I see a disturbing litany of comments about how Obama is too soft in going after McCain, how the new ads are not on par with the visceral and savage (and blatantly untrue) nature of McCain's latest campaign ads.
I say to you all, John McCain has traded the battle for the war. In exchange for a couple of weeks of daily tracking polls, McCain is now playing defense, telling everybody that he's not a liar. John McCain will lose the election, because he now has no choice but to spend the next 7 weeks defending his character.
I submit that the media has shifted permanently for the next two weeks. Why?
Not because John McCain is lying.
Not because John McCain may, or may not stop lying.
It's going to happen, because John McCain is trying to prove that the media is irrelevant.
I read last night that there is a growing consensus amongst poltical scientists that in recent political cycles the truth does not matter; if you repeat something often enough, and don't flinch from it, even if it is a blatant lie, people will eventually believe it. John McCain is trying very hard to prove that this is true.
ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Politico -- all of the elements of the Mainstream Media have picked up on a sequence of events:
- McCain/Palin lie on the stump.
- The MSM calls them on it.
- Poll numbers don't change.
- McCain/Palin repeat their same lies, undaunted.
What's happening, is that McCain and Palin are rewarded for lying. The media calls them out on it, they shrug it off, and simply repeat the lie.
There are now hundreds of examples of the media calling McCain on his lies -- the bridge to nowhere, or earmarks for example -- but, most notably, the tone and tenor has dramatically changed in the last two days. The MSM is now adopting the harshest word of all, reserved only for the most egregious offenders: "LIE". Barack started using it this week, and now, the press has begun as well.
Take this, from today, on The View:
When pressed about Palin's record of requesting and accepting such money for Alaska, McCain ignored the record and said: "Not as governor she didn't."
...
McCain also used the appearance to defend his TV commercials criticizing his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama. McCain stretches the truth in several of them that have been debunked by fact checkers.
"They're not lies," McCain said.
Now The View, is one of the most-watched shows by women. Arguably, 3 of the hosts lean heavily Obama; however, what is remarkable is that it was repeated on the Associated Press.
Let's look at the Charlie Gibson interview. As diaried earlier, the Associated Press was quite negative on Palin. Far more useful to the Obama campaign is that many LOCAL newspapers have picked this up. For example, the Kansas City Star writes:
But Palin, 44 — who has been Alaska’s governor for less than two years and before that was a small-town mayor — struggled with foreign policy, was unable to describe President Bush’s doctrine of pre-emptive strikes against threatening nations, and acknowledged that she has never met a foreign head of state.
I won't fill this diary with examples, of which there are an increasing number, but I reiterate my point. Each day, the press has taken a progressively harsher tone with McCain -- because by continuing to repeat lies that they have debunked, McCain is basically telling them, "Fuck you."
As long as the polling indicates a close race or a slight McCain advantage, the press will increase their attacks. The reason is obvious: they want their opinion to matter. And, if you take some of the cynicism out of the equation, I really don't think that news anchors and reporters want to see the next President of the United States elected on a platform of obvious lies.
Here's the kicker. Even if John McCain eases off on the lies, the course has been set. Opinions have set in, and the genuine loss of respect that John McCain has effected cannot be quickly or easily regained.
John McCain wanted this election to be one of character, rather than issues. It takes a while for people to absorb the negative press, because people tend to hear what they want to. However, it will happen.
The challenge will be for Obama to frame this as a contest of a ticket with poor character against ticket with that wants to deal with real issues.
I would like to conclude with my quote of the day.
"I am not going to start making up lies about John McCain. There is an old saying that Abraham Lincoln had about one of his opponents, he said if you don't stop lying about me, I'm going to have to start telling the truth about you."
- Barack Obama, Sept 12, 2008