Abstract Distractions

So you thought the Democrats were going to run away with this thing because they are featuring a smarter candidate who lies less than the other guys and because the current economic and international climate favors them, right? That’s just what they said in 1968, 1988, 2000 and 2004. And you thought Sarah Palin was going to knock John McCain out for good, correct? Democrats have attacked VP candidates from Richard Nixon to Dan Quayle, with absolutely zero effect. No wonder the polls are tied. This is going to be a lot closer than anybody thought.

If your political opponent is kicking your tail, the best way to change things in your favor is to distract everyone with an issue or topic that will focus more attention on you. With the media and the American public having the collective attention span of a five-year-old, McCain’s Hail Mary desperation pass of Sarah Palin has (so far) been brilliant. How can the Democrats possibly compete against an attractive 44-year-old mother of five whose oldest child is heading to Iraq, young baby has Down’s Syndrome, and whose daughter is knocked up? Now THAT’S a distraction!

Much has been written about how the women who now love Sarah Palin are totally at odds with her politics. This is completely unimportant. Most Americans are uninterested in the nuances of politics and often vote for a candidate based on likeability, appearance and whoever makes them feel better about their families and their future. Where those candidates stand on their political positions is secondary, although whichever candidate explains it in a way that resonates best with voters has the edge. This is one of those regrettable but true facts about our culture – and one the Democrats just do not get.

You can see Democrats and the media (who still want Obama to win, although Palin is a great story that they won’t drop) repeatedly trying to catch her on issues like earmarks and abortion. I hate to tell both these groups the obvious, but abortion has never been a major factor in any recent election, and most Americans have no clue what an earmark is. And attacking her experience and job history won’t work either since that will draw inevitable comparisons to Obama’s weaknesses there.

Worst of all for the Democrats, they now seem to be obsessed with Palin and try to trot her out as red meat at every opportunity. That may work with partisans who will vote for them anyway, but it comes across as mean-spirited to many women and independents that they should be attracting. And when Palin started to get in trouble, the GOP trot out the “lipstick on a pig” distraction. Of course they knew it wasn’t directed at her, but that was unimportant. It was a way to get into the Democrats’ head, again.

So how do the Democrats get out of this? That’s easy – create a distraction of their own. Obama won the nomination by being an atypical, charismatic candidate who was short on specifics but terrific on getting viewers to bond with him on a visceral, gut level (kind of like what Palin is doing now!) He’s since been transformed into running a typical, cerebral Democratic presidential campaign that always goes down in flames. He needs to go back to the emotional candidate who reminds viewers of the past eight years and stirs them into action. And one who is absolutely, completely undistracted by Sarah Palin.