At this point, I’ve lost count of exactly how many ad/videos the McCain campaign has released mocking Barack Obama’s so-called “celebrity” status. I suspect we’re approaching double digits by now, and the problem with diminishing returns is rather obvious. It’s one thing for a campaign makes a spot or two to make a point, it’s another to go back to the well five or six times, hoping to beat the same foolish point into the ground.
And yet, there was yet another “celebrity” spot, released yesterday afternoon.
Remember when McCain vowed to be a candidate of stature, denouncing campaigns that appeal to the lowest common denominator? Well, as of this week, the same McCain has released a video with the words “hot chicks dig Obama” in it. Seriously.
, “How long until ‘Barack, call me’ ends up in a McCain paid TV ad?” Probably another week or so.
The timing of the spot is especially odd, given that McCain apparently wants to drive the campaign discussion towards the conflict in Georgia, where McCain hopes a Cheney-like attitude will impress voters. And yet, the same day the Russian military marched deeper into Georgia, McCain unveils a spot about “Obama’s fan club,” in which the McCain campaign refers to Obama as “dreamy.”
I guess we should be thankful there were no tire-gauges in the spot.
So, why would McCain bother with the video at all? It’s just a hunch, but I suspect it’s a trap of sorts.
After the infamous Spears/Hilton ad a couple of weeks ago, the talk immediately moved to race — the McCain gang, the argument went, connected a black candidate with two promiscuous young, white blondes. The racial subtext soon became the central focus of the criticism.
This new video skips Spears and Hilton, but nevertheless features a series of young white women, and the tagline, “Hot chicks dig Obama.” With that in mind, I wonder if the McCain campaign hopes the video draws complaints about racial subtexts, probably because McCain’s gang thought the “race card” discussion worked in their favor.
As far as I can tell, the Obama campaign is not, however, falling for this, and isn’t pushing back against the latest video much at all. All things considered, that’s probably the right move.
Obama’s team can afford to focus its attention elsewhere — there’s bound to be another “celebrity” attack in a day or two anyway.