A couple of days ago, I lamented the sleazy tone that the campaign season was beginning to take, with so-and-so getting a divorce and so-and-so having an abortion and so-and-so having an affair.
I asked, "When do we get to talk about policy?" Although some people out there were asking the same thing, the primary response I got was, basically, "We don't. We're going to try to shape perceptions of character."
This distressed me just a little bit.
We have one overriding problem in managing how the public perceives Democratic candidates:
The media script dictates that Republicans are church-going, teetotalling, pure-of-heart-and-mind innocents and naifs who just want the best for the blessed Heartland of America.
It also dictates that Democrats are sleazy, corrupt big city wheelers-and-dealers who are just out for themselves and are willing to perform any sort of tricks that might get them what they want.
Any stories that seem to confirm one of these biases or the other is going to get lots of media play. Stories that contradict these biases will not.
We could be running St. Paul himself as our candidate and the media stories would dwell on his "strange obsession with marital duties," rather than his piety.
We can hang ourselves trying to expose Republicans as hypocrites, but it will be hard to make the claims stick, as the media will not give them traction. And the media is just that powerful.
Where we can beat the Republicans is on substance. The Bush administration record of incompetence is clear. George Bush can try, but his policy milkshake will not bring all the boys to the yard. Call him out into the light of day and get him on record with things like, "2.6 million jobs" and "weapons of mass destruction."
Policy and record of governance are sure losers for him. This is the best place to focus the debate.