Swift-Boating Obama

The hyphenated word "swift-boating" entered into English in 2004 to describe a vicious, and highly-partisan, attack on Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry. The attack claimed that Kerry had lied about his military service record in order to get one of his two decorations for bravery and two of his three purple hearts. This broadside was not only well-orchestrated, but it pummeled Kerry precisely on what he and the Democrats thought was his strongest point--his patriotism and heroic war service. The Democrats thought they needed to wrap themselves in the flag in 2004 in order to beat GW Bush; the Swift Boaters' ads created enough doubt in enough people for a long-enough time that Kerry's bid was, in my judgment, fatally damaged after about Sept. 1, 2004. There were other things, of course, that made his campaign implode, but the Swift-Boat incident was among the most devastating. The key to understanding "swift-boating" is that it is a pungent, clear and direct attack on the supposed strength of the opposition.

Flash Ahead Four Years--to Today

The 2008 Presidential campaign is unfolding in similar ways, but rather than having a particular identifiable group "swift-boat" Barack Obama, that work has been left either to Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin or to the shapers of the McCain-Palin ticket. In the past ten days, the McCain-Palin ticket has risen six or eight points in the polls (depending on whom you read) to pull even or possibly go ahead of the Obama-Biden ticket. I think the primary reason for this advance is that two criticisms of Obama, directed at his strength (and thus swift-boating charges), have actually "stuck." These two criticisms were made by Sarah Palin in her acceptance speech and were stated in such pungent and lucid fashion that they will sink right into a lot of people's minds and become their criticism of Obama. But, in my judgment, there are things the Obama-Biden campaign can do to rebut these attacks (see next essay); they just haven't figured out how to do it yet.

The Two Republican Criticisms of Obama

You will recall that a few months ago, the Republicans were grasping to try to criticize Obama without playing the race card, overtly or subtly. They decided to attack him on his experience--that he had very little of it--and his potentially weak stand on national security issues. Obama effectively put the latter to rest by his trip to Iraq/Afghanistan and a tougher rhetoric of national security after his return. Then, clothed with a sort of aura of change, as if he instantiated or invented the very concept, Obama's popularity soared. Indeed, the D's shot ahead in the polls, leading many to believe that Obama was unbeatable in the Fall.

But then, the R's decided on their "swift-boat" strategy. The would attack Obama on his "strength" and do so with sharp, and possibly unverifiable, claims. They would, like the clever karate practitioner, try to turn his strength against him so that he might more easily be defeated. The first thing they did was to focus on the "celebrity" status of Barack Obama. He was little-known at the beginning of the D campaign, but had put together such an impressive series of victories that people were "forced" to get to know him. His story was impressive: child of a mixed-race family, raised overseas for a number of years, lived with grandparents while attending school in Hawaii, outstanding performance in elite higher education, first African-American to head the Harvard Law Review, community organizer in Chicago rather than Wall Street lawyer, beautiful and talented wife, perfect daughters state senator, US Senator, etc.

How did Sarah Palin both recognize and attack his celebrity status? She said:

"And there is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform--not even in the state senate."

This line powerfully captures a critique both of Obama's "celebrity" status as well as his relative inexperience. The implication is that while most hard-working legislators would be trying to push through pieces of legislation, Obama was taking time looking at himself in the mirror. He was like John Edwards without the comb; always worrying about how he looked before the camera. But that is what celebs do. The implication--this guy has no substance and is more interested in his own ego gratification than solving real problems. I think the punch landed.

Second, Sarah Palin also had this line regarding his level of experience. She introduced this statement, however, by dealing with criticisms of her seemingly lack of experience. So, she wanted to explain what the job of "small town mayor" involved (Wasilla, AK).

"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer' [Obama's self-description] except that you have actual responsibilities."

The notion of "community organizing" comes out of the 1960s, where "activists" pursued a "ground-up" political strategy rather than a "top-down" approach. It was the community that had to be identified, educated, and persuaded to follow a path that would empower them. Power was with the people and not with the corporate powers that controlled the media or most electoral politics. Community organizers, then, usually worked on a shoestring and were often seen at "strategy sessions" or "hearings" of various duly constituted authorities (actually, it might be interesting for the D's to give some detailed information of what Obama's "community organizing years" looked like).

But by contrasting her experience as small-town mayor with his as "community organizer," she was not only trying to legitimize herself but to bring him down a peg. Community organizing, whatever that really means (and no one knows until we are told precisely what he did in that role), is now seen to be a sort of extended time of irresponsibility. She would never say that directly; she just left it for her audience to conclude this was the case.

Conclusion

The D's have not yet figured out an effective way to answer these complaints. In the next essay, I describe what they ought to do..

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