Bring Up The Mud Catapults!
The Politico reports on the political rapid-response teams that are becoming ever more rapid in their efforts. It does, indeed, seem that these efforts are very, very quick off the mark lately. There are reasons for that:
Joe Trippi, senior adviser to the John Edwards campaign, said the metabolism of this cycle has campaigns willing to risk overreacting in order to avoid being accused of underreacting.
“Every lesson everyone learned from last time is that you have to respond quicker,” Trippi said. “And because of the calendar, everyone thinks it’s do or die, now or never. Add to that the short news cycles, with the Internet and blogs, and all those things conspire to make things more ferocious than ever.”
These operatives point out that one reason the responses often come so quickly is that they’re often pre-packaged — ready to be touched up and sent out with the slightest pretense or provocation.
“Each campaign has reams of research and well-culled response strategy in the bank,” said GOP strategist and Mitt Romney backer Phil Musser.
“All the top contenders — Republican or Democrat — have a squad of coffee-fueled, 20-something hit men buried in a windowless HQ office breathing every factoid of their opponents’ political life. They’ve been champing at the bit to be unleashed through the first half of the primary season, but the past few weeks — when the whites of the eyes start to show — is where they whir into full gear.”
Jim Dyke, a former RNC operative and Rudy Giuliani adviser, said that it’s often a question of kill or be killed. “Failure to address seemingly legitimate charges in today’s rapid media environment lends credence to the charge and can be interpreted as a sign of a weak candidate or weak campaign,” Dyke observed. “And weak during a time of war is the kiss of death.”
Hence the Obama campaign hammered back when Robert Novak's column first appeared - literally having a barrage launched within hours of the column coming out. The danger in all this should be apparent: there is a substantial possibility of a campaign looking like it is overreacting. The report quotes Larry Sabato as saying: "It’s always wrong to apply the same insecticide to a killer bee and a gnat.” Yet that is exactly what the campaigns are doing at this stage. (All the campaigns, not just one party or the other.)
I honestly wonder how this is going to play with the voters in the long run. It is pretty much accepted wisdom that while voters may hate negative campaigning, that type of campaign tends to have an impact. If the campaigns overdo their rapid responses, will they cause a shift in attitudes? Could protesting too much, too quickly actually backfire? I think it is a possibility.
