Responding to the 'Inflate your tires' smear
It is clear that the McCain campaign is running hard with the smear that Barack Obama doesn't have an energy plan because he made a statement last week recommending that consumers save gas by checking that their tires are inflated.
The smear contains all the hallmarks of the Republican machine:
1) Start with a slender reed of truth (Obama used to oppose increased domestic drilling for oil)
2) Focus on a statement which, if greatly publicized, would be awkward to defend or unworthy of strenuous defense ("Make sure your tires are inflated.")
3) Blow the statement massively out of proportion, elevating it to the level of a grand policy statement.
4) Make the mockery concrete by giving out props to supporters (the tire gauges, reminiscent of the Kerry purple heart band-aids of 2004). The props aid the spreading of the meme by giving supporters a means of recognizing and supporting each other, and creating a catchy visual "hook" to plant the mockery meme in people's minds.
Obama and Democrats have historically shown themselves unwilling to stoop to a similar level of gimmickry. This may strategically disadvantage them (since meme-spreading is a key ability for any campaign to have).
Nevertheless, it is still possible to respond vigorously and to subject McCain's tactics to the ridicule they deserve. A possible response might look like this:
"While John McCain continues to shoot himself in the foot, insulting the intelligence of the American people by spending his campaign contributions making tire pressure gauges, Obama has been making a series of concrete proposals to help our nation out of its deeply urgent energy crisis. The drilling proposed by McCain will affect gas prices by little more than XXXX cents after YYYY years, according to experts. Unbelievably, this minor league proposal is the centerpiece of McCain's energy plan. Barack Obama proposes a five-part solution: ....... It is clear that John McCain's campaign wouldn't know a serious energy plan if it was staring them in the face."
The message certainly could be tweaked more, this is just a quick and dirty version. Improvements welcome...
The smear contains all the hallmarks of the Republican machine:
1) Start with a slender reed of truth (Obama used to oppose increased domestic drilling for oil)
2) Focus on a statement which, if greatly publicized, would be awkward to defend or unworthy of strenuous defense ("Make sure your tires are inflated.")
3) Blow the statement massively out of proportion, elevating it to the level of a grand policy statement.
4) Make the mockery concrete by giving out props to supporters (the tire gauges, reminiscent of the Kerry purple heart band-aids of 2004). The props aid the spreading of the meme by giving supporters a means of recognizing and supporting each other, and creating a catchy visual "hook" to plant the mockery meme in people's minds.
Obama and Democrats have historically shown themselves unwilling to stoop to a similar level of gimmickry. This may strategically disadvantage them (since meme-spreading is a key ability for any campaign to have).
Nevertheless, it is still possible to respond vigorously and to subject McCain's tactics to the ridicule they deserve. A possible response might look like this:
"While John McCain continues to shoot himself in the foot, insulting the intelligence of the American people by spending his campaign contributions making tire pressure gauges, Obama has been making a series of concrete proposals to help our nation out of its deeply urgent energy crisis. The drilling proposed by McCain will affect gas prices by little more than XXXX cents after YYYY years, according to experts. Unbelievably, this minor league proposal is the centerpiece of McCain's energy plan. Barack Obama proposes a five-part solution: ....... It is clear that John McCain's campaign wouldn't know a serious energy plan if it was staring them in the face."
The message certainly could be tweaked more, this is just a quick and dirty version. Improvements welcome...
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