I had a discussion today with a Political Science colleague about the extremely negative tenor of the Republican campaign currently being run. He was interested in exploring a a few interesting questions. First, does John McCain actually believe his own recent rhetoric about Obama as a socialist or his running mate's characterizations of Obama as a friend of terrorists? Second, is this an intentional effort on the part of his campaign or the GOP to "poison the well" and make it impossible for Obama to govern so that he can be more easily defeated in 2012? And third, if so, what does this say about the state of our ability to grapple with the many serious problems confronting the nation?
Does McCain himself believe the rhetoric?
I have considered this question in the blog before, beginning on July 5 just after McCain hired the Rove team to run his campaign, and as recently as this Monday. No, I do not believe McCain himself actually subscribes to insinuations that Obama is disloyal to the United States of America, is in league with terrorists, wants to expose kindergartners to graphic sex and so on. What I do believe is that McCain wants to win the election. He became convinced or arrived at the conclusion himself that destroying Obama's personal reputation was his best and perhaps only path to victory. He wants to be elected so badly that he is willing to discard his own previous reputation for civility and go back on his promise to conduct a "respectful campaign on the issues." It is a strategy to him, nothing more and nothing less.
Is this an intentional effort on the part of the McCain campaign or the GOP to "poison the well" and make it impossible for Obama to govern so that he can be more easily defeated in 2012?
On McCain's own part? I would say "no." His event horizon is the election. He knows he will never have another chance to be President and I do not believe he is thinking past November 4 or about anyone else's concerns in the matter. Now, in the case of the Republican National Committee, I would say probably yes. If they cannot prevent him from winning they would like to see a wounded Obama limp weakly into the White House and prove unable to get anything done during his tenure. That would start paying off in the midterm Congressional races in 2010 and possibly give them a good chance to get the top spot back again in 2012. Their concern is to win elections, if not this one, then by laying the ground work for winning the next ones. In the case of related groups like 527 committees, I would say definitely yes. They want to heap as much calumny on Obama and stoke as much outrage as they possibly can. That is the surest way for them to increase their membership rolls and donor bases.
What does this say about the state of our ability to grapple with the many serious problems confronting the nation?
This goes back to the spectre that haunted George Washington when he gave his "Farewell Address" to the nation as he left office in 1796. He warned of a selfish "spirit of faction" by which "cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men" would place the good of "party" ahead of the good of the nation and which could "obstruct" and even "destroy" the ability of government to effectively serve the people. There can be little question that when a campaign goes beyond sincere disagreements on policy and political philosophy to the path of attributing to its opponent active treason and moral degeneracy, the object is to rob him of all legitimacy and render him a crippled and ineffective leader. The effects of the politics of character assassination and extreme partisan enmity have been all too obvious for some time in American politics, as attested by the growing backlog of chronic problems unsolved and the worsening level of trust and respect in government at all levels.
Response of the Obama Campaign
Combating this tendency has been one of the primary concerns of the Obama campaign from the start. He was careful not to personally denigrate Hillary Clinton in the primaries, even though things got very heated at times. He has similarly refused to retaliate in kind to the outrageous slurs and fabrications emanating from the Republican camp in the general election. He frequently calls attention to the tactics being used against him and says the American people are "too smart" to be "distracted," that he is confident "it will not work, not this time." Of course, part of this is a plea that the people not succumb to the negative tactics, but part is also preparation for his ability to govern should he win. Obama is trying not to burn bridges but what is more, he is trying to establish a new normative in American political discourse that could make it more possible for both parties to actually work together to get things done without so many shrieking partisans screaming "sellout" every time it is attempted. If the American people are truly ready for this, Obama potentially stands as a transformational president indeed.
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