McCain's New Rovian Campaign Director:

[amborin]

tougher, more aggressive.....

<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/us/politics/07schmidt.html?_r=1&oref=slogin>

Dems: we need HUGE voter turnout

more aggressive framing.....has the campaign consulted Lakoff yet????

[chill_wind]

1. Lakoff on Palin-- thread from a couple days ago. Barely a response:

The Palin Choice and the Reality of the Political Mind

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x381863

http://www.yuricareport.com/Strategies_Propaganda/ThePalinChoice_GeorgeLakoff.html

"Call an extremist an extremist."

"They share values antithetical to our democracy. That needs to be said loud and clear, if not by the Obama campaign itself, then by the rest of us who share democratic American values."


I don't see any admonitions in there about "don't take the bait---- it's a ROVE trap!!" in there anywhere as some kind of strategy.
Quite the contrary.


"...The initial Democratic response to Palin -- the response based on realities alone -- indicates that many Democrats have not learned the lessons of the Reagan and Bush years.

They have not learned the nature of conservative populism. A great many working-class folks are what I call "bi-conceptual," that is, they are split between conservative and progressive modes of thought. Conservative on patriotism and certain social and family issues, which they have been led to see as "moral," progressive in loving the land, living in communities of care, and practical kitchen table issues like mortgages, health care, wages, retirement, and so on.

Conservative theorists won them over in two ways: inventing and promulgating the idea of "liberal elite" and focusing campaigns on social and family issues. They have been doing this for many years and have changed a lot of brains through repetition. Palin will appeal strongly to conservative populists, attacking Obama and Biden as pointy-headed, tax-and-spend, latte liberals. The tactic is to divert attention from difficult realities to powerful symbolism."

(...)

http://www.yuricareport.com/Strategies_Propaganda/ThePalinChoice_GeorgeLakoff.html

[amborin]

3. well, we're going about attackin m and p in the wrong way

when will dems get smart?????

[amborin]

4. this is must read, must implement

for Obama's campaign

is his manager aware?

[sammytko]

2. I read that - very interesting...nt

[chill_wind]

5. The Schmidt coup-- some key passages...

Mr. Schmidt’s stamp on the campaign this year was evident from the opening day of the convention to Mr. McCain’s acceptance speech on Thursday.

His stamp was reflected in the sharp tone of the scathing prime-time speeches, all of which Mr. Schmidt reviewed and approved, and some of which were criticized as stretching the truth. It was evident in the campaign’s fierce attacks on news organizations as they examined the extent to which Mr. McCain had vetted Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska when he chose her as his running mate, and reported on the pregnancy of her teenage daughter (the disclosures were released just as Hurricane Gustav was hitting the Gulf Coast, in a gambit of news management that is one hallmark of Mr. Schmidt’s style).

And it could be seen in the ubiquitous slogan “Country First” — as in, Mr. McCain puts it there, Mr. Obama does not.

The changes in Mr. McCain’s operation were noted approvingly by Republican leaders, who once despaired at his chances against Mr. Obama. “It’s steadily improving — in terms of performance, organization, offense,” said Fergus Cullen, the party chairman in New Hampshire. “There were definitely early bumps and now things are getting accomplished.”

Mr. Rove said Mr. Schmidt’s increased authority— which came about after what amounted to a coup by Mr. Schmidt and other McCain aides with ties to the 2004 campaign, that gave him equal status with the campaign manager, Rick Davis — has been the best thing to have happened to Mr. McCain.

[chill_wind]

6. ...

[amborin]

7. what

are we dems planning to do about it????

[chill_wind]

9. I can only speak for myself. I refuse to be bullied into groupthink submission

to ignore Palin on the issues. I'll leave the unverifiable, salacious stuff alone, but I'll talk about her on the issues and call an extremist an extremist. Especially one that could be a potential heartbeat away from the oval office, remote as that seems at this moment. She's the epitomy of his hollow ambition and his impulsive, bad judgement.

Undermining the unvetted Palin undermines McCain. His judgment very much IS at issue and she's a gift that creates chasms in it every where you look.


We can target both of them. That's politics. They are, after all, the GOP package.

[KittyWampus]

10. sorry, but "groupthink submission" = those who insist on obsessing over Palin.

In case you hadn't noticed, the herd are the ones who are addicted to discussing her over and over and over.

Free thinkers are wise enough to recognize a distraction.

[chill_wind]

11. Look, I'm aware of your opinion, but I disagree. n/t

[amborin]

12. pls read lakoff

who advocates painting palin as undemocratic and unpatriotic

and emphasizing economic issues that appeal to the gullibles' progressive side

[chill_wind]

14. I did. See post #1?

eom

[Kdillard]

8. Nobody here runs Obama's campaign and he will do as he sees fit.

Obama and his people are not idiots and I am going to trust them to find an effective strategy. They just need to not panic and do something stupid. Keep on the offensive about the economic issues and keep up the point that McCain and Palin are out of touch. They also need to sharpen their arguments for the debates.

[flamingdem]

13. This NYT article seems a bit over the top

This quote for instance:

McCain organization has become a campaign transformed: an elbows-out, risk-taking, disciplined machine that was on display here last week at the Republican convention that nominated Mr. McCain.

[chill_wind]

15. I certainly wouldn't quarrel with "elbows-out". n/t

[madfloridian]

16. self delete.

[bleever]

17. Sorry, Steve, but we'll decide when you've stopped being fun:

Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to Mr. McCain who worked on President Bush’s campaign in 2004, could barely hide his fury in the coming days, as he announced — to anyone who would listen — that he would personally make certain the McCain campaign would never again embarrass Mr. McCain.

“Fun Steve is dead,” Mr. Schmidt said.

So far: Fun Steve lives!

[chill_wind]

18. Heh :-)