Like most of you, I was appalled to see the McCain campaign continue on it's tactic of taking the jacked-up four-wheel drive of their campaign further into the mud, slinging as much behind them as they could. The latest ad, 'The One' is no exception - their mocking tone and imagery has become the staple of the McCain campaign of late. But I was struck while watching it at the absolute 'slow pitch' it is - an opportunity for the Obama to absolutely drive the ball out of the park, destroy this entire meme, and yet take the high ground with a stirring return to the populism of the primary that got him where he is today. Follow me below the fold and I'll lay out why I think this ad is a stellar candidate for a knockout response.
Here's the money quote for the response. Two sentences, designed for easy repetition by the media, not wonky, easy to understand, fits easily on any newscast, and makes the entire point.
The sentences?
"John McCain is wrong yet again - I'm not the one. The American People are."
As soon as he said it, it would be on a continuous loop in the MSM. Every time he's asked at a press conference, every time he makes a speech, he could throw that in there.
Also respond immediately to this one, with ad time, and in fact I would go so far to think that it would be great if he uses his Olympics ad buy to run this ad nationwide. The 30 second spot would sound something like this:
"Recently, Senator McCain has been mocking my popularity, and in his most recent ad he's mockingly called me 'The One'. You know what? He's wrong, yet again - I'm not 'The One' - the American people are. I know that - that's why my campaign has never said "He's the One", we've said "Yes. WE. Can.". Yes we can [insert policy of choice here]. Yes we can work together and overcome the racism of the past. Yes we can work together to fix the economic problems that are the legacy of the Bush Administration. John McCain is wrong again - I'm not the one. WE ARE. I can't solve all of the challenges America faces single-handedly, but when the American people work together, there is no problem we can't solve. [standard "I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message" disclaimer here]"
I think Obama himself should do the voiceover - using a paid voice talent would look like every other campaign ad out there, where we don't hear from the candidate until he declares he approves the message. As far as imagery, I would avoid any pictures of Obama with crowds - show him filling sandbags. Show him out of the coat and tie, rolling up his sleeves to join with others.
What does a response like this do for Obama?
- Reframes the debate on his populist terms.
- Shows his humility.
- Blows the McCain ad's premise out of the water.
- Is undeniably patriotic.
This latest ad of McCain's is a sure fire way for the Obama campaign to hammer back, both reframing the message and setting the populist tone that is the hallmark of his campaign. I'm looking forward to seeing how the campaign actually responds to this one, because I've yet to see someone lob a slow pitch like this to Obama that he didn't hit out of the park.
(Update - HT to DiegoUK for suggesting the change from "John McCain is right - I'm not the one" to "John McCain is wrong again - I'm not the One". Sounds better to me than calling McCain right.)