Going on (and off) the Attack

This month's Conde Nast Portfolio asks if we're seeing the end of attack politics. Howell Raines recalls his invitation to the annual press dinner in Washington where he was seated between top political operatives Karl Rove and the Doug Schoen.

While these 30 year veterans battled it out over whether or not Hillary's 3am phone call ad amounted to negative campaigning, our author muses about whether these attacks are going to work with the youngest generation of voters.

He mentions the rise of the blogging class and his belief that we are still in a teenage phase of development simultaneously emulating our parents (big media) but seeking to strike out our own path.

I found his article interesting on two fronts. Were he a member of the new media, he would have blogged about the argument he witnessed as soon as he got home, or from his blackberry in the men's room, gossiping to the web at large about Karl Rove's bluster. Perhaps his not being a blogger is what got him invited to the table in the first place. Secondly, I think its a wide generalization to say that all blogs are created equal. Blogs like the moderate voice, or even policythought are dedicated to trying to invigorate the landscape with substantive debate and not boilerplate "527" style attacks. It's worth noting that this blog refrains from attack politics and might be suffering traffic loss from it. Make no mistake the Internet age is indeed hyperkinetic and eyeballs are what count in the newest age of ratings.

While people seek to find a new media age, I think the changes we will see are both rapid and glacial. The under 30's out there were born into an age of internet consciousness. While the immediate fit of blogs and youtube show up as a new front in the war of attack politics. It will take a generation growing and changing, sharing their thoughts on everything from shoes to China's rising political clout on the web in real time to truly measure what it will do to the electorate. Make no mistake, the times are changing, but no one knows where's we're headed.

Obama/McCain: Will this be the candid cycle?

Every season the same thing happens. We all start off with so much hope for the election cycle. New faces emerge with the potential to radically change the electorate or the face of our politics. Then as the race wears on, the battle lines become more entrenched, the mud starts to fly and in the end the voters are so disgusted with both, no one is excited any more. 

I wonder if this cycle won't be different. Not because we are such better people but because of the nature of the campaigns both of these candidates have promised to wage. The nature of the politics Barack Obama is trying to sell to the American people is supposed to elevate up above the realm of name-calling. He is essentially supposed to be changing the game in Washington. It will hurt his brand if he begins to the pivot away from that. 

McCain as well will be looking to stop attack politics. Elevating our discourse to helping the American people is part of the McCain brand and if he lets that aspect drop, Obama will too easily tag him as being part of the old-style politics. 

But I also wonder if there isn't something more cultural at work here. We are in an age not just of 24-hour spin meisters, but 24-hour bloggers and a never-ending commentary cycle. The YouTube effect has already been felt throughout the primary season, as not only can pictures and text be transmitted in the blink of an eye, but so to can video. More important than it's abundance is the nature of peer-to-peer sharing the internet enables. Six million people watched Barack Obama's speech on race in Philadelphia on Youtube. I wonder if that's why the spin camp of team Hillary has run into such opposition, maybe its the legion of bloggers there to parse her words, or compare her positions to past ones. Perhaps its when she talks about dodging sniper fire, there is video that proves it's a lie. Not just on the local news, but posted again and again on blogs and across the internet. 

The home-made-media cycle is beginning to prove its worth this cycle as not only can it be a cash cow, but it is a place for minds to come together. I wonder if these candidates consciously or unconsciously play well in this environment and we might actually see some policy thought this election cycle.