In light of the recent financial crisis, McCain's campaign released an ad last Tuesday with the slogan "enough is enough." Amid all the turmoil, the word choice seems unremarkable, but I couldn't help noticing that this is the same phrase Obama used a week before in his frequently quoted response to ads alleging sexism.
Then again, today, an article on Bloomberg.com quoted McCain saying "Obama offers 'absolutely no new ideas...'" A phrase that both Obama and his democratic allies have practically turned into a rallying cry against the GOP.
As isolated incidents, these little echoes could be written off as coincidence. After all, it's not like either side is coining new phrases. But they come at a time when McCain is busy reversing his economic philosophy and forgetting his anti-regulation history with an Orwellian vigor. And they come on the heels of a Republican National Convention that pitched their nominee as the (new) Candidate of Change, complete with a not-old, not-male vice presidential nominee to prove it.
John Harwood has also noticed that the candidates are starting to "sound the same" and has written an article in the New York Times, trying to clarify the difference between them. While I agree with his basic observation, I would challenge his assumption that the situation has arisen accidentally.
On the contrary, the evidence suggests that, rather than distancing himself from Obama, McCain is doing everything he can to sound just like him. The basic principle seems to be "use whatever works." Or, as McCain himself put it at the Republican National Convention, "Instead of rejecting good ideas because we didn’t think of them first, let’s use the best ideas from both sides." Who knew he was talking about his own campaign tactics? And this not a new idea, either, in case anyone is counting: if it seemed strange that McCain would be willing to throw out his "experience" slogan so late in the game, it might help to remember that it was hardly his in the first place. Ask Senator Clinton.
But Palin's appearance on the ticket signaled more than the McCain campaign's desire to get in on their rival's image of bringing fresh faces to Washington. It meant more, even, than a further attempt to capitalize on Clinton's popularity. What it showed was that McCain wanted to create for himself exactly what he attempted caricature in his opponent: celebrity.
Suddenly the phrase "mercuric rise" found itself attached to a Republican candidate, as Palin crossed the bridge from Nowhere, Alaska to Everytown, USA with a speed that any reality show contestant would envy. An interview with People Magazine (who got first dibbs over the news networks), extensive tabloid coverage, and some old beauty pagent photos made the message hard to miss. And just in case you didn't get it, campaign spokesman Rick Davis even said it out loud, explaining that, "This election is not about issues."
None of this means that Palin couldn't make a good vice-president, or even president. The truth is I have no idea. Perhaps there are great potential world-leaders in every hockey rink and Wal-mart in America, just waiting for someone to nominate them. And, joking aside, that's hardly the full extent of Sarah Palin's qualifications. Still, I think it would be hard to argue that she was picked for her resume. There were many Republicans, both men and women, with more experience, whether legislative or executive. (Electoral-vote.com broke this down nicely in an article on September 3.)
I can't help but imagine that McCain and his advisers came up with their new identity while watching their own campaign commercials. In my daydream Tucker Bounds leaps up abruptly from his chair. "Celebrity!" he cries, "I've got it!"
Where does such a strategy lead? Maybe all the way to the White House. Certainly there are many advantages to sound-byte mimicry, not least of which is that only the most attentive voters will be able to tell who said what first. If your opponent points out that you're copying him, you simply say "No, you're copying me." And the more difficult it is to distinguish their policies, the easier to divert attention from policy to personality, in hopes of winning along old prejudices and party lines. I believe this to be the core of the current Republican strategy. And it may work.
But in trying to out-Obama Obama, McCain's campaign has reduced itself to their own worst parody of their opponent. Accused of having no new ideas, their response is to repeat that accusation back at their accusers. If some greater admission of vapidity is possible, it eludes me. Whatever the outcome in November, the price of counterfeit rhetoric is already becoming clear. In his struggle to make himself sound indistinguishable from his rival, McCain has become the Obama he invented: that image in the advertisements, speaking empty words.
Then again, today, an article on Bloomberg.com quoted McCain saying "Obama offers 'absolutely no new ideas...'" A phrase that both Obama and his democratic allies have practically turned into a rallying cry against the GOP.
As isolated incidents, these little echoes could be written off as coincidence. After all, it's not like either side is coining new phrases. But they come at a time when McCain is busy reversing his economic philosophy and forgetting his anti-regulation history with an Orwellian vigor. And they come on the heels of a Republican National Convention that pitched their nominee as the (new) Candidate of Change, complete with a not-old, not-male vice presidential nominee to prove it.
John Harwood has also noticed that the candidates are starting to "sound the same" and has written an article in the New York Times, trying to clarify the difference between them. While I agree with his basic observation, I would challenge his assumption that the situation has arisen accidentally.
On the contrary, the evidence suggests that, rather than distancing himself from Obama, McCain is doing everything he can to sound just like him. The basic principle seems to be "use whatever works." Or, as McCain himself put it at the Republican National Convention, "Instead of rejecting good ideas because we didn’t think of them first, let’s use the best ideas from both sides." Who knew he was talking about his own campaign tactics? And this not a new idea, either, in case anyone is counting: if it seemed strange that McCain would be willing to throw out his "experience" slogan so late in the game, it might help to remember that it was hardly his in the first place. Ask Senator Clinton.
But Palin's appearance on the ticket signaled more than the McCain campaign's desire to get in on their rival's image of bringing fresh faces to Washington. It meant more, even, than a further attempt to capitalize on Clinton's popularity. What it showed was that McCain wanted to create for himself exactly what he attempted caricature in his opponent: celebrity.
Suddenly the phrase "mercuric rise" found itself attached to a Republican candidate, as Palin crossed the bridge from Nowhere, Alaska to Everytown, USA with a speed that any reality show contestant would envy. An interview with People Magazine (who got first dibbs over the news networks), extensive tabloid coverage, and some old beauty pagent photos made the message hard to miss. And just in case you didn't get it, campaign spokesman Rick Davis even said it out loud, explaining that, "This election is not about issues."
None of this means that Palin couldn't make a good vice-president, or even president. The truth is I have no idea. Perhaps there are great potential world-leaders in every hockey rink and Wal-mart in America, just waiting for someone to nominate them. And, joking aside, that's hardly the full extent of Sarah Palin's qualifications. Still, I think it would be hard to argue that she was picked for her resume. There were many Republicans, both men and women, with more experience, whether legislative or executive. (Electoral-vote.com broke this down nicely in an article on September 3.)
I can't help but imagine that McCain and his advisers came up with their new identity while watching their own campaign commercials. In my daydream Tucker Bounds leaps up abruptly from his chair. "Celebrity!" he cries, "I've got it!"
Where does such a strategy lead? Maybe all the way to the White House. Certainly there are many advantages to sound-byte mimicry, not least of which is that only the most attentive voters will be able to tell who said what first. If your opponent points out that you're copying him, you simply say "No, you're copying me." And the more difficult it is to distinguish their policies, the easier to divert attention from policy to personality, in hopes of winning along old prejudices and party lines. I believe this to be the core of the current Republican strategy. And it may work.
But in trying to out-Obama Obama, McCain's campaign has reduced itself to their own worst parody of their opponent. Accused of having no new ideas, their response is to repeat that accusation back at their accusers. If some greater admission of vapidity is possible, it eludes me. Whatever the outcome in November, the price of counterfeit rhetoric is already becoming clear. In his struggle to make himself sound indistinguishable from his rival, McCain has become the Obama he invented: that image in the advertisements, speaking empty words.
