Obviously this campaign has entered a new phase, one characterized by baseless attacks like the "lipstick" thing, etc. These attacks are effective even if all they do is keep us Dems from talking about policy (where most Americans agree with us) or the mess the Republican party has made of the country. I agree wholeheartedly with the general sentiment here on Daily Kos that we need to get on the offensive rather than simply responding to attacks. That's true, but in order to do that, we need a more effective defense. How can we be more effective? Read on...
I think in general Obama has been doing a pretty good job of responding to attacks, and much of the time he and his campaign spokespeople do manage to pivot to hit back. But where I think Dems continue to be dramatically less effective than the Republicans is in having a consistent, simple response that is echoed by every surrogate. This lets the attacks linger and weakens our ability to push back.
Look, for several election cycles now they've been better than us on sticking to talking points, whether on policy issues, on attacks, or on defense. It's a huge deficit on our part! The Obama campaign has done a much better job than previous Dem efforts to exercise "message control" in attacks -- "more of the same," "eight houses" -- but on defense, we're still herding cats. When you see five different left-leaning pundits give five different responses to an attack, you remember the attack but not the response. The Republicans have coherent, disciplined messaging even when they're playing defense.
It almost doesn't matter what the response is, as long as it is simple and is repeated consistently. How long would the "lipstick" thing have lasted if EVERY DEM on EVERY SHOW said:
"First, Obama wasn't talking about Palin, he was talking about the Republican party's policies over the last 8 years. Anyone who says otherwise is deliberately misrepresenting what he said. And second, McCain used the very phrase 'lipstick on a pig' six months ago in talking about Hillary, so any outrage on his part is utterly hypocritical."
Two points: one a defense, and one an attack. If EVERY DEM stuck to JUST EXACTLY THESE TWO POINTS, we could control the debate. But instead every surrogate is freelancing, and the Republicans win another round.