One Utah

Okay, it’s pretty clear by now that McCain is running a wildly erratic campaign. At first blush, it looks like McCain is running his wildly whiplash inducing campaign without any kind of strategy.

I wonder, however, given the Republicans’ ability to win elections, if something else isn’t happening.

Consider this: Obama and his campaign have shown an admirable ability to remain unshaken and unflappable. In beating Hillary, Obama demonstrated an uncanny ability to remain unruffled, to face what appear to be defeats and somehow stay steady and keep moving forward to his ultimate goal. In confronting Obama, McCain can’t project the same stately, eloquent poise or intellectual composure. Obama possesses a formidable intellect, he’s an eloquent speaker, he’s almost preternaturally collected. His entire persona exudes “trusted leader.”

McCain has to shake him up, get him off balance. So he chooses the wildest of wild cards for his VP. He seems to switch strategies and talking points on a daily basis. He launches a series of almost incoherent attacks on Obama. He announces he’s suspending his campaign and calling off the debate then doesn’t stop campaigning. Every move is designed to keep the terrain shifting wildly.

I don’t want to ignore the possibility that this is just how John McCain leads. It is entirely possible that John McCain is entirely erratic, constantly shifting and never stabilizing; it would explain his long time untrue maverick lable. But, it still has the effect of keeping the Obama campaign perpetually off balance, scrambling to figure out how to respond to the latest daft move from McCain.

In creating a perpetually shifting, chaotic environment, McCain could be trying to unsettle Obama enough that he commits a major gaffe - i.e. that he blows it and McCain is left to pick up the pieces.

What got me thinking about this?

Well, a story about Spassky versus Fischer playing chess in 1972 in Iceland.

Here’s the deal: Fischer had never beaten Spassky before. Spassky was a shrewd chessplayer, who sized up his opponents, then wore them down. He identified their patterns of behavior and simply went after their weaknesses. Fischer responded by engaging in wildly unpredictable ways - forfeiting one game, then using moves he’d never used before. The result was that Spassky was off balance. He lost his composure and lost the match and his world champion title.

I wouldn’t be surprised if McCain is trying his own version of Fischer’s strategy.
Given a choice of right or left, John McCain chooses red. Given a choice of up or down, John McCain chooses the General Tso’s Chicken. Asked to go forward or backward he says, “I like red balloons.” McCain ends up being so random that the Obama campaign never quite lands a punch.
The downside: McCain’s allies have to work in the same crazy setting at Obama. They are constantly trying to keep up with the candidate’s radical shifts in direction. The general impression of chaos, panic and disorganization in the McCain campaign serves the long term purpose of keeping the opposition off balance but also creates the impression in the public of a campaign running at wild angles from itself. It makes McCain look unpresidential.
The key question: Would they really try such a high risk strategy?
Two things: If the R’s think it will help them win the campaign, yes, they would try anything. And, since Obama has thus far succeeded in not being pulled into the chaos, watch for the chaotic (and malevolent) tactics to increase.

This entry was posted Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 10:46 am and is filed under Barack Obama, John McCain, This Blog. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.