There has been a growing amount of frustration among the blogs regarding why Obama's team has not responded in kind to McCain's attack ads.  The theory being that a couple of those ads would get McCain to lose his temper and blow up.  The theory is correct....but not the timing.

Everyone is upset that Barack Obama might select Evan Bayh as his running mate.  Everyone needs to calm down.  Obama might not select Bayh.  Even if Obama does select Bayh, here are the reasons why none of us should worry:

In this goddamn diary, I tackle the distasteful idea that the Democrats are reaching for a mantle we have little ability to wear.

I don't know who said it first, or best, but I know its true that if the public perceives there to be a problem, then there IS a problem.

I'd like to discuss the Obama Campaign's response to the recent blitzkrieg of immature, inflamatory and downright racist attacks that our candidate has been subjected to and the media coverage thereof.  I'd like to do this without the now predictable response from DKosers that basically amounts to, "Stop worrying, be quiet, give money and everything will be fine in the end."  I'll pre-empt that by saying that I am not hyperventilating, nor am I unaware of all the polls and how Obama is ahead by wide margins in most areas, nosing out McCain on most others, and that the national trend polls reporting a "tie" have been looking awfully suspicious lately.  

But it cannot be missed that the Obama camp does not have control of the national media narratives, in fact is doing piss-poor at getting his messages out.  

Call this a "generally frustrated" diary.

1. David Plouffe sent out the video showing that 100,000 people contributed in direct response to the negative ads and rhetoric of last week -- 1/3 of these first time contributors.

2. This interesting Washington Post piece details the field operations in Virginia, noting that Obama has opened 25 offices in the state, and has 10,000 volunteers working across the state.

3. A key goal in Virginia is registering new voters -- there are now 150,000 registered since the start of the year and Obama intends to double that to 300,000. In an interesting calculation, they estimate that this would translate to a vote gain of 60,000, or 1.75% if turnout ends around 3.5 million voters

Okay, after attending an MLS game last night (Go United!) I was bored, and decided to pop in a movie. I'm in the process of moving, so most of my DVDs were gone. I settled on Wedding Crashers. About half an hour or so into the film, who should appear on my screen but Johnny McCain! In the same shot as such Hollywood elitists as Rachel McAdams and Christopher Walken, no less! Apparently Grandpa doesn't have time to show up to his day job in the Senate more than half the time, but he does have time to appear in boffo box office sex comedies. (Thank God there was no "unrated" footage of him.) This got me curious: where else did Grandpa McCain use his political celebrity for kicks? And how can this be turned around on his new line of attack? After one use of "a google" and ten minutes later, I had a few ideas.

John McCain immature you ask?

What POSSILBLE facts could you have to prove this at all?

How could this be helpful?

Will it stick?

Can Obama do this without resorting to the low road?

I'll try to answer these, and more below the fold, organized into chapters, even.

I know that many of you are frustrated at the lack of response from the Obama camp. But it boils down to this: Obama does not want to win that way that many of you are suggesting. Here is a quote during the primaries from Obama:

"The one thing I am absolutely certain of,” Obama told me, “is that if all I’m offering is the same Democratic narrative that has been offered for the last 20 years, then there’s really no point in my running, because Senator Clinton is going to be very adept at delivering that message. What makes it worthwhile for me to run is the belief that we can actually change the narrative and create a working majority that we haven’t seen in a very long time—and that, frankly, the Clintons never put together.”

The above quote of course refers to the Clintons but the same type of argument can be applied to the Republicans now. Basically, if he wins, he wants to win by consensus without creating much division.

I have been an ardent supporter of Barack Obama's campaign, however, his strategy for winning is strangely and unfortunately similar to John Kerry's ‘04 campaign, and it's pissing me off. The way to beat back this type of politics is simple and it has nothing to do with the sad tactic of defensive complaining Obama and Kerry have fallen trapped into using...

  Actually, Obama is doing pretty well and has a good chance so far of getting the Presidency on his own merits. One thing however would be a knock out and is the low road that needs to be taken to insure a blowout. We need to brand McCain as unstable and insane.  After several prominent Republicans stated that he was just that people pondered whether we would see the McCain temper so storied and retold. The media made small efforts towards provoking this temper with the goal of getting a meltdown on film, but then they seem to have backed off.

 A few scenarios after the fold...

"War" on Terror

Today at TPMCafe Senator John Kerry discussed ways our response to extremism and terrorism should be changed.  As so many well informed people have been saying all along about the "War on Terror," everything about the way our government approaches the subject needs to be rethought from the bottom up.  The basic strategy of Communist guerrilla recruiters, which was highly successful in so many places, was always to swell the ranks by winning over the hearts and minds of the local population.  Terrorist organizations have adopted roughly the same strategy.  The militaristic approach our nation has employed during the Bush years plays right into the hands of the recruiters.

More after the flip.

Remember that phrase "Subliminal Message".
It's not the obvious message, nor is it some message literally hidden in an ad, but it's the real message being put forth.  Here's how I think McCain's new strategy works:

And you know what? It shows. He's never been through an election like this. He's never lost an election. Even more, it's never even been close.

McCain's toughest battles have been a sum total of three primary campaigns. Three. In more than 25 years in public office. The primary this year hardly counts. With a weak field, it was there for the taking. The one before this in 2000, as we all know, went on only through South Carolina before the Rove attack machine took him out. It was never a race he was going to win.

To get a real look at how McCain operates when he's truly threatened, his primary in 1982 tells the story. The formula he used then is the exact same one he uses today.

I saw a post on this at DU,  and I think this is the one talking point that we have to get out about the media, and we have to get this meme out quick!

The media peddles McCain ads for free, once today showing his ad in full 6 times during the hour. How many times did they show Obama's  response ad?  Once.

Barack Obama's issues-based strategy is subtle, but it is building.

Interesting how all discussion second-guessing Obama's vp pick is limited to a very specifically limited set of names.  Surely, in a country as wide and diverse as this, there must be other equally smart choices available.  Why has the conversation been so redundant?

McCain's swing to the "negative" attacks directly against Barack Obama prior to the Republican National Convention are historically unprecedented, and contrary to the usual strategy for a candidate whose strategy for winning is to woo moderates to their side.  These actions are consistent with the hypothesis that McCain may not be the eventual Republican nominee.  A longer explication below.

In case the you missed it, Obama just flanked McCain on his own turf this week.  You have to hand it to team Obama, their strategy is very intelligent.  Somtimes it's hard to see where its comming from but when you do, your often left scratching your head with a great big grin on your face...

Obama beat the GOP and their perceived strengths this week at their own game.  The strategy was not gain a huge bounce in the polls, it was to neutralize McCain's only perceived strength, "Foreign Policy".  

I have to agree with George Stephanopoulos: