Yesterday, after all kinds of endless fact-checking and concessions, John McCain told an Iowa audience that Barack Obama’s “energy policy” consists of properly-inflated tires. Jonathan Chait’s frustration with McCain’s incessant lying is palpable.
Thinking more about this McCain tire gauge lie, I’m wondering why Barack Obama doesn’t just outright call McCain a liar. All politicians spin, some more aggressively than others, but McCain’s claim that Obama’s energy policy consists of urging people to inflate their tires is way beyond spin. can’t Obama flat-out say, “John McCain is lying. He’ll obviously say anything to get elected president. American can’t afford another president who has no regard for truth or the facts.”
McCain is only hanging in close in the polls because he’s seen as a straight-talking maverick. But he’s just lying about Obama’s energy plan every single day. He did it again today. Doesn’t this say something important about McCain’s character? Don’t the last eight years show us what happens when you campaign in the Rove style and then try to govern?
For good measure, I’d just add that right around the time McCain was lying about Obama’s energy policy, McCain’s campaign was unveiling an ad filled with obvious and demonstrable deceptions.
Given this, I certainly share Chait’s frustrations. It’s more than a little painful to watch a candidate lie, repeatedly and without shame, even after having been corrected. Indeed, it’s not at all an exaggeration to argue that McCain’s entire campaign has been based almost entirely on a series of egregious falsehoods — about Iraq, energy policy, tax policy, Obama’s character, his own voting record, etc.
But what if Obama took Chait’s advice and said publicly what is plainly true — that McCain lies a lot?
Kevin argued, persuasively, against it.
Sure, Obama could say this. And considering both the depth and reach of Obama’s energy plan, which has been available for months, McCain’s lie is an especially egregious one. But would the press report it that way? Or would McCain claim that, come on, my friends, he was just joshing, and can’t that Obama guy ever take a joke? Perhaps, given the realities of today’s media environment, Obama’s choice of a more tempered response is the better approach after all.
Bob Somerby agrees that Obama is better off sticking to his current strategy.
In our view, Obama did a good job this week, batting aside that “childish” tire gauge stuff and turning the foolishness back on McCain. Getting people to inflate their tires isn’t Obama’s energy plan — but the McCain campaign had been pushing such notions. Though Dowd and Collins were puzzled by this, it was classic GOP politics — the politics of clownish ridicule. In response, Obama employed some ridicule of his own — and made some accurate statements:
“It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant…. You know, they think it is funny that they are making fun of something that is actually true. They need to do their homework. Because this is serious business. Instead of running ads about Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, they should go talk to some energy experts and actually make a difference.”
It’s dangerous for Obama to make claims about “lying.” (Under current rules of the game, Republicans are permitted to make that claim; Democrats not so much.)
There’s certainly nothing wrong with Chait’s recommendation. McCain is lying. McCain keeps lying. McCain’s sense of honor has been tossed aside, leaving a compulsive liar who’ll say anything to win in its place. But were Obama to say so, I suspect the media would go berserk, insisting that Obama had “lost his cool,” let his “emotions get the best of him,” and maybe even “cracked under pressure.”
In fact, I’m reminded of this incident from the 1988 campaign:
Dole’s mood darkened as soon as the New Hampshire outcome became clear. Just as victory had seemed to liberate him, defeat sent him reverting to his old caustic persona. During a television hookup with Bush Tuesday night, Dole was asked by NBC’s Tom Brokaw whether he had anything to say to the Vice President. “Yeah,” Dole snarled as he glowered into the camera. “Stop lying about my record.”
H.W. Bush was, for what it’s worth, lying, but Dole’s response was seized upon by reporters as proof that he was angry and bitter, and the on-air comment ended up hurting his campaign.
With this in mind, Obama probably shouldn’t call McCain a liar. But you better believe the rest of us should — in politics, lying is cheating.
“John McCain has a problem telling the truth.” Tell your friends.