without anyone really noticing the seams. That takes political skill. You’ve either got it or you haven’t.

Obama rarely directly attacks. He subtly baits. His most brilliant rope-a-dope of the entire campaign was against Bill Clinton in the spring. In a newspaper interview, Obama cited Ronald Reagan as the last transformational president. He didn’t mention Clinton. The former president was offended by being implicitly dissed, took the bait and unleashed a series of unwise public scoffs at the young Democrat, culminating in a dismissal of Obama as another Jesse Jackson. Suddenly, black Democrats abandoned Clinton’s wife, and the Clintons’ base collapsed. Obama merely stepped out of the way as the Clintons self-destructed. He didn’t just end their campaign; he helped to bury their reputation.

Why is Palin getting away with it?

E.J. Dionne asks the question.

Since we’re talking about travel here, let’s stay focused on the Clinton comparison: Is there one standard for Hillary Clinton — a tough one — and another, permissive standard for Sarah Palin? I’ll be curious about this and so, I suspect, will Hillary Clinton’s supporters.

SNL Opener: Palin & Clinton

Thank god Tina Fey and Saturday Night Live made our dreams a reality.

(CLICK IMAGE FOR VIDEO)

CBS Takes Down McCain WebAd, Suggests It’s ‘Misleading’

From politico.com

YouTube has removed a webad that casts Sarah Palin as the victim of sexism on the request of CBS, whose anchor Katie Couric was featured in the ad.

“One of the great lessons of that campaign is the continued and accepted role of sexism in American life,” Couric is quoted in the ad.

In the original clip, which aired months before Palin entered the race, Couric was talking about Hillary Clinton. The ad applies her words to Palin.

Asked about the ad, CBS spokeswoman Leigh Farris said, “CBS News does not endorse any candidate in the Presidential race. Any use of CBS personnel in political advertising that suggests the contrary is misleading.”

YouTube’s page displaying the ad now tells visitors, “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by CBS Interactive Inc.”

Couric’s original commentary can be seen here. McCain still has the ad, “Lipstick,” on his website.

“A controlled experiment: Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin”

 An article by James Fallows from thealtantic.com

Momentary Lapse of Concentration

Sometimes, you just need a break from all of this hoopla.

 

Good Times