Operation Hype The Hurricane: The Main Event

by tristero

As I mentioned two days ago, it is truly sickening to perceive Gustav as a marketing opportunity, but that is the way Republicans act. And that is the kind of public discourse we have. It stands to reason, therefore, that Democrats -if they are serious about winning elections – simply must respond in an effective manner.

I am not suggesting that Obama fly to New Orleans and get photographed on a levee, looking melodramatically concerned (although I wouldn’t care if he did). What I am suggesting is that ceding the discourse for even a moment to the Republicans is a very dangerous way to run a presidential campaign. If you like, feel free to substitute the word “stupid” for “dangerous” in the previous sentence. Surely, Democratic pr people are savvy enough to come up with a dignified presentation of their candidate’s involvement and concern. (If they can’t, they should be fired.)

And yet, cede the discourse is exactly what Democrats have done. One small example: Even by the middle of the day yesterday, Obama’s website was still touting his brilliant acceptance speech and failing to mention Gustav. This morning (eastcoast time), I urge you to compare Mccain’s website with Obama’s. McCain’s opens with a political message from St. John: he urges everyone to put politics aside. Then you click a biiig button that says “Take Action Now.”

How does Obama’s site respond to this? Despite the fact that this is a genuine moment of national crisis, there’s no personal message from the candidate. There’s just a link to the Red Cross.

Here are the respective screens.

Like it or not, times of crisis are, in the present political climate, marketing ops. And Gustav, which takes place over the Labor Day weekend is a perfect opportunity for both candidates to project leadership during a crisis. There will be a huge number of eyeballs glued to tv screens. And they will be watching McCain act like he’s president while Obama is pushed to the side.

The Democratic pr response is completely unacceptable.

Via the responses to dday’s latest post, an alarming one about the state of the New Orleans levees, I’ve learned that many people think Obama loses nothing by letting McCain prance about unchallenged as a fake president. They see the major story of Gustav as the potential havoc the storm will wreak, and not in cheap pr terms. “We must show McCain doing something so he appears in control.” This makes them better people than I. These decent commentators are truly worried about Gustav’s destructive power, are disgusted at McCain’s antics, and applaud Obama for staying completely out of the way. They even recognize that there could be a political advantage to a dignified ceding of center stage.

With great sadness, I completely disagree, although I wish I was the kind of person who didn’t find the pr angle so central.

I have no doubt, and am deeply relieved, that the response to Gustav will be far better than Katrina. Nowhere near 1836 people will die because of what happens today. I also have no doubt that the media will be on a tight leash and denied access to the most atrocious destruction. What, after all, do you think Blackwater is being deployed in New Orleans to do? No pictures of dead bodies floating in shit-filled floodwaters this time. The pr response to Gustav is being managed by Republicans as tightly as the pr for the invasion of Iraq. Regardless of the truth of Gustav’s destruction, it will appear as if McCain handled a serious crisis, and prevailed. No one, I assure you, will dare mention that in reality McCain could do nothing substantive except get in the way.

I think you get it. My point is simple. Those of us who oppose McCain/Bush should never, ever, permit the far right to define the agenda. They are doing so now, due to the tacit complicity of the Democratic party. As they did so earlier this summer during, for example, the start of the Georgia crisis. That is a profoundly stupid mistake. McCain is neck and neck with Obama not merely because of all the obvious reasons – racism, media bias, Republican dirty tricks – but also because Democrats won’t, simply won’t, recognize that this is a pr battle despite Obama’s very commendable efforts to cast it as otherwise.

Democrats fail to realize what Obama himself surely knows, which is that during a crisis, declaring oneself “neither Republican nor Democrat” is a blatantly partisan political stance. Certainly, McCain and his pr advisers know this and once again they seized an opportunity Democrats missed.

Okay, enough. Until Gustav is gone, no more posts about the politics of it all. No matter how much better the response to Gustav will be, this is a very serious situation. I’ll leave you with two links. The first is to
Krugman’s typically brilliant column assessing the politics of Gustav. The other is to the American Red Cross.