Macaca.
One word took down George Allen, his Senate seat and his Presidential prospects. Who will be there when the McCain/Palin campaign channels George Allen with a gaffe of their own?
Follow me over the jump to see why this will be critical in what amounts to basically an 8 week election.
Sometimes when I speak to friends about politics I have to remember that they don't read the same sites I do. I don't read the same books they do. They don't watch the same evening cable news show and I don't listen to the same radio stations. And I bet you have friends like that, too. I don't call them low-information voters, but they may be one in the same.
Moments on the campaign trail have to rise above the clutter to enter the MSM echo chamber. There's simply no other way.
This is the first YouTube Presidential election. The first. We use web video so effortlessly and seamlessly while reading news we forget it wasn't on the radar until mid February 2005. George W. Bush may not have been President had YouTube been around in 2000.
Do not forget what George Allen was saying to the crowd before he made his now famous slur.
My friends, we're going to run this campaign on positive, constructive ideas.
Sound familiar? It should, John McCain has been getting away with this line for months. And with media coverage now limited to the national press pool on his plane to sometimes just 38 minutes a week, it's time we force him to answer some tough questions on camera. Karl Rove & Co. are on lockdown and know message control will be critical in an 8 week election.
S.R. Sidarth was a UVA senior volunteering for the Webb campaign. He literally trailed George Allen around the state and simply hit record when the Republican who was being touted by the Freepers as the next President would come on stage. An anonymous cameraman, hardly in the position of power in the Webb campaign. But his steady hand erased a 16 point lead in a matter of weeks. Around 8 of them, actually. Read Sidarth's excellent op-ed in the Washington Post the week after Allen was defeated to hear him tell his own story of accidentally being responsible for the shift of power in the halls of the United States Senate. [emphasis mine]
Good video is the absolute lifeblood of the 24 hour news cycle. Do you really think we would have seen as much Jeremiah Wright coverage if they didn't have footage of him? In ethnic dress? The MSM was forced to manufacture Obama's "bitter" comment from a single scratchy recording leaked from a private fundraiser. Credit John Stewart for calling them out on it.
Are you upset more of your friends don't know John McCain doesn't support birth control? Go get some more video like this!! His squirming and eye-darting made that moment. If you don't believe me, just read the official transcript. This is McCain's answer after being asked if he thought it was fair insurance companies cover Viagra and not birth control:
...[crickets]...
...[more chirping]...
"I don't know enough about it to give you a[sic] informed answer.
Gee, sounds like he's trying to count houses and ran out of fingers or something. But this is the red meat everyone always claims they want to be thrown. Well, let's go get it ourselves!
Obama has already raised McCain's anger problem in front of 38 million people:
If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.
Now I don't think we need a blown gasket. But we do need more uncomfortable silences like the health insurance question. We need "Bomb, Bomb, Iran" moments. When someone asks him how he would "beat the bitch" and he giggles with the crowd, we need to be there, red blinking light. The country has not been paying attention to this race like you and I have. Now is the time to define Palin and re-educate the country on who Candidate McCain really is.
Will you volunteer to record any McCain/Palin events near your hometown? All it takes is a Handycam and the will. Change comes from the bottom up, not the other way around.
Your friends don't read the same news as you.
Your co-workers don't watch the same cable channel as you.
Your neighbor has just started to tune in...