The Pitchfork in McCain's Road

John McCain's new line, "Who is the real Barack Obama?" has so incited the crowds at his rallies that one furious man on Monday answered the question with "Terrorist!" And Palin's catchy phrase that Obama has been "palling around with terrorists," i.e., former Weatherman Bill Ayers, led one of her acolytes to scream, "Kill him!"

The ad McCain released yesterday is a few pitchforks short of those sentiments, if only because the gap between what the McCain campaign can say about Obama in ads and what the increasingly frustrated GOP crowds on the stump want to hear has grown in exact proportion to the Democrat's lead in the polls.

The idiotic insistence that we don't really know Obama--that behind his smooth facade the black guy could be, who knows?, plotting jihad--is hardly a new attack from the right. McCain himself has been asking the question in one form or another all summer; it's just that he's now pronouncing it more sharply and loudly to better stir the fears of the dwindling number of voters who haven't tuned into the campaign until recently.

But this spot does present the smear in some curious new packaging. Like, why the multitude of TV screens? Perhaps the ad's producers simply wanted a stylistic change from the standard one-visual-per-insinuation. Of course, banks of television sets have long been used in commercial and political ads, most recently by the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee to make Al Franken look like he was behind bars, cut off from the outside world.

In the McCain spot, though, the many TVs reinforce a different sense of inside/outside. The wall of shiny television screens says that Obama and those liberal Dems are the insiders, the media elites, who are always on TV, while the rest of us, like Sarah Palin, are the outsiders, the real folks. We outsiders don't get filmed, just flammed.

The stack of tubes is also a stand-in for an imaginary mountain of evidence that's piling up--Barack caught on tape!--as if the case against him has simply grown irrefutable.

Let's go to Exhibit A, the oft-repeated snipe that Obama "says our troops in Afghanistan are 'just air-raiding villages and killing civilians.'" Maybe Palin has taken this distortion and run with it because she thinks it'll single-handedly zero-out Obama as the Swiftboaters did John Kerry for daring to speak of the U.S. soldiers' atrocities against Vietnam civilians.

But the full context of the quote shows that not only wasn't Obama criticizing troops in any way, he was talking about how we need more troops in Afghanistan, to put in practice Petraeus's "clear and hold" tactic so that more civilians aren't killed there.

Now you have narco drug lords who are helping to finance the Taliban, so we've got to get the job done there, and that requires us to have enough troops that we are not just air raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there.

Obama, who said this at a New Hampshire townhall meeting in August 2007, has long held this position, one that McCain has only recently come around to. But the way the McCain campaign twists the quote makes it sound unpatriotic to be against killing civilians. (Something McCain did, and told the New York Times's R.W. "Johnny" Apple he regretted, when bombing North Vietnam.)

As for Obama and "Congressional liberals vot[ing] repeatedly to cut off funding to our active troops," well, technically, they have, at least a couple times. But so has McCain, technically--a point that Joe Biden made in the VP debate, when he explained that each side has voted "against" troop-funding in Senate bills when the bill has either called for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq (McCain voted against this funding) or omitted timelines for withdrawal (some Democrats, including Obama, have voted against these). (For more detail, go Factcheck.org and scroll down to "Correction Oct. 3")

But as McCain is hoping, facts can be trumped by fear of the unknown, which, of course, is what he's trying to foment with the query "Who is the real Barack Obama?" Aware of it or not, McCain is a habitual, if clumsy, user of psychological projection, as we could see yesterday when he bemoaned Obama's "touchiness every time he is questioned about his record." My friends, let us ask, Who is the real John McCain?

Leslie Savan, author of Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Pop Language in Your Life, the Media, and Like...Whatever and The Sponsored Life: Ads, TV, and American Culture, is a Pulitzer Prize finalist in criticism for her Village Voice columns about advertising and commercial culture.

Comments (40)

1. Yeah, I am thinking Obama should just try and keep close to McCain so we can see if he really is a racist because we should be able to see it if he were.

   Posted by psahome at 10/07/2008 @ 2:18pm

2. my friends...........

   Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2008 @ 2:34pm

3. The main thing stupid about these new attacks is....it telegraphed his punches for the debate tonight.

   If he HADN'T give Obama a chance to build up his defenses and a pretty good comeback ("Out of touch, out of ideas, out of TIME!") and paint it as desperation....McCain could have used it effectively tonight to throw Obama off his game.

   Now? Obama sees it coming, especially in the town hall setting and knows how to counter-punch it.

   Plus, the more of this stuff put out there the more it drives DOWN the independents and especially independent women from McCain.

   The Base like it (See our local pals, PONTI and LVLIB) but outside of Ditto-head-land, it's a loser. Polling and media research is showing a distinct turn-away from negative advertising....regardless if it's McCain OR Obama.

   This will shore up the base...but could erode the Middle support for McCain!

   Posted by Maskdelta at 10/07/2008 @ 2:36pm

4. here's a little poke:

   WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday the road for the U.S. in Iraq has been "harder, longer, and more difficult than I personally imagined" and warned that despite some recent progress, success in Iraq is "not a sure thing."

   Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2008 @ 2:42pm

5. poke, poke!

   "Well, it looks like the Fed has discovered a Plan B. It turns out that the Fed can buy commercial paper directly from non-financial corporations needing credit to maintain operations. This will keep the credit markets working even if the zombie banks aren't up to the task. In other words, the threat of a complete meltdown in the absence of a bailout was nonsense and the media once again got taken for a ride by the Bush administration."

   http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/beat_the_press

   Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2008 @ 2:48pm

6. Posted by psahome at 10/07/2008 @ 2:18pm

   If you are commenting about tonight's debate, McCain can't afford to keep close to Obama: when they are side-by-side, Americans will be able to see that McCain is (say it like Sarah) a li'l runt of a fella.

   Posted by nathanhale at 10/07/2008 @ 2:56pm

7. Yeah, and its not six-pack Joe anymore, but 2 pack Joe because we can't afford 4 out of the 6 beers.

   Posted by psahome at 10/07/2008 @ 3:14pm

8. no,

   call me ED:

   http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=y_PZPpWTRTU&fmt=18

   Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2008 @ 3:16pm

9. and warned that despite some recent progress, success in Iraq is "not a sure thing."----Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2008 @ 2:42pm

   Well obviously the Secretary of State is dead wrong...

   PONTI told us we WON in Iraq weeks ago!

   Posted by Maskdelta at 10/07/2008 @ 3:19pm

10. >>>But as McCain is hoping, facts can be trumped by fear of the unknown, which, of course, is what he's trying to foment with the query "Who is the real Barack Obama?"<<<

    WHO IS THE REAL SARAH PALIN?

    Palin has no business going down this road as the public has REAL CAUSE to be frightened by her utter ignorance concerning international and economic issues, her fundamentalist ideology that explains policy positions she favors as "God's Will", and Witch Doctors performing seance-like rituals with her at her former church.

    I will take a 60s-radical-turned-tenured-professor any day over a Witch Doctor who performs rituals on a candidate with their consent.

    Posted by Metteyya at 10/07/2008 @ 3:23pm

11. Obama needs to quickly address whatever attack McBush throws at him and get it back to the issues and the economy. Outside of the Keating 5, which is directly applicable to our current problems, there should be no more attacks on McCain, it's too risky. Not that McBush doesn't deserve it, but people want answers not attacks. The idiots that would change their vote to McCain because he is going negative probably would not swing back for Obama.

    So when Ayers comes up, the answer is "I condemn what Ayers did when I was 8 years old. I sat on a charitable board with him because the work of the Woods Foundation is too important for me to quit just becuase I don't like everyone on the board. John, you can question my policies all you like, but never question my commitment to improving the lives of hard working Americans. I've done that my whole life."

    Posted by DGKusel at 10/07/2008 @ 3:28pm

12. Posted by DGKusel at 10/07/2008 @ 3:28pm

    I generally agree with your post, but it is worth noting - perhaps in a public way - that Sarah Palin is a far riskier choice than Barack Obama because she doesn't know enough about the basics of international relations or the economy to be effective as president should she have to step in because of McCain's continuous bouts with cancer.

    Posted by Metteyya at 10/07/2008 @ 3:36pm

13. And Palin's catchy phrase that Obama has been "palling around with terrorists," i.e., former Weatherman Bill Ayers, led one of her acolytes to scream, "Kill him!" posted by Leslie Savan on 10/07/2008 @ 2:13pm

    The sort of inflammatory rhetoric and attacks by the right that fascist assholes like Limbaugh, Savage (Weiner), Hannity, Coulter, Palin and others should be a crime. Like inciting to Assassinate. These people should be arrested as domestic terrorists.

    Can you imagine how many right wing nutcases may be pushed over the thin edge they walk by these people?

    A part of me thinks this may be the defcon strategy of last resort by these mutants. How you ever seen how vigilant and nervous the Secret Service Agents who protect Obama are?

    Scary prospect. And unthinkable.

    Posted by chaoszen at 10/07/2008 @ 3:39pm

14. Posted by chaoszen at 10/07/2008 @ 3:39pm

    I also think Glacier Gidget may not be familiar with...

    YOUTUBE and the prospect of the VIDEO of somebody in her crowd screaming "Kill him!" getting played over...and over....and over....and over....and over!

    With her pretty face leading the way!

    Posted by Maskdelta at 10/07/2008 @ 3:52pm

15. If we arrested people for making threats against Obama the same as we do for young Middle Eastern guys taking video of landmarks, the jails would be full.

    Posted by MyParadigm at 10/07/2008 @ 3:58pm

16. With her pretty face leading the way!

    Posted by Maskdelta at 10/07/2008 @ 3:52pm

    I guess my taste in faces must be different. I don't see a pretty face. I see the face of a depraved, overly ambitious, skreetchy smarmy witch. (No sexism intended, I love women in general as the power of Christ compels me!)

    Bad joke..

    Posted by chaoszen at 10/07/2008 @ 4:03pm

17. the jails would be full. Posted by MyParadigm at 10/07/2008 @ 3:58pm

    They already are (full that is). We have more people in prison per capita than ANY other nation in the world.

    The only problem is our prisons are full of people who should not even be there. Due to another failed policy called "The War on Drugs." So their is very little room for the people who should really be there.

    Posted by chaoszen at 10/07/2008 @ 4:08pm

18. You know what's hilarious about this. The more McCain's polling turns south the more frustrated he gets which means the more negative ads he runs. The more negative ads he runs the more his polling goes down. By the end of this election if we stay at this current rate McCain will be calling him a freedom hating terrorist. Who rapes children and worships Satan.

    ....Maybe that's a little far but it is definitely getting exponentially worse.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 10/07/2008 @ 4:15pm

19. The prisons are also full because of the untold war on "People of Color" or the "War on the Diadavantaged" the new slave class and the old slave class. Free labor is always enticing to Fascists.

    But I digress.

    Also I should have avoided those last two beers.

    Posted by chaoszen at 10/07/2008 @ 4:17pm

20. Posted by chaoszen at 10/07/2008 @ 4:03pm

    Nawwww...have to admit, if you just saw a photo, didn't know who she was or what she stood for...

    and of course if you didn't hear that squeaky, "Fargo"-accented voice...

    she's not bad looking.

    Posted by Maskdelta at 10/07/2008 @ 4:53pm

21. lvliberty-A big Obama supporter who has hidden racist beliefs against someone from Africa?That is one of the most ignorant things that I have ever read.

    Posted by i'm nobody at 10/07/2008 @ 5:24pm

22. >>>Having watched the You Tube segment, there is no "seance-like ritual". Just prayer as is performed in 10's of thousands of churches every week in the US.

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 10/07/2008 @ 4:56pm<<<

    The point is that this Thomas Muthee is far scarier than a tenured college professor because he SEEKS TO INFLUENCE PALIN'S POLICY THROUGH SOME UNSEEN FORCES.

    You can call these unseen forces what you want and pretend that summoning these forces to influence Palin is OK since it is done in churches across America, but that doesn't make it normal or sane. And if Muthee were white, that would not change the influence-seeking character of his ritual or make it more acceptable to the vast majority of voters that do not engage in rituals of this sort.

    Posted by Metteyya at 10/07/2008 @ 5:38pm

23. Burning witches at the stake-- a very Christian Satanist-like thing to aspire to, no?

    Posted by hsuBfools at 10/07/2008 @ 5:46pm

24. Or maybe you have some hidden racism against Christians from Africa?

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 10/07/2008 @ 4:56pm

    It's not only Christians from Africa that go on 'Witch Hunts" apparently "Christian Witches" in America often do the same.

    How Dare you neer do wells who spawn upon Gaia, from the depths of depravity touting the false and abase Christian tenant! Even aspire to match the pure beauty and truth of the Old Religion which bases it's truth in the very forces of Nature! You violate the pure forces of the Universe, and you Shall Attone! A pox on you! A pox on you! A pox on you! Three times are thout cursed and three times you Shall Attone!

    Pretty Good Eh?

    Posted by chaoszen at 10/07/2008 @ 5:49pm

25. It needs a little editing. I should have said "Foul and Abased". Oh well, my mother was Wiccan and my Aunt was a Voodoo priestess. But I only listened with half an ear.. LOL.

    Posted by chaoszen at 10/07/2008 @ 5:58pm

26. 'July 11, 1995

    U.S. establishes diplomatic relations with Vietnam Two decades after the fall of Saigon, President Bill Clinton establishes full diplomatic relations with Vietnam, citing Vietnamese cooperation in accounting for the 2,238 Americans still listed as missing in the Vietnam War.

    Normalization with America's old enemy began in early 1994, when President Clinton announced the lifting of the 19-year-old trade embargo against Vietnam. Despite the lifting of the embargo, high tariffs remained on Vietnamese exports pending the country's qualification as a "most favored nation," a U.S. trade status designation that Vietnam might earn after broadening its program of free-market reforms. In July 1995, Clinton established diplomatic relations. In making the decision, Clinton was advised by Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, an ex-navy pilot who had spent five years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi during the Vietnam War. Brushing aside criticism of Clinton's decision by some Republicans, McCain asserted that it was time for America to normalize relations with Vietnam.'

    Source: History.com

    Who is the real McCain? Mighty strange behavior for a guy who loves to play the POW card. The POWs and MIAs were never really accounted for.

    Posted by OneVote at 10/07/2008 @ 6:07pm

27. Posted by lvliberty1 at 10/07/2008 @ 6:29pm

    ????????????????????????

    I really never imagined that anyone could possibly be as confused as you.

    Wait.. That is not quite true. I could never imagine "You" in the first place..

    Posted by chaoszen at 10/07/2008 @ 6:46pm

28. I can guarantee you Metteyya, that knowing Black Churches and all of them that Barack Obama has appeared at, he has been prayed for countless times like the manner in which Gov Palin was prayed for. Posted by lvliberty1 at 10/07/2008 @ 6:29pm

    Uh I have gone to a lot of black churches in my short life, being black has that effect, I have never seen someone ask for protection from witches or voodoo magic.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 10/07/2008 @ 7:03pm

29. lvliberty-Praying for Gods protection is quite different than laying hands on someone in order to protect them from witchcraft.Witchcraft,voodoo,and demons can only affect people who have strong beliefs in it and the best protection from such things is to not believe in such things.

    Posted by i'm nobody at 10/07/2008 @ 7:16pm

30. Posted by lvliberty1 at 10/07/2008 @ 6:29pm

    How can you compare a "private prayer" of Obama that seeks to guard against his own shortcomings to a "public ritual" that presumes "black magic" forces are out there to harm others and that you can "cast these forces aside" with some seance-like ritual?

    You have to admit, LVL, that this a very dark view of Christianity that is not mainstream at all.

    What ever happened to "reap what you sow", or the "parable of talents", or uplifting "the least of thee" among us, or "loving your neighbor as yourself"?

    Palin's former church of 30 years is creepy and dark - and I think she cannot help but reflect this darkness as a public servant.

    Posted by Metteyya at 10/07/2008 @ 7:26pm

31. Barack needs to come out fighting--during the town hall debate--and call McCain to task for these gutter ads.

    Posted by bobforer at 10/07/2008 @ 7:55pm

32. LVLIB, can you offer ANY evidence that "10s of thousands of churches every week in the US" hold prayers to protect people from....

    witchcraft???

    Posted by Maskdelta at 10/07/2008 @ 8:16pm

33. The danger is that we ignore these intellectually challenged and genetic deviants. You don't have to be a genius to belong to a lynching party. Palin calling "The Senator", a terrorist brought on cries of "kill him" from the crowd. And there are still people who want her with her finger on the nuclear trigger? This is probably the same kind of insanity that caused the crowds to yell "crucify him". We have arrived at the moment in our history were we are about to elect a senile,albeit, old war hero and partially insane prom queen to the leadership rolls of our country, and this gal hasn't gone through menopause yet. Holy @#$%.

    Posted by lachatte at 10/07/2008 @ 8:18pm

34. people who live in glass houses...

    should not throw stones at the windows of solid, mostly non-glass houses...

    flippy mac's past is a gold mine of dirt and sketchiness.

    i suspect axelrod and company have been running the high road all the while building a nice, dirty (but true...) little dossier on that smiling, hate mongering, liar, gold digging serial polygamist, friend of fascists, "war hero"...

    not evil...effing evil...

    Posted by dexter666 at 10/07/2008 @ 8:49pm

35. Posted by lvliberty1 at 10/07/2008 @ 6:29pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    .

    You see, this is a complete distortion and total misrepresentation of what Met actually said.

    What's more, everyone knows you didn't misunderstand or misread or misinterpret. You took Met's comment and fabricated it into something completely different and you did so diliberately and purposfully.

    It's why you are considered a liar...

    ...and why people rightfully question your claim to be Christian.

    Posted by Lillian at 10/07/2008 @ 8:56pm

36. There are so many, many millions of guys like LV. Lots in Ohio & Indiana. Teflon-coated Gordian knot of hypocrisies. Fun to bat around, but then it gets boring.

    Posted by winyahn at 10/07/2008 @ 10:08pm

37. he should change his name to John McClown.

    Posted by moguts at 10/08/2008 @ 10:01am

38. Posted by chaoszen at 10/07/2008 @ 5:49pm How Dare you neer do wells who spawn upon Gaia, from the depths of depravity touting the false and abase Christian tenant!

    Christian tenant. Is that the guy in 4C?

    And I thought true pagans were sort of, you know, live and let live. But someday I'll share my Cthulhu rant with you. Yes I know H.P.'s narrator was obnoxiously racist but the American public was vicariously enthralled with Voodoo and witchcraft then as now...

    "My friends, there are those that say that Cthulhu is our enemy. That Cthulhu is to be feared. But I say to you Cthulhu is Mankind's friend! An opportunity to serve the greater good! To serve mighty Cthulhu!!"

    Tangent alert

    Posted by A_Pax_On_Your_Houses at 10/08/2008 @ 10:35am

39. Done Deal. Obama is our next President.

    Posted by rmjlattanzi at 10/08/2008 @ 12:41pm

40. Palin makes speeches to Alaska Secession Party this year. This party asked Iran to get it on the U.N. General Assembly speakers list several years ago, and was successful... until somehow the person who was going to make the speech was ... shot. U.S. government strikes again.

    However, Palin works with people who work with Iran, just like Regan's bunch did. Palin works with people who work with people she calls terrorists.

    Posted by ElyDog at 10/08/2008 @ 1:11pm