The Turnaround

Barack Obama is definitely hitting back today. I know progressive Democrats are often disappointed by their leaders and find it comforting to fit them into boxes, but I have to say he's doing some good things so far this week and pushing the narrative.

In addition to his mockery of the McCain camp's juvenile insults about tire pressure and auto maintenance, Obama took to the offensive in attacking McCain's new O.M. Origina Maverick ad.



That is a VERY interesting spot, because it suggests that the relentless negativity has hurt McCain's brand, and he has to try and pick up the pieces by playing on Obama's turf (the "Washington is broken" aspect). Obama, sensing that the trap has been sprung, jumps all over this, first with a sharp media response:

"Senator McCain wants Americans to forget that during the Republican primary, he said that Americans were better off than we were eight years ago, and that he thinks we've made 'great progress economically.' He wants us to forget that he's fully embraced the Bush policies he once opposed, and bragged about supporting those policies 'more than 90 percent of time.' The truth is, being a maverick isn't practicing the same kind of politics we have seen from Washington for decades, it isn't having a campaign run by Washington lobbyists, and it's certainly not promoting the same policies that have led America down the wrong path these past eight years," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

...and then with a response ad that uses a specific quote from McCain claiming how similar to Bush he is. Good stuff.

“Original”

:30 for TV

MCCAIN AD:
He’s the original maverick.

SILENT SUPER:
Really?

MCCAIN:

The president and I agree on most issues. There was a recent study that showed that I voted with the president over ninety percent of the time…

VO:

John McCain supports Bush’s tax cuts for millionaires, but nothing for a hundred million households.

He’s for billions in new oil company giveaways, while gas prices soar.

And for tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.

The original maverick?

Or just more of the same?

I’m Barack Obama and I approve this message.

I'd rather there be references to 100 years in Iraq and McCain's "26 years in Washington" in there, but it's good stuff (no video on the Web yet, as I can find).

I would also give Obama an assist to this pathetic performance by Mitt Romney with Wolf Blitzer today.

WOLF BLITZER: Can you cite one legislative accomplishment that Senator McCain produced during those 26 years in Washington in order to achieve energy independence?

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: Well, I’m not a historian that goes through all of the pieces of legislation John McCain has worked on.

The key there is that Blitzer asked the question because it comes directly from Obama's attacks this week. McCain simply can't walk the tightrope here, spending 26 years in Washington and being outside of Washington, advocating for practically all of George Bush's policies and yet not being George Bush. Similarly, Obama's harping on McCain's lobbyist money directly led to this McClatchy story about the middle class couple who works at Hess Oil giving $61,000 to McCain's joint fund. Obama essentially invited the media to cover this story, and a few took him up on it.

I don't think Obama necessarily wanted to put out all these ads just yet, preferring to wait until more Americans are paying attention to the race. But I assume he sensed that he was losing control of the narrative and had to engage. This is a very good sign. I don't think that Obama is another Kerry who will invite and allow attacks. He's going to swing back, and swing back hard.