You Want Tough?

A lot of liberals are worried that Barack Obama is acting like a wimp, not defending himself in the face of these attacks, not fighting back. Well, this is a pretty hard-hitting ad, tying McCain to Bush on gas prices and noting the $2 million in contributions from Big Oil he's received.



There's a problem here, of course. He hedged on offshore drilling on Friday, endorsing the bipartisan process toward a comprehensive solution. Though offshore drilling isn't mentioned in this ad, it takes the wind out of it.

The other problem is that we have a press corps which is determined to pay attention to the most trivial things imaginable. Ads which have Britney and Paris in them - worth amplifying. An ad from a Democrat - we'll pass and just joke about how stupid it is to keep your car running properly.

So let's see if this gets any actual media play. Regardless, it'll run on the air. And because he shows an actual concern for people, perhaps Obama will continue to run well with downscale voters - who would-a thunk it?

Democratic Sen. Barack Obama holds a 2 to 1 edge over Republican Sen. John McCain among the nation's low-wage workers, but many are unconvinced that either presidential candidate would be better than the other at fixing the ailing economy or improving the health-care system, according to a new national poll.

Obama's advantage is attributable largely to overwhelming support from two traditional Democratic constituencies: African Americans and Hispanics. But even among white workers -- a group of voters that has been targeted by both parties as a key to victory in November -- Obama leads McCain by 10 percentage points, 47 percent to 37 percent, and has the advantage as the more empathetic candidate.

The problem, as it notes later in the article, is that most low-wage workers don't see any hope for government to help them. That's been the linchpin of the conservative project over the past 30 years. Hopelessness is their currency. Maybe Obama can break this cycle.

UPDATE: Hey look, Mitt Romney's lying about John McCain's record! This is a shock. The point he's making is that McCain isn't asking for any special tax breaks for Big Oil. That's true, he's just lowering their tax burden as part of an overall corporate tax cut.



That's not exactly helpful.