To Battle With a Metaphor
john mccain shows up for the gunfight with a nerfball
By streiff Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama is like Jesus but cooler — Comments (41) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
This cartoon is not intended as a joke. It is the product of the profoundly obtuse Washington Post cartoonist Tom Toles (he won the contest the post held to find a cartoonist both dumber and less insightful than the deceased Herblock).
This should serve as a warning to the McCain camp. The 2008 campaign is not against a fairly lightweight, unaccomplished first term senator with a habit of shooting from the lip and no apparent interest in or knowledge of either foreign or domestic policy. In the 2008 campaign John McCain is fighting a metaphor not arguing policy or even facts.
Unless he does something to strip away the patina of a transcendent post-racial leader who will usher in the Age of Aquarius from Barack Obama, John McCain will spend election day shouting "where is the outrage?"
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The script now coming out of the mainstream media is that Obama represents the best of both the Kennedy myth ("Camelot", "Bobby", etc.) and the Martin Luther King dream. I just read two new examples this morning. Here's one, suggesting Obama is a meld of Bobby Kennedy and MLK:
And here's the other one:
http://nymag.com/news/imperialcity/47551/
This one is particularly pernicious, because it has the gall to suggest that if Obama loses, that proves that America's racial divide is hopeless. In other words, the mainstream media may be experimenting with a theme that the only way America can prove to itself and the world that it's not hopelessly racist is to elect Obama.
Yup, because voting for someone based on the color of their skin is how one proves that they're not racist.
*evil grin*
The left is so HORRIBLY racist that the idea passes muster to them.
After all, Obama isn't white... or, at least, he doesnt LOOK white... so it can't be racism.... eh....
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Dependence is Slavery.
Clearly, what we have here is the notion of affirmative action being applied to national elections.
I suppose the next step is to impose a quota that says that 10% of our future Presidents must be black, 50% of our future Presidents must be women, etc.
I was talking about something similar to this on another blog, just this morning.
Women are viewed as a minority in this country.
Per census information put out last year, women outnumber men in the united states by about 3 million more women than men.
Men are the minority.
Now where is my special interest group and free money?
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Dependence is Slavery.
do you know how long we've been using the tag "Barack Obama is like Jesus only cooler"?
"A man does what he can and endures what he must."
Wait I never had slaves.
My ancestors in this country never had slaves.
All my relatives fought on the union side.
Why was I flogging myself again ?
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
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It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
--Aristotle
I've never been a McCain fan, though I don't dislike him as much as some of you do. That said, as a man and as a political leader, he is so far above Obama, that, frankly, Obama should not even be in the contest. By any objective comparison, no one could choose Barack Obama over John McCain, not even a thoughtful liberal, and, yes, there are some. Obama was hardly qualified for his state legislative seat.
But McCain is not in a contest with Obama, he is in a contest with mythology and White guilt. Notice I didn't limit it to "liberal" White guilt; the whole White population of this Country is going to be guilt-tripped from now to election day.. The Kennedy and MLK links aren't going to bother me; I detest the Kennedys and am no fan, I know it's heresy, of MLK either. Despite the hagiography, MLK was basically a Marxist who just happened to be gifted with a good turn of speech - kinda sounds familiar, doesn't it?
To a couple of generations now, though, the martyred Kennedys and MLK are saints, unassailable in their perfection, and they are John McCain's opponents in this election.
In Vino Veritas
the whole White population of this Country is going to be guilt-tripped from now to election day
Very true words. But I am in the opinion that this path will alienate all but the most guilt ridden of the population. I think this will back fire upon the Obama campaign if for nothing more there are a lot of people who are not racists and don;t want to be called one either.
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It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
--Aristotle
The "Rust Belt" voters aren't going to cast their votes just to make a statement about "racism." They are going to vote their economic interests. They don't feel they have to prove anything to Obama; they want Obama to prove himself to them.
Obama's usual upscale supporters are sufficiently affluent (and, in the case of college students, insulated in their dorms) that they don't worry about lunch pail stuff. Thus they pay disproportionate attention to more cosmic concerns like global warming and "changing America's politics" and "healing the racial divide."
Having said that, nevertheless, most of the mainstream media reporters and pundits come from exactly this upscale liberal class that Obama has been appealing to. These themes of MLK and JFK and RFK resonate with them, definitely. So if nothing else, I fully expect the mainstream media to be totally in the tank for Obama. They see him as MLK or Kennedy. They'll give him every break, from flattering camera angles to softball questions in interviews and debates. That's probably the real impact of these MLK and Kennedy themes.
What's the Matter with Kansas? trap (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What's_the_Matter_with_Kansas)
People don't necessarily vote economics, despite what economists say. People vote viscerally.
"A man does what he can and endures what he must."
Sinz, as Streiff said, this election will be a visceral experience.
If in deed we are subjected to the how racist we are (you know clinging to our guns and religion as well) average folks are going to react substantially to that message. And there are a whole lot more average, lunch pail folks in all of America then there are upscale supporters and college students; who fail to vote in substantial numbers every election.
Additionally, and there is no way to measure as people do lie about being racially motivated, but how many 55+ democrats who grew up knowing and using the N-word will not vote for a black man, ever.
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It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
--Aristotle
--as I've already given up on the idea that McCain is willing to really fight to win the presidency -- is that Obama, or his supporters, really overplay their hand and succeed in making the election one of "only racists vote against Obama."
"A man does what he can and endures what he must."
that this type of hype from the media has managed to tick off about 1/2 of the Democratic party why do you think it will work in a general election? IMO, it's creating an anti Obama wave for the general election.
If McCain can't tear down the wall around Obama, then build an even bigger wall around him, cornering him on foreign policy, poor judgment calls, his flop-flipping on a number of key issues, disastrous healthcare reform, and other hotspot issues.
That will force Obama to break out of his wall and try to climb over McCain's wall. If McCain plays smart, then Obama will find it tougher to defeat McCain and win the election.
Let Obama present himself as the uniter of "races" if he wants to do that. Concede the ground to him, because in my view, race issue isn't really that important or crucial to defeating Obama. What is paramount is the importance of foreign policy, sound economic principles, making generally sound judgments, and nominating conservative judges, can Obama win on these issues? That's the playing field we have to force Obama to come out, an area where he doesn't want to go and isn't comfortable in it.
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Daniel 2:20 And he [God] changeth the times and seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.
"Nominating conservative judges" is not a winning issue in the general election. (This is actually a moot point, because you won't hear McCain talking about it much anymore).
because we already know that. Frankly I'm sick of hearing it. Take that however.But is it about his color? No. But if we keep talking about it then we won't have time to attack him on issues. He can go on and on spewing his grand notions unabated because we have to keep defending ourselves about racism. He's black, big deal.He's a radical marxist,danerous to our country and our government. If we think slavery was bad imagine an Obama presidency.
Let's move on to the issues and keep focused on them.I think we should reply no more than necessary to the race debate. We are just fueling the fire.
So, according to Toles, McCain is not running against Barak Obama, he's running against MLKs dream.
Objective journalism at its best.
I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100 percent.
but try running against the metaphor when unemployment just had its biggest jump in 22 years, we're in year 5 of an unpopular war, and our nominee won't engage in anything that could in any way be considered "dirty" campaigning (e.g. North Carolina Republican Committee ad).
Not looking pretty.
The Obama "movement" is the culmination of the leftist "secular spiritualism." He is, indeed, the left's "secular" messiah. His acolytes will spread the word and his campaign will not be about facts or logic...but about more etherial and "spiritual" promises of hope, coming together, &c.
But as G.I. Joe said: "And knowing is half the battle."
We need to not just attack his "worshipfulness" on the facts, but also tear down his messianic satripi. It comes down to the very basic premise of the proper function of government: a government limited in powers to protect unalienable rights -- or a goveernment as prime mover of society as "devined" by the elite like the Obamessiah. We have to confront the left at all turns.
...to show ANYTHING but D-Day. And D-day isn't JUST American. British and Canadian troops landed as well. It is something that ought to be celebrated by all of the countries that were Allies...which pretty much included every country on the planet at the end of WWII.
On a side note, Valezques is not an "obscure" painter. Not my favorite painter, but fairly good stuff nonetheless.
Arguing that we have to run against the metaphor is conceding the battleground to the liberals from the beginning. As the French guy from Matrix said about Neo, "You see? He is just a man!" And Obama can't actually fly like Neo can. Let him wrap himself up in the legacy of MLK. All we have to do is point out that MLK isn't running for office, Obama is. And Obama is "just a man". He flip-flops all over the place (re: Jerusalem), he is a quasi-Marxist, his positions are old-school liberalism. PLUS McCain should propose something bold of his own that is actually forward-seeking, such as tax reform, a green conservatism initiative, etc.
1. We are running against a metaphor whether we like it or not.
2. You aren't going to win against a metaphor running on tax reform, etc.
3. You are only going to beat a metaphor by destroying the metaphor. This means you have to be willing to suck up the charges of racism that will accompany that.
4. Right now John McCain's campaign has more in common with that of GHW Bush in 1992 than any other campaign in recent memory. He'd do well to recall how John Kerry's metaphorical status was whipped in 2004... oh, he can't, in 2004 he was too busy defending Kerry and attacking the people going after Kerry.
"A man does what he can and endures what he must."
The significance of the metaphor is that it wins over the upscale yuppies and the mainstream media, and puts them all in the tank for Obama. But you knew you were going to lose them anyway.
The metaphor is NOT going to win over the "Reagan Democrats" that McCain needs to appeal to. So don't spend scarce resources on combating the metaphor. Concentrate on what really works.
Polls show that Obama's main appeal outside his base, is NOT as a symbol of America's racial past. His main appeal is his vigor, his freshness, and novel image at a time when the voters are sick of the status quo. They want to take a risk and try something different, not necessarily something black.
I really think McCain can counter that by showing that he too can be different: Emphasize his maverick, cross-party appeal. Do something dramatic like pick Lieberman or Jindal or Sarah Palin as his running mate.
1. Reagan Democrats are mostly Republicans today, and McCain doesn't seem very interested in winning their votes.
2. okay we agree
Polls show that Obama's main appeal outside his base, is NOT as a symbol of America's racial past. His main appeal is his vigor, his freshness, and novel image at a time when the voters are sick of the status quo. They want to take a risk and try something different, not necessarily something black.
and this sort of makes him a metaphor for HOPECHANGE
3. Jindal and Palin are not even in the running. Selecting Lieberman would loose McCain half his potential votes, like me, for instance.
"A man does what he can and endures what he must."
I'm sorry I just can't agree. The left WANTS us to run against the metaphor, because on our side we don't have any metaphor that is as equally compelling. Ergo, their metaphor beats our nothingness. We cannot fight on their battleground; we must change the venue. Fortunately it's not too hard to do, because the truth is, what we are ACTUALLY running against is Obama the man. Every time some liberal nincompoop drools over Obama and proclaims him the Second Coming of MLK, all we have to do is roll our collective eyes and bring Obama back down to earth: point out that he is a conventional liberal, nothing more. We don't have to fight against the metaphor, we simply have to point out that metaphors don't answer 3AM phone calls. And you're right we won't win if all we have is tax reform. I think McCain should pull some tricks out of his "Maverick" bag and propose several new, compelling and unconventional ideas. And McCain is a perfect guy to do this because he is relatively untainted by the Republican problems of the recent past. I definitely think a strong component of his agenda should deal with the environment, because it is of growing concern and the whole cap-and-trade thing needs to be discussed in the context of a presidential campaign as well. Put Obama on the spot and let him defend why he thinks our jobs should go to China and India. Let Mr. Change try to defend implementing the failed environmental strategies of the past, while we SIMULTANEOUSLY proposing a green, conservative alternative to cap-and-trade schemes, one that breaks with current Republican tradition (of, mainly, standing in the way of liberals) and is unconventional.
you don't get a real choice in the kind of campaign you wish to wage. The French in 1940 really, really wanted to fight from the Maginot Line.
Look at the media and find how often Obama has been challenged on the rather exotic positions he has taken on foreign affairs, the economy, etc. This is with Bill and Hillary throwing stuff at him. Do you really think Obama will have to offer anything more tangible than HOPECHANGE? I don't.
Economic policy is not going to get anyone interested, not me, not the media.
"A man does what he can and endures what he must."
You are right in that the GOP and conservatives don't have a "big picture" metaphor, but this is because the GOP has abandoned our conservative principles.
What we have to do is:
1. Make the choice clear;
2. Convince people that our principles are better; and
3. Convince people that the GOP will hold itself to those principles.
It's an uphill climb, but we gotta do it and go at it hard.
One other interesting aspect to this that I'm sure was not intended by the one who created this cartoon:
MLK has some interesting connections to Communism and Socialism.... I imagine he would very much like Obama.
One of MLK Jr's inner circle was a homosexual Communist who considered himself 'oppressed' because he got in trouble for diddling two sailors in the backseat of a car.
I have always thought it a shame that such a good idea (Equality of Race) would be connected to such horrible programs (Communism/Socialism)
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Dependence is Slavery.
like the stories of what he was doing the night before he was shot. Or his questionable doctoral dissertation. None of that matters, really. What matters is how Obama is portrayed in the media.
"A man does what he can and endures what he must."
Oh, I agree, just a thought I had while I was looking at the cartoon again.
Given the possible (and maybe even probable) personal political thought of MLK Jr, it is very likely that today he would have been campaigning for Obama.
The cartoon may be more accurate than even the artist had in mind.
As for pointing out that the media is in the bag for Obama, I consider that old news. That's like when the media reported with amazement that 85% of the media claims to be liberal. They all acted suprised. I thought "Uh.... duh. I'm suprised the number is that low."
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Dependence is Slavery.
...is that the cartoonist felt Dr. King needed a nametag, or else people wouldn't 'get' it.
STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.
What I don't get, based on the following 'shoulda been" bumps
1. The metaphor as it is so named
2. Obama's status as a winner (primaries)
3. Hopeandchange
4. McCain's perceived soft touch
Why are they so close in the Natl polls thus far...shouldn't McCain be getting crushed by his opponent at the start gate until things begin to even up? What am I missing here?
there's large resistance to Obama as president. McCain can win but it's going to take doing some things that might be unpleasant:
1. Put W. in a less noticed speaking place at the convention.
2. Let the 527's define Obama
3. Go after the Clinton Democrats who are ripe for the picking right now.
4. Pick a VP that has wide appeal.
-- Volunteer in what became an unpopular war. Goldwater conservative. -- And I did walk from Alachua, Florida down to Gainesville with Martin Luther King.
-- Lifelong Republican.
-- Proud of two members of my family who died fighting on the Union side of the Civil War. Anti-slavery, abolitionist volunteers.
-- This must be one of the great cartoons of American history. If you do not feel it, read Wallace Terry's book, "Bloods." I never quite understood that book till now.
-- The Negro soldiers who died in Vietnam and the Negro soldiers who die in Iraq have not died in vain. Obama's nomination is also for them. This has nothing to do with politics, per se.
Volunteer
ALL
Mr. McCain. bless his pea pickin heart. He hasn't a clue as to what this Gen Election is about. Mr. M, an honorable, honest and dedicated man, is about to get his feet tromped on hard.
First. He is competing with a Chicago style pol. Steeped in the means to an end methodology that emantes right out of the street politics and the Left Hand Book of "How to win elections".
Second. He will get no attention, let alone support from the Left Drive By Media. His election run will be a third page item, if noticed at all.
Third. The simple fact that he has no focus, no vision, and no ties to any winning base precludes him from even getting off the starting blocks. He won the RNC Primaries by literally out waiting the rest of the field to the end.
Fourth. Back to the first item, he is too damn nice. He will smile, re emphasize his history, shrug off the attacks, attempt to "Reach across the Aisle, as if he was trying to pass some obscure piece of legistlation that no one cared about.
Fifth. I seriously doubt, and this is my opine only, that he doesn't grasp the seriousness of the 2008 Election Crossroads. A loss at this juncture in the USA history will cause the US to basically lose the entire Cold War effort, the Anti Left and Anti Communist wars we fought over the last 2 generations. To lose this election will mean the USSR predictions of the US falling from within, the very thing he suffered for in Hanoi, will take place. If one has a disagreement with this assessment, I challenge them to do a simple Wikipedia search on the Oval Office Sofa Sitters, that will accompany Mr. Obama to the seat of US power. Just copy the list of Obama's current staff, his inner circle, his funders,and the R and D search shows exactly who these folks are. Never mind the associations of the past, the church, the Chicago crowd, the Overseas associations that are cheering as he takes the podium, these are not going to be direct influential Sofa Sitters.
Mr. McCain had better wake up. The clock is ticking.
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Volunteer
I'm sorry I just can't agree. The left WANTS us to run against the metaphor, because on our side we don't have any metaphor that is as equally compelling. Ergo, their metaphor beats our nothingness. We cannot fight on their battleground; we must change the venue. Fortunately it's not too hard to do, because the truth is, what we are ACTUALLY running against is Obama the man. Every time some liberal nincompoop drools over Obama and proclaims him the Second Coming of MLK, all we have to do is roll our collective eyes and bring Obama back down to earth: point out that he is a conventional liberal, nothing more. We don't have to fight against the metaphor, we simply have to point out that metaphors don't answer 3AM phone calls.
Chemjeff2(sic)
I agree. The cartoon would have the electorate voting for an individual because:
A. Color of skin tone
B. A dream of an outstanding person
C. A time to come, from the aspirations of one who did not make the tides of history, to the Oval Office.
None of which are the reasons to vote for or against a candidate. The IDEAS, the PASSION, the Character, the Values, The morals of the individual are what count. His or Her ability to manage a staff, to play Legislative poker with the the Congress, all can be assets or liablilities. But if the individual, down deep in his soul, detests the very essence of the US Foundations, and has a serious period of learning, experience, and associations with folks that have the inner hatred of the US borne out of thier frustrations and failures of their own, then that individual is flawed. He or She should not be leading the USA, period.
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Volunteer
ALL
One final comment and I am out of here.
Mr. McCain cannot win by being a RNC White metaphor. Mr.McCain will have all he can do just to keep from hugging his candidate opponent from sheer goodness. Mr. McCain is, in my opine, Bob Dole, Pres Bush's father, and Gerald Ford all rolled into one. No charisma, no vision, too nice, and entirely too willing to compete on an intellectual basis.
Hillary almost beat Obama by being exactly the opposite. She fought as down and ornery as the Primary allegiance to the Democratic party leaders would allow. She played every card that was in her arsenel, to win. Remember the offense she showed in every Primary. Obama was on his heels continuously. Hillary lost, because the Inner circle of Dems had fearfullly sold out to Moveon.org and the funders from the OSI. Fearful of a 1968 Convention repeat, the Inner circle Dems "Abandoned" her, IE gave the Primary elections to Obama.
If Mr. McCain cannot see the forest for the trees, in the coming November trial, then the US is in for at least 4 and probably 8 years of running the economy, the standards, the Constitution itself into the ground.
I am really sorry for this state of affairs.
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Remember, unless you vote for the black guy, you're a racist!
At least, that's the teaching I draw from that cartoon and Obama's supporters.
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Dependence is Slavery.