GOP's Image Of Obama Gains Traction

Politico: New McCain Ad Tries To Paint Democrat As A "Celebrity" Candidate

(The Politico)  This story was written by Carrie Budoff Brown.

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Barack Obama’s critics laid down the foundations of the strategy months ago: The Republican National Committee started the “Audacity Watch” back in April, and Karl Rove later fueled the attack by describing the first-term Illinois senator as “coolly arrogant.”

It wasn’t until the last week, however, that the narrative of Obama as a president-in-waiting - and perhaps getting impatient in that waiting - began reverberating beyond the e-mail inboxes of Washington operatives and journalists.

Perhaps one of the clearest indications emerged Tuesday from the world of late-night comedy, when David Letterman offered his “Top Ten Signs Barack Obama is Overconfident.” The examples included Obama proposing to change the name of Oklahoma to “Oklobama,” and measuring his head for Mount Rushmore.

“When Letterman is doing ‘Top Ten’ lists about something, it has officially entered the public consciousness,” said Dan Schnur, a political analyst with the University of Southern California and the communications director in John McCain’s 2000 campaign. “And it usually stays there for a long, long time.”

Following a nine-day, eight-country tour that carried the ambition and stagecraft of a presidential state visit, Obama has found himself in an unusual position: the butt of jokes.

Jon Stewart teased that the presumptive Democratic nominee traveled to Israel to visit his birthplace at Bethlehem’s Manger Square. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd amplified the McCain campaign’s private nickname for Obama (“The One”).

And the snickers about Obama’s perceived smugness may have a very real political impact as McCain launched its most forceful effort yet to define him negatively. It released a TV ad Wednesday describing Obama as the “biggest celebrity in the world,” comparable to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, stars who are famous for attitude rather than accomplishments. (Watch the ad)

The harsher treatment from comedians and columnists - coupled with the shift by McCain from attacking on policy to character issues - underscores the fine line that Obama is walking between confident and cocky. Once at pains to present himself as presidential, Obama now faces criticism for doing it too well.

“I was puzzled by this notion that somehow what we were doing was in any way different from what Senator McCain or a lot of presidential candidates have done in the past,” Obama said Sunday, speaking about his trip at a conference of minority journalists. “Now, I admit we did it really well. But that shouldn't be a strike against me.”

Obama and his supporters dismissed the line of attack as the latest desperate missive from a foundering Republican campaign.

Bloggers at the Huffington Post launched a backlash to the backlash against Obama’s overseas trip, arguing in part that he wouldn’t face such criticism of acting premature if he were white. Separately, the Obama campaign pushed back hard at journalists who used a report, which detailed Obama’s move to assemble a transition team, to describe him as presumptuous by pointing to an interview in which McCain had owned up to the same thing.

Some Democratic operatives described the narrative as a Beltway creation, the pastime of journalists looking to keep the presidential race competitive.

"Self-absorbed press speculation,” concluded consultant Bob Shrum, the chief strategist during John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign. “Most Americans are not paying the slightest bit of attention to this.”

Mark Mellman, a pollster for Kerry, said Obama acted the same when he was struggling last year against Clinton.

“The only people who are making him seem inevitable are the commentariat,” Mellman said. “He seemed this confident and self possessed when he was down 30 pints to Hillary Clinton. He is a confident and self possessed person.”

Republicans have long tried to turn his assuredness into a shortcoming. National party operatives began sending e-mails to reporters in the spring detailing some of Obama’s bolder moves, including using a faux presidential seal at a policy roundtable. The RNC rolled the headlines onto one site, “Barack Obama Audacity Watch,” that it unveiled Wednesday.

The McCain campaign piled on with its “Celeb” ad, which juxtaposed Obama’s speech to 200,000 people in Berlin with photos of Spears and Hilton.

“Do the American people want to elect the world’s biggest celebrity or do they want to elect an American hero?” asked Steve Schmidt, one of McCain’s top aides, on a conference call.

They stayed personal later in the day when responding to Obama’s suggestion at a Missouri town hall meeting that Republicans would use his unusual name and his race to paint him as a risky choice.

“This is a typically superfluous response from Barack Obama. Like most celebrities, he reacts to fair criticism with a mix of fussiness and hysteria,” McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said.

By later Wednesday, the Obama campaign responded within hours to the “Celeb” ad with one of its own, accusing McCain of taking the “low road” and “practicing the politics of the past.” (Watch the ad)

Responding to questions from reporters about McCain's ad, Obama said: “I do notice that he doesn’t seem to have anything to say very positive about himself.”

The strategy has very real potential dangers for Team McCain. Obama’s unmistakable charisma and his campaign’s deft brand of stagecraft have created an often lopsided contrast with McCain’s sometimes painful-to-watch public events. As presidents as diverse as Ronald Reagan and John Kennedy showed, Americans do like a touch of celebrity in their commander in chief; though not too much.

Obama’s steely sense of self-confidence, even destiny, is also one of the traits his supporters like most and which could, as the fall campaign heats up, be one of the qualities that help him make the sale.

But the slippery slope for Obama is allowing a McCain campaign that is searching for a consistent theme with which to attack him to latch on to a way of making him seem alien to ordinary Americans. Douglas Schoen, a Democratic pollster, argued that Obama was not yet in a danger zone, but he needed to pay heed to the gathering storm.

“My sense is that all of those attacks individually are frankly not particularly potent, but taken together, they are creating a narrative about Obama that is not helpful,” said Schoen, who worked on President Bill Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign. “It is a warning sign for Obama that he’s got to get back on the trail and make the case that there is a real contrast.”

[mattblckmtn]

Of course he has gone negative, he has little else to offer. His policies are the failed policies of GW Bush that he voted to support over 85% of the time. He did everything he could to get bush elected, and now his campaign is being run by Karl Rove''s protege, so that his campaign won''t be interrupted by Roves arrest for contempt of congress. It is the same old politics. If you like W, if you like Rove, Schmidt and the politics of division, if you are happy where our country standing is in the world and the state of our economy, Obama not your candidate.

[clovisbuford]

IMPEACH HUSSEIN NOW,,,

SIGN THE PETITION,,,

Impeach, expel Barack Obama
http://obamaimpeachment.org
err lets start with the man who has doubled the Us debtin 8 years, commited warcrimesby his endorsement of US torture practices according to the international red cross (you know them folks looking after US soldiers when they are prisoners of war), outed a CIA agent , spied on US citizens against currrent law , etc. then lets have a conversation bucko

[kansas1946]

"Obama can''''t help what he is...and arrogance is part of his make up."
******************************************

I think you are mistaking success and popularity for arrogance. I remember in highschool, you would be told a certain popular student was stuck-up and arrogant. Then later you would meet them and they were as nice as could be. In fact, that niceness, was many time what made them popular.
But a lot of folks just can''t stand others to be popular and well liked. They are jealous.
Obama is one of the least arrogant politicians I have ever seen, especially at this level.
George Bush is the poster boy for the word "arrogance."
Obama, and McCain, are in the minor leauges compared to him. You want to see arrogance, watch Bush.

[kansas1946]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is mobilizing U.S. store managers to lobby against Democrats in November''s presidential election, fearing they will make it easier for workers to unionize, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if store workers unionize, the paper said.

******************************************************

If ever there was a reason to vote for a Democrat, and in this case, Obama, this is it. Although I am pleased when any start-up American business does well and is successful, Wal-Mart has abused Americans with their success. In their ever increasing, insatable, appetite for more profit, they have done massage damage to America. They have forced company after company to send manufacturing jobs overseas, they have abused their own employees, and cost American taxpayers billions by not offering health care to their employees. Those employees access state funded services while Wal-Mart increases their bottom line. They have refused to pay overtime to deserving employees and have lost a huge law-suit regarding that issue. They have forced themselves into communities and neighborhoods that didn''t want them. This is not the Wal-Mart of Sam Walton and if they are supporting Rebublicans, then the rest of us shouldn''t.

[pakaal]

"Celebrity Candidate"!

Oh, the horror! Huge crowds, big events in stadiums?! How dare the Democrats embrace Senator Obama for his platform and ideals!

Hey, sorry Republicans, this is something called "popularity". We understand that it''s hard to remember what that is, what with Bush running a negative approval rating for so long and all.

[jon2012-2009]

McCain was one of the "Keating Five," congressmen investigated on ethics charges for strenuously helping convicted racketeer Charles Keating after he gave them large campaign contributions and vacation trips.
Charles Keating was convicted of racketeering and fraud in both state and federal court after his Lincoln Savings & Loan collapsed, costing the taxpayers $3.4 billion. His convictions were overturned on technicalities.
McCain intervened on behalf of Charles Keating after Keating gave McCain at least $1,112,00 in contributions.

Posted by dchu76 at 10:54 AM : Aug 01, 2008


Tsk...tsk...tsk...

[jon2012-2009]

Obama is the most far left, socialistic, candidate that has ever run for President in the United States.
Posted by minnick8 at 10:45 AM : Aug 01, 2008

You just happen to have comparative data at your fingertips on all the candidates that have ever run for President of the U.S. Where are you getting this slop?

[jon2012-2009]

Obama is to politics as Brittney Spears is to music.
Posted by MCVet- at 09:41 AM : Aug 01, 2008

Is this important? The question this election: Should another Republican take the White House next year? Look at the damage around you from the incumbent Republican.

[jon2012-2009]

...when David Letterman offered his %u201CTop Ten Signs Barack Obama is Overconfident.%u201D The examples included Obama proposing to change the name of Oklahoma to %u201COklobama,%u201D and measuring his head for Mount Rushmore.


The signs are there that Hussein has too big an ego for his own good. Hussein is the height of arrogance.
Posted by johnbush2 at 10:27 AM : Aug 01, 2008


Your evidence of Obama''s arrogance is based on a nightly comedian''s jokes?

[steeepe]

McBush is a snarky, pandering, patronizing old fool. He was a dunce in college and he''s no smarter now. Unlike most Democrats, he doesn''t like the facts if they stand in the way of his ideology. If you want to see the U.S. continue to decline in every measure, vote GOP. People who think Obama is arrogant and see that as the defining issue of the campaign are probably just closet racists. There''s plenty of racism in the GOP.

[likeitis5050]

Posted by obama8years at 06:36 AM : Aug 01, 2008,,,

You keep attacking Obama! But nothing is worst than what we have now and McCain is 4 more years of it!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by tbweb


You need to seriously think about that statement and ask yourself if you''re up to the challenge of ''nothing worse''...I personally see a universal smack down coming your way...never draw a line in the sand with ''nothing could be worse''...you scare me.

[likeitis5050]

Obama can''t help what he is...and arrogance is part of his make up. He is going to remain arrogant regardless what the campaign does to deflect that reality. For someone whose platform revolves around ''change'' he is the most consistently inept, arrogant, and image-minded person on the planet. The only change I see is his ability to bob and weave questions directed at exactly how he plans to make all these sweeping changes outside the standard ''raise taxes, ask Americans to keep tires inflated, cars tuned, and heat/air in homes set to minimum comfort to save energy'' (this, by the way, according to the King, will bring in the same savings in energy that actually drilling what we have will bring us...BRILLIANT!!! AND THE CROWDS CHANT ''OBAMA SAVE US!!!'')

[likeitis5050]

Posted by zerato

Last Comic Standing regrets to inform you that your material is dated...much like McCain.

[minnick8-2009]

Obama is the most far left, socialistic, candidate that has ever run for President in the United States. I won''t be voting for him, and it isn''t because he is black. It is because I just cannot and do not support the Democratic Party Platform. Aside from that, Obama''s 20 year association with Reverend Wright, his associations with known terrorists, his philosophy on redistribution of wealth (robin hood--take from the rich and give to the poor) and late term abortions do not influence me as being positive change we can believe in. I''m not a scared rich person worrying about losing a portion of my wealth; I''m one of the working poor. However, I still don''t believe in the socialistic redistribution of wealth.

[minnick8-2009]

new denture adhesive allows him to eat corn on the cob

Posted by zerato

The Dental profession has made great strides in dentistry including denture adhesive. I think it is miraculous.

[johnbush2-2009]

...when David Letterman offered his %u201CTop Ten Signs Barack Obama is Overconfident.%u201D The examples included Obama proposing to change the name of Oklahoma to %u201COklobama,%u201D and measuring his head for Mount Rushmore.

%u201CWhen Letterman is doing %u2018Top Ten%u2019 lists about something, it has officially entered the public consciousness,%u201D said Dan Schnur, a political analyst with the University of Southern California and the communications director in John McCain%u2019s 2000 campaign. %u201CAnd it usually stays there for a long, long time.%u201D

CBS news

The signs are there that Hussein has too big an ego for his own good. Hussein is the height of arrogance.

[johnbush2-2009]

Is Obama really proposing to change the name of Oklahoma to %u201COklobama".

Obama is certainly getting too arrogant.

[johnbush2-2009]

Obama may be the biggest celebrity in the world but is he ready to lead??

Obama certainly has the huge ego and arrogance that comes with having celebrity status but he is definitely not ready to lead.

[zerato-2009]

John McCain. He looks like a guy who gets tickets for mowing under the influence.

[zerato-2009]

"I''m going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." john mccain