Parsing and Weak Campaigns

This week marked the return of politics as usual in the presidential campaign. At a fundraiser in San Francisco, Barack Obama made reference to “bitter” voters in small towns clinging to religion and guns when making their decisions about who they vote for. When this was reported by the Huffington Post online, it became a major news story.

It’s no surprise that the Clinton and McCain camps jumped on the story and began spinning it to their advantage. By the weekend, Obama was being called an “elitist” by every surrogate that the Clinton and McCain campaigns could get out there to say it. Both Clinton and McCain themselves called Obama an elitist and Hillary Clinton seemed to try to accentuate the point by having shots and beers with voters showing that she was not an “elitist”.

With the ugliness of a seasoned politician Obama fired back criticizing Hillary Clinton of trying to make voters think she was “Annie Oakley” by relating a duck hunting story to voters out on the campaign trail. Despite its early civil tones, the race for the White house has definitely gotten to the “gloves-off” stage where just about anything goes.

The sad thing for voters in this is that now those who have been latecomers to the process may not be able to get an honest look at the different candidates before being asked to decide who will win their vote. The reality of the situation is that the rhetoric of the campaigns has worn thin and voters are tuning out. It’s the odd harbinger of doom for the issues in a campaign season when the candidates begin to really pick through their opponents speeches looking for chinks in the armor. It’s the first sign that they have now moved from issues to personal attacks.

The polls seem to indicate that the people have not really cared much about the latest scandal because the polls are showing Obama and Clinton in a virtual dead heat in Pennsylvania and that Obama has gained ground in recent days. If the upward trend in voters leaning toward Obama continues he might even win the state come April 22nd. The most recent polls were all taken after the “bitter” comments surfaced in the media meaning that even knowing about his comments did not discourage people from pledging their support for Obama when asked by pollsters.

Now that the nasty volleys have flown and none of the candidates has been hurt by it in the polls, we must bid farewell to civility in this election. It was nice while it lasted. Maybe next time we can have an issues filled discussion about the things that impact most Americans’ lives right up until election day. For this election I dare say the ship has sailed on that

Troy Wilson-Ripsom - Staff Writer | Give your feedback on this article.

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