12.09.08
Wright ad that didn't play
An ad that the McCain team put together featuring Rev. Wright has surfaced, with some questioning why McCain didn’t run the ad. Deep in the dusty corners of my mind, a bored little clot of neurons is sure she knows why McCain didn’t run the Wright ad.
In my scenario, at some point early in the campaign, Obama talks to McCain about running a honorable campaign. “John”, says Obama, “let’s rise above the pettiness. Let’s agree right now, before we get really started, that our private lives should stay private. Let’s agree that our families are off-limits, and our religions are off-limits.”
In my imagination, McCain can’t believe his ears! Obama is pretty much offering him a get-out-of-jail free card! Obama is volunteering to not talk about McCain’s serial infidelity, Cindy’s drug addiction, or about how McCain’s religious intensity is um low. What a cool deal! In my head, McCain is having a hard time containing his glee as he agrees to the deal.
Later, when the Wright tapes surface, and Michelle makes a few missteps, McCain realizes that he’s been had. He got suckered, big time. In my story, he fell for it: hook, line, and sinker. McCain’s a little peeved at himself for being such a fool, but it’s emotionally easier to put the blame on Obama than to place the blame on himself. Thus McCain decides that this proves that Obama is nothing but a smooth-talking snake. (This explains why McCain sure acted like he couldn’t stand Obama.)
He can’t actually say that Obama is a smooth-talking snake, without telling the story of how McCain had gotten suckered, and that doesn’t look good on McCain. So instead he alludes to it with the “celebrity ad”: don’t trust this guy, he’s just a pretty face. But because the populace didn’t know the back story, they don’t recognize that the ad is a story of Obama’s treachery. So the ad fizzles.
And Wright is radioactive, but in my story, McCain can’t talk about Wright without going back on his word. (And if he goes back on his word, then he has to admit to himself that he’s no better than that treacherous snake Obama, so he can’t do that.) So instead, McCain uses Ayers as a proxy for Wright. They talk about Ayers over and over again hoping that somebody will make the link between Ayers and Wright. Unfortunately, when the McCain camp says, “Ayers, Ayers, Ayers, Ayers”, the populace hears, “Ayers, Ayers, Ayers, Ayers” instead of “Wright, Wright, Wright, Wright”.
Meanwhile, because I am an Obama supporter, I can paint Obama as completely innocent in this matter. In my story, I can have Obama approaching McCain with complete sincerity and noble intent, and the story still hangs together.
Now, I have no hotline to Obama’s or McCain’s brain. This is just a story that I made up to help me make sense of the world. But I like the story.
