I disagree with Morris on this. These ads hit Obama where it hurts. He really IS running as a celebrity rock start. He really IS running as the Messiah. The best way to handle that kind of nonsense is mockery.
Like the little boy in the story of the Emperor with No Clothes, somebody has got to point at him and LAUGH. Satire is strong medicine, when a Clown Messiah like Obama climbs up on his faux pedestal, balances precariously, and smirks at his audience, all the while claiming to have the power to part the Red Sea.
McCain must be doing something right to be running so strongly at this point.
Morris is plain wrong about Dukakis and Kerry already being “destroyed” by summer, before the conventions began. As late as Aug 19, 1988, when Vice President Bush gave his acceptance speech, Dukakis was still ahead by 17. Bush rapidly recovered after what was seen as a great convention speech.
How can Morris say Kerry had already lost by summer? That race see-sawed back and forth right up to election day. It is true that Kerry got almost no convention boost, but Bush had hardly put him away by summer.
Cottect. Due to the media overkill the issue in this campaign is Obama; his inexperience, his lack of knowledge, his radical associations, his naivety. The way for McCain to win is to make this election a referendum on Obama. That includes going after him on all levels, including mocking his pomposity, evasions, and duplicity. Americans will ultimately vote for the person they relate to and trust the most.