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Obama comes out swinging...

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by zeke12, Jan 24, 2007.

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  1. zeke12

    zeke12 Guest

    From TPM:

    http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/01/post_15.php

    If this continues to be his strategy, he'll do very well, I think.

    Hit back, hit back fast, hit back hard.

    Keep your head up, feet moving and stick on the ice, Barack, and good things will happen...
     
    zeke12, Jan 24, 2007
    #1
  2. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    ... unless you fall asleep during the SOTU.
     
    three_bags_full, Jan 24, 2007
    #2
  3. zeke12

    zeke12 Guest

    Hell, doing that might lock up the Democratic nomination.
     
    zeke12, Jan 24, 2007
    #3
  4. EStreetJoe

    EStreetJoe Well-Known Member

    Leave me out of this 8)
     
    EStreetJoe, Jan 24, 2007
    #4
  5. joe

    joe Active Member

    Guess the Swift Boat crew might leave him alone.
     
    joe, Jan 24, 2007
    #5
  6. zeke12

    zeke12 Guest

    I think he would be well advised to run a rapid response room to hit back at these kinds of things.

    You know Hilary will, since Bill's campaign perfected the art. And John Kerry, who won't be in this race, would likely be running for reelection right now if he had had one.
     
    zeke12, Jan 24, 2007
    #6
  7. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    It's not being willing to roll around in the mud. It's being good at rolling around in the mud. Some have a knack for it. Some don't. Bush was way better at it than Kerry. Clinton was better than anyone at it. But everyone tries to play the game, because it wins voters. Some are just better at it than their opponent.

    This was an easy press release for him to put out. When someone reports something about you that isn't true, you have facts on your side. And facts are facts. Even so, as much of a no-brainer as this one was, it still had potential negative consequences. I had no idea there were allegations that he attended a maddrasa as a kid until you posted that link. So by responding, there's a chance he planted the seed in more people's minds than if he had just ignored it. It was a non-story that might not have ever gone anywhere.

    Even so, he did the right thing, as far as I am concerned. When someone spreads a lie about you, you counter it with the truth. That isn't rolling around in the mud. That's just sticking up for yourself. And it's really easy, because facts are pursuasive.

    Rolling around in the mud is when your opponent uses innuendo or puts spin on facts. That is the Swift Boat attack. And that is different than a baldfaced lie. There you each have a version of the truth. Someone is taking a nugget of truth and stretching it into something very negative about you. If you respond, you risk being painted as a liar. Whoever can put the best spin on it gets the most mileage from it. Unfortunately, that is the kind of crap that wins elections, because the average person is persuaded by nonsense.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jan 24, 2007
    #7
  8. wonkintraining

    wonkintraining Member

    There will still be morons who vote against Obama because they "heard he went to a radical Islamist school."

    But they will be counter balanced by the morons who vote against the Republican candidate - let's just say McCain, for arguments' sake - because they "heard he had 10 black babies."
     
    wonkintraining, Jan 24, 2007
    #8
  9. zeke12

    zeke12 Guest

    Ragu, we are in complete agreement.

    I still say you hit back. Let them take the first shot, and then come out swinging.
     
    zeke12, Jan 24, 2007
    #9
  10. heyabbott

    heyabbott Well-Known Member

    I bet Hilary won't take the first shot then hit back. She'll be very pre-emptive, she's Bush with balls
     
    heyabbott, Jan 24, 2007
    #10
  11. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    Colour me surprised at the source. Yup, Fox News, the antidote to the liberal media.
     
    JR, Jan 24, 2007
    #11
  12. zeke12

    zeke12 Guest

    'Yab --

    Not if she follows Bill's playbook.

    Of course, she might not. She can probably play as dirty as anyone.

    Seriously, her negatives are sky-high with people who aren't going to vote for her. In that sense, she's very free to play as dirty as she wants.
     
    zeke12, Jan 24, 2007
    #12
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