02:00 pm
Obama Wins the Meme Wars
Three days into his much-ballyhooed trip (and with a huge assist from Nour al Maliki), it’s become clear that Obama has won the meme wars. Take, for example, this photo, which ran all over the place:
As Sean Paul Kelly notes over at The Agonist, no Dukakis moment this. Whereas the dominant theme leading into the trip was Obama having to shore up his foreign policy bona fides, the Afghanistan and Iraq portions of the trip have left him looking like a confident, capable leader. The cheering troops certainly helped, as did the video of him nailing a jumper, but ultimately having the democratically elected leader of the country we’re occupying repeatedly endorse your position was the cherry on this delicious hot fudge sundae.
As a result, Obama’s media coverage has changed from Obama the arrogant rookie to Obama the wise man. I don’t think we’re going to be seeing anymore Elizabeth Bumiller stories in The New York Times about Obama having to rely on three hundred advisors.
Meanwhile, back in the States, the McCain campaign is looking more and more like it’s floundering. Its Iraq strategy — win by focusing on McCain’s support for the surge — is in ruins, McCain’s appearances during Obama’s trip have made him look cranky, and the candidate keeps making dumb mistakes like referring to the “Iraq-Pakistan border.” I’m not sure if I’m ready to go as far as Matt Yglesias in calling this McCain’s Waterloo — there’s still a lot of time left in this campaign — but it’s pretty bad.
Just how bad can been seen in the increasingly strident tone of McCain’s paid media. His new campaign team, consisting primarily Rovians, has started rolling out the negative ads, including one that, as several commentators have pointed out, seems to mock and/or resent Obama’s supporters. Last I checked, making fun of the voters, even if they’re the other guy’s voters, isn’t usually the best path to the White House.
The main challenge now for Obama is hubris/overconfidence. After such a smashing first few days, he and his team need to be careful to downplay expectations. He still faces the very real challenges during the Israel-West Bank leg of his visit. Once he gets to Europe, he has to be careful that breathless adolation doesn’t trmp reality — or turn off Americans back home. For example, suggesting that a million people may come out to see him in Berlin probably isn’t the best approach.
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