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Tuesday, August 5, 2008

The Crazy Old Man Card

posted by on August 5 at 13:00 PM

Dan is beating the drum for Obama and/or other Democrats to go on the attack against McCain using “the crazy old man card.”

The logic: McCain seems to have been successful at hurting Obama by unfairly accusing Obama of playing “the race card,” so Obama should stop playing nice and start trying to hurt McCain—by highlighting McCain’s advanced age.

Setting aside what I think is a somewhat subtle effort, already underway, to do just that through well-chosen visuals in contrast commercials such as this one…

…I have to say I think Dan’s wrong about it being smart for Democrats to go directly at McCain on the age issue.

I get the need for liberals to bare their teeth in the post-Kerry era, and I get the sense of moral equivalence (or, rather, amoral equivalence) that’s at play here. It’s the sense that if this is the way McCain’s team is going to operate, it’s the way Obama’s team should operate.

But here’s the thing: There’s not an equivalence of electoral upside to the two attacks.

Yes, McCain’s attempt to cast Obama as a race-card-player is sure to upset African Americans and sympathetic liberals. But, keeping an eye on the cold political math that undergirds all ploys of this kind, the reality is that there are far more white people in this country who can be riled up by McCain’s talk of race-card-playing than there are Africans Americans and sympathetic liberals who will see through the McCain camp’s disingenuousness and become offended.

In addition, and more to the point of why it’s unwise for Obama to attack McCain’s age in response, there are way more old people in this country than there are, say, African Americans and sympathetic liberals. Thus, the pool of people who Obama could easily offend by resorting to attacks on McCain’s age is huge. Not only that, but Obama is already struggling with the over-65 demographic. Poll after poll shows his support is strongest among younger voters and weakest among the elderly.

I have no doubt that Obama and his allies will try in subtle ways (as above) to remind voters of how old McCain is, but it would be incredibly stupid of team Obama to go straight at McCain’s age.

It’s a tricky bind to be in—Obama has to absorb McCain’s attacks on his alleged race-card-playing, and at the same time he has to refrain from going right back at McCain with an easy, similarly-volatile charge.

But elections aren’t fair, and if Obama were to start playing the “crazy old man card” in broad daylight, he’d immediately be seen as beating up on an old man, giving McCain yet another victim card to play.

Obama’s been dealt the stronger hand in this election. He doesn’t need to start strengthening his opponent’s hand out of frustration or spite.

RSS icon Comments

1

This analysis is dead-on.

Except, that is, for one quibble. You summarize the asymmetry between race-baiting and age-baiting by saying "elections aren't fair". That's a strange idea of electoral fairness. If there are a lot more old voters than black voters, then a prioritization of the interests of old people over black people is precisely what a fair, democratic process is supposed to bring about.

Posted by David Wright | August 5, 2008 1:11 PM
2

It would be far wiser to attack McCain as a 26 year part of the problems this country now faces. Oil company lackey. Deregulation has lead to one disaster after another. Never did anything about health care. Etc.
If you go after the age, you risk being labeled prejudicial, not very wise when old people ALWAYS vote. Why not instead play up Obama's youth and vigor. Keep him making those net shots. Let people infer the age thing from that.

Posted by Vince | August 5, 2008 1:16 PM
3

Mainly Obama should not "attack" McCain for being a "crazy old man" because it's inaccurate and morally wrong (at least by my standards).

Posted by fluteprof | August 5, 2008 1:19 PM
4

There are tons of pictures that make McCain look old. Really old. None of them appear in these Obama ads. THAT'S how subtle these, uh, age attacks are. Subtle as FUCK. Subtle like the wind. Phantom subtle.

Pure genius. Or something.

Posted by elenchos | August 5, 2008 1:21 PM
5

I'm still waiting for the Dems to create ads spouting off McCain's association the the Keating 5 and S&L scandals. However, he was the only Republicans amoung the other 4 Dems.

With all the Race baiting, the Republicans are two steps away from creating ads directly saying Obama's black or a n&#@!* with WASP men wearing KKK hoods. However, doing that would basically make them lose of their Jewish support with the exception of Lieberman.

Posted by apres_moi | August 5, 2008 1:25 PM
6

Excellent analysis, Eli. I'd claim you were reading my mind but I know you'd never pick up something so terribly written :-)

Posted by Jubilation T. Cornball | August 5, 2008 1:33 PM
7

#5 beat me to it. Not only is McCain one of the Keating Five, he happens to be running for president in the middle of an enormous credit crisis. I guess one could perversely argue that his past mistakes make him more vigilant, but I think most voters would tend to see this as an indictment of his character, and without his character, what does McCain have?

Posted by Furcifer | August 5, 2008 1:35 PM
8

Obama should not use this attack.

We should use this attack.

Presidents have to be above the fray, not exploding in anger like McCain does when he thinks someone stole his donut that's sitting right next to him on the table, under his "age spotted" hand.

Posted by Will in Seattle | August 5, 2008 1:36 PM
9

the other side to this is that by pointing out McCain's age directly, Obama also points out his relative youth and inexperience.

Posted by josh | August 5, 2008 1:40 PM
10

The problem with this analysis is that it assumes that old people will be offended by the age card. A Gallup poll last month suggested that this may not be the case at all:
http://tinyurl.com/5vhqoj

Instead, it is very possible that elderly people who feel themselves slowing down may be more open to the idea that someone their age wouldn't be as an effective president as they once might have been. So as long as the card is played with non-offensive subtle perfect pitch I see it as a definite smart move.

Posted by Barak G | August 5, 2008 1:42 PM
11

We won't support spine-less NO-Bama and will re-defeat him in November!!!

Posted by clintonsarmy | August 5, 2008 1:48 PM
12

Youth?

Um, according to the Constitution, you have to be 35 to run for President.

Obama's a lot older than that.

Like, more than a decade.

You know, half of that time McCain was cheating on his wife in public with, in DC.

"Experience"? At what, having lax morals and accepting lobbyist bribes to sell out America's Middle Class? Yeah, Obama may not have that - but McCain has that in spades.

Speaking of spades, did you hear John McCain's favorite joke during the 70s?

Posted by Will in Seattle | August 5, 2008 2:03 PM
13

@10, interesting polling and yet...I think there's a difference between an elderly person being asked about McCain's age by a pollster, and being insulted by extension should Obama adopt Plan COM.

I reckon they could work up a head of steam over age-focused slights about as fast as Af-Ams moved from Hillary Clinton after several coded slights at them from Bill and other surrogates.

It's a matter of degree, I reckon...placid polling question versus emotional reaction to being placed on a virtual ice floe.

Posted by Jubilation T. Cornball | August 5, 2008 2:16 PM
14

*I reckon they could work up a head of steam over age-focused slights about as fast as Af-Ams moved from Hillary Clinton after several coded slights at OBAMA from Bill and other surrogates.

Posted by Jubilation T. Cornball | August 5, 2008 2:18 PM
15

Maybe you're right about avoiding direct attacks, but they should feature his neck wattle in every photo they can. They should make his name synonymous with jowls and wattles and creepy fake smiles. Wattlegate!

Posted by flamingbanjo | August 5, 2008 2:29 PM
16

Kelly O and Ari Spool give Fnarf can of Rize, Fnarf drink Rize, freak out, troll out, FNARF BECOME CLINTONSARMY!

CLINTONSARMY WILL NOT SUPPORT SPINE-LESS NO-BAMA AND WILL RE-DEFEAT HIM IN NOVEMBER!

And no, I don't feel like letting it go.

Posted by The Insatiable Sulk | August 5, 2008 3:28 PM
17

My Dad, who is a 60+ slightly right of center moderate living in Arizona, is concerned that McCain is too old to be president based on what he knows of other 70+ year olds around him. If Obama can highlight that, without direcly calling old people worthless, it could work.

Posted by DJSauvage | August 5, 2008 3:31 PM
18

I don't think they they to "attack" McCain about his age, but constant reminders might help. Everyone remembers what a mess Reagan was. And Perot. And Admiral what's-his-name.

Posted by Catalina Vel-DuRay | August 5, 2008 5:16 PM
19

I think the Admiral was younger than McCain.

Posted by Will in Seattle | August 6, 2008 12:26 AM

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