GroupThink Vs Independent Thought

[cwo_ghwebb]

Obama Returns to Playing the 'Confused' Card
Let’s play a game of "detect the pattern."


Barack Obama, appearing on Larry King Live, last night: “Where Senator McCain I think is confused is the difference between tactics and strategy.”
The same day, Joe Biden on a campaign conference call: “As a consequence of their profound confusion [Bush and McCain] make profound mistakes.”

The liberal blog The Carpetbagger Report uses the word “confused” in almost every post about McCain; same deal at ThinkProgress. At AmericaBlog, the words "McCain" and "confused" have appeared together 108 times. DailyKos.com, hundreds.

Obama surrogate John Kerry, on a conference call June 11: "McCain confuses who Iran is training, he confuses what the makeup of Al Qaeda is, he confuses the history going back to 682 of what has happened to Sunni and Shia," Kerry said.

The Campaign Spot on National Review Online



For a good analysis:



Baseball Crank: POLITICS: John McCain Is Doubleplus Unyoung





As Geraghty notes, this is an unsubtle effort to suggest by sheer repetition that the 71-year-old McCain is doddering and senile (based on little more than his age and the fact that, like most politicians, he is subject to occasional verbal stumbles while talking, and talking, and talking, and talking for hours on end every day), and it has also been repeatedly deployed by the Obama campaign itself, including both the nominee (the guy who thinks we have 57 states, thinks Afghans speak Arabic and once told a crowd that 10,000 people had died in a tornado in Kansas) and his surrogates (Joe Biden and John Kerry, neither of whom is exactly a stranger to confusion). There is not even the remotest chance that this is all a coincidence, coming from the sorts of folks who routinely practice Googlebombing and coordinate their message - or silence - with email groups covering multiple blogs; rather, it appears that the likes of ThinkProgress (two lies for the price of one!) and the Carpetbagger Report have put their very vocabularies in hock to the Obama campaign's 'message' operation.


Ever notice the similarity between certain folks posts here and DailyKooks comments?

[Larry Gude (Premo)]

...but within every obstacle lies opportunity.

There is nothing new about political parties developing themes to both attack an opponent and to promote ones self; 'change' ring any bells?

Just a little thought could lead McCain to jump on this theme as a barb that ends up sticking Obama. It's a pretty simple matter of saying "Yeah, at my age I get a little confused from time to time, especially when I miss my milk and cookies. The problem with Senator Obama is his youth and inexperience. He not only thinks he knows everything, but he's sure of it and has neither the wisdom nor maturity to recognize, or admit, when he is wrong."

Zing.

Sooner or later, the theme gets picked up and it boils down to a discern-able issue; would you rather have an older president or a younger one? Experience. Wisdom. Leadership. Then, the house of cards factor, that so many outlets have been pushing the same 'advantage' for Obama blows up in their face. It's fine for everyone to march in lock step if the one in front is going the right way. Not so much if he's going over a cliff.

Most of the time, you can see what someone sees as their own greatest weakness by how they try to frame their opponent.

The Republicans have been making the same "repeat a lie enough and it becomes the truth" attacks on Obama, so why should they be surprised when the Obama minions do the same?

[cwo_ghwebb]

Originally Posted by Bruzilla

The Republicans have been making the same "repeat a lie enough and it becomes the truth" attacks on Obama, so why should they be surprised when the Obama minions do the same?

I think Republicans are surprised at how lockstep the Dems are operating, IMO.

[chernmax]

Originally Posted by Bruzilla

The Republicans have been making the same "repeat a lie enough and it becomes the truth" attacks on Obama, so why should they be surprised when the Obama minions do the same?

I think you're confused...