Last night I wrote the following statement in response to another diary:
I think McCain's negative campaigning is working.
Because we (Obama supporters) are questioning his judgment, his strategy, his toughness, everything he does from the time he gets up in the morning and until he goes to bed at night.
From Wikipedia: Negative campaigning and voter suppression (no they are not talking about voter machines or purging voter rolls).
The terminology reflects a distinction of GOTV from the complementary strategy of suppressing turnout among likely opposition voters.
Political consultants are reputed to privately advise some candidates to "go negative" (attack an opponent), without any intent to sway voters toward them: this plan is to instead increase the number of eligible voters who fail to vote, because their tendency to believe "politics is inherently corrupt" has so recently been reinforced. Such turnout suppression can be advantageous where any combination of three conditions apply:
The negative campaigning is targeted (by direct mail, telephone "push polls," or the like) on likely opposing voters, reducing the collateral damage to supporters morale.
The side going negative has an advantage in its supporters being steadier voters than those of its opponent.
The side going negative has an advantage in doing effective GOTV, so that its campaign workers can get a GOTV "antidote" to more supporters "poisoned" by the negative campaign, than the opposing campaign can of their own supporters.
McCain going negative is not bringing voters over to him, it's making Obama's supporters question him.
Seriously folks, I love this site. But, I may have to stop coming because reading comments from people who are supposed to think like me is starting to drag me down. It's not Obama or how his campaign is being run, but rather this constant second guessing of every thing Obama does or says.
In reading that Wikipedia "GOTV" negative campaiagn and voter suppression post I had a thought about the 2004 election.
Does this mean that Kerry lost because his supporters didn't show up for him on election day because they lost their enthusiasm and believed the SwiftBoat Veterans instead of John Kerry? I mean obviously he didn't lose because Bush's supporters didn't turn out. He lost because his own supporters didn't turn out.
That was my comment last night.
This morning I thought about the election of 2000. Did Gore's supporters really believe the Republican attack that, he said he invented the internet or that he discovered the Love Canal? Probably not, but enough of them were turned off that they did not turn up to vote.
In my opinion, it's not just what the Obama campaign should be doing, it's also what we should be doing? We should be pushing back on the lies, volunteering our time, donating what money we can and being proud of our candidate.
If we allow ourselves to be distracted from the issues then we are falling into a trap. Every time Obama responds to a character attack he's losing ground. McCain has to make it about character because he cannot win any other way. Remember this diary? Why McCain's ad strategy is brilliant? by Dansac.
We (Obama supporters) are the targets of McCain's negative campaigning, not McCain's supporters.
The next time you see an unfavorable Loopy "Zogby Polls", you should go back and read some of your own previous comments and diaries on polls. I bet this little exercise will remind you of what you thought and felt three months ago. Those thoughts and feelings are still relevant today.
If Obama doesn't win in November it won't be because he didn't attack/respond enough, it will be because those who were suppose to support him, fell victim to McCain's negative campaigning and stayed home, which is how the Republicans always win by negative campaigning and voter suppression.