Obama News on Tuesday

The McCain campaign and the RNC have launched a full-scale negative ad campaign against presidential opponent Barack Obama.

One ad attacked Obama during this European trip claiming that the Illinois senator would not visit wounded troops without the press tagging along. However, Barack had already made such visits sans the press corps earlier in Iraq.

Most recently, the RNC has launched a website, BarackBook.com, a play on the popular FaceBook site where Obama's page has enlisted more than 1.2 million supporters.

Now negative ads can work sometimes, just like positive ads, but it depends on the situation that exists at the time. It's common practice to use them, though, when you're consistently behind in the polls as McCain has been. He did manage to lead a recent USA Today/Gallup poll, the first survey he's won since early May.


VP Gossip

There has been a lot of buzz out there over the fact that Barack is meeting with this vice presidential vetting team.

According to the rumors, a number of people have passed muster and are not on the short list, or the shorter list including Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine.

Kaine was an early supporter of Obama and can only serve one term as governor. If chosen, it would give the Democratic ticket a very youthful look, which can be viewed either positively or negatively. On the positive side, youthfulness can symbolize change. Detractors though might harp on the relative lack of experience although Kaine can claim that he has governed a state.

One curious and possible beneficial side of a Kaine pick is that his last name a lot like "McCain." In fact, I heard the two get mixed up on the news today. It's definitely possible that some voters looking for McCain might get confused and pick Kaine instead!

Why negative attacks against Obama are risky

Among many pundits and street level supporters alike, there are those who believe that conservatives will subject Barack Obama to a massive assault of negative ads similar to the "swiftboating" campaign used against John Kerry.

However, there are some indications out there that Obama's supporters may not be that certain about the effectiveness of swiftboat attacks against the Illinois senator. Already, there have been at least several widespread anti-Obama 'whisper campaigns' over the internet, and yet Obama is still leading in the most swing states according to the polls.

In 2004, we did not have the social networking sites and YouTube as we do today. These networks allow politicos to test what will or will not work against a candidate, and what might be worth spending TV ad money on. In fact, these internet networks alone can often sink a candidate as we saw during the congressional races of 2006.

Another thing about Obama is that he does not let negative attacks shape his own campaign. Kerry, while often refusing to respond directly to the swiftboaters, began appearing frequently with his old swift boat crew and with supporting military flag officers in apparent reaction to the attacks. These supporters acted as Kerry's surrogates and soon the bickering between them and the swiftboaters began to dominate news cycles.

Obama's ability to keep the focus on change in Washington makes it difficult for his opponents to come up with a workable negative attack strategy.

Swiftboating attacks will tend to erode Obama's support among conservative members of his own party. Therefore, it's important that the keeps his progressive base of supporters strongly behind him.

Obama Rapid Response Website

With Barack Obama looking strong in Iowa and New Hampshire, the Hillary Clinton campaign has launched a series of attacks against the Illinois senator as early state voting draws near.

Many voters are starting to look at the candidates more closely and are analyzing how their presidencies might impact themselves, their families and communities. So, Hillary's name recognition and natural appeal to women may be starting to erode as people study her history and issues.

Both campaigns have to be careful in not going too far especially with irrelevant attacks not based on the candidate's public careers. Surveys indicate that voters are not looking for that kind of leadership.

Here is a message from campaign manager David Plouffe announcing a new rapid response center in response to the attacks:

Saturday night, the Des Moines Register came out with a poll that shows Barack Obama has pulled ahead of the Democratic frontrunner and is now leading in Iowa.

The poll also showed that by a wide margin, Iowans believe that Senator Clinton is running the most negative campaign in this race.

Yesterday we found out why.

Less than twelve hours after that poll came out, the Clinton campaign launched a series of baseless attacks against Senator Obama. Panicked by the poll numbers, they even attacked Barack for telling his kindergarten teacher what he wanted to be when he grew up.

I wish I were joking.

The American people find these kinds of attacks tiring and unproductive, but today Senator Clinton promised that this was just the beginning, saying that attacking other Democrats is "the fun part" of campaigning for the presidency.

We disagree. Barack Obama believes that this presidential campaign isn't about attacking people for fun, it's about solving people's problems, like ending this war and creating a universal health care system. Washington insiders might think throwing mud is fun, but the America people are looking for a President who can unite this country around a common purpose, and that's the kind of leadership Barack will continue to offer in this campaign.

But we need your help.

Today we're launching a website that will keep track of all the attacks Senator Clinton has launched since she said she wasn't interested in attacking other Democrats at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on November 10th. We're asking all of you to be vigilant and notify us immediately of any attacks from Senator Clinton or her supporters as soon as you see them so that we can respond with the truth swiftly and forcefully.

These attacks could be phone calls, literature drops, blog posts, mail pieces as well as radio and TV ads. Some could even be anonymous or designed to be. Please email us at hillaryattacks@barackobama.com the moment you see something that concerns you.

Senator Clinton has said her idea of fun is to attack Barack each day from here on out, and that's why we need you to help us stop those attacks and make sure that Barack can continue to talk with voters and caucus-goers about the struggles they face and their hope for America.