Stop waiting for Obama to do the dirty fighting. He is the leader. We are the troops. We are the mean, dirty, nasty, smear-fighting, under the belt counter-punching change that we've been waiting for.
So how do you fight this onslaught?
One thing to remember is that when you are off this board, hanging out with conservatives and moderates on other boards, you are in enemy territory.
You need to be on your best behavior. No one approach will succeed with your audience and your style. Find your honest voice and use it. But if your honest voice consists of nothing but insults, swearing, and wild/broad accusation -
learn to fake another style.
What works: humor, facts,
honesty, personal experience, passion. Some audiences love historical context and comparisons. Not too short; not too long. One liners can raise a question, bring a laugh, or make a point. Very long screeds are rarely read by anyone. Fresh information works - bring some news no one has seen yet.
What does not work: becoming a forum troll. If people perceive you as an unreasoning opponent of their POV you will be blown off and pilloried. Constant swearing. Bitterness. Fear. Desperation. None of these are effective tools.
McCain is not conducting the traditional fear and smear campaign. Frankly, I'm not sure that Obama's campaign realizes that. McCain's negative ads aren't full of minor chords and whispered threats. His is a new line of attack.
Playing Defense: Blunt the attack. One way of doing this is voicing the subtext. Does the McCain ad feature cheering Obama fans? The subtext is that Obama is popular and McCain is not. How do you personify that difference? McCain is Rodney Dangerfield - He gets no respect. Does the McCain ad say that Obama is Moses and takes the Divine seriously? Ask how Huckabee fans feel having their similar faith mocked by a man who left his wife and children to go skirt-chasing. Does the McCain question Obama's leadership? What is the leadership potential of Rodney Dangerfield?
And throw your opponents a bone now and then. No one likes a smart-ass that is right all the time.
Playing Offense: I've already given you the key to that. It is the same as playing defense. Take McCain's charges and turn them back on him.
Obama is popular => McCain is not. McCain is Rodney Dangerfield
Obama is not ready to lead => McCain's Rodney Dangerfield persona is not ready to lead. His attacks are infantile, ineffective.
Obama played the race card => McCain would rather talk about The Race Card than the economy, tax-cuts, energy and education - all subjects of Obama's speech in Missouri the other day. Make sure you know what Obama was talking about when the McCain camp decided to talk to the distractions.
http://www.barackobama.com/...
Obama dissed the troops at Landstuhl => Obama moved to protect the troops from political exposure. McCain dragged them to the front line of the political fray to score political points. McCain has no honor.
This is rhetorical judo. It is the ability to take an opponents line of attack and turn it back on himself. It cannot be done through rhetorical brutality (insults, swearing, unreasonable attitude) and it cannot be done by standing directly in the line of fire (getting tied down in the minutiae of Obama's decision to do or say this or that on a particular day).
Not everyone is going to be able to do this. But it seems to be working in my small corner of the blog-o-sphere.
A picture is worth a thousand words:
Show Obama at his best: On the flood line in Quincy, in the chopper with Petraeus, speaking to 200000 in Berlin.
Show McCain at his worst. Golf-carting in Kennebunkport. Speaking in front of Schmidts Fudge Haus. Don't say much. Just show the image - in compare and contrast mode. Conservatives are going to reply with scorn - its just photo-ops, empty suits, and means nothing. Don't fight to the death against that charge Smile, nod, and wait for the next opportunity to post a comparison photo-op.
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