Will someone please put a stake through the heart of "McCain is a classy guy" idea?  This is an oily unscrupulous operative, and an incomepetent one at that.  Oink.

I guess I'm bad at reading body language. What's wrong with the McCain photo? It can't be that there's not a horse under him.

I dunno.  Based on those two clips, the image difference between BHO and JM doesn't seem that stark to me.

Of course, maybe this in itself is a minor victory for Obama.  He doesn't look ridiculous talking about geopolitical strategy, and his comments about the Afghan/Pakistan border were, for a guy who is so often accused of trafficking in airy abstractions, refreshingly concrete.

Some of the coverage I've seen of Obama being pressed on whether the surge was a success leaves him looking not very good. It is a hard thing for him to explain in a short interview without creating the appearance that he's parsing and side-stepping -- especially if you're not following the substance of the surge/withdrawal debate very closely. I wouldn't be surprised if Obama's performance in some of these interviews is turning off some viewers back home, despite his cool bearing and statesmanlike setting.

And I agree with chrismealy and aeromonas, that McCain doesn't come off that badly in these images/clips.

Woah, hey, McCain  in the video is contemptible! I'm just talking about the airplane photo.

Whoops. Careless phrasing on my part. What McCain *says* in the video is indeed contemptible. (That Obama would choose to lose the war so he can win the election.) That's as bad as the stuff in the whisper campaign. I meant that the imagery of the video and his appearance: it didn't strike me as especially stiff, uncomfortable, awkward, or uncool.

And his delivery also seemed forceful and smooth to me, rather than awkward, whiny or petulant. (I'm bracketing out the substance of his put down of Obama, which surely doesn't meet the standard of honorableness he's supposedly set for his own campaign.)

Among other things, Obama doesn't make assinine statements about the Afghanistan-Iraq border.

Hate to say it, but its one of the problems with being old. You get a lot less graceful and the natural expression on your face in unguarded moments is much more strained. You also lose a little bit of the 'give a damn' about what people think of you and that comes through even if you're trying to counter it in the midst of a campaign. And McCain has always been a bit stiff since his POW days, which shouldn't be held against him, but is part of the image he projects. Reagan was the exception to these rules - Dole is another good example of them (including the war injury stuff). This is just at the most base physical impression level. I'm not talking about their character or positions, which I have strong opinions about. But physically and photographically, Obama is a handsome young guy who's in th prime of his life. McCain is a battered old man trying to get it up one more time. This stuff matters. It probably even should.

ramboorider - this is the first post that speaks to the downside of McCain's age in a concrete way, rather than just making cruel fun.  

The idea that people care less what people think as they age is a real one. But in this case, McCain is not heroically stating the truth, damn the consequences. He's showing that his decency filter is apparently gone, damn the consequences.  The shame in saying whatever foul garbage pops in to his head is no longer available to him.  

He's been an awful candidate, just awful.

I agree Hemlock - Obama should say the damn surge worked and stop looking like a niggling, stingy, wormy politician about it.   It is not working.

When a candidate starts saying "I had the courage to" blah blah you can smell the desperation. Where's that fork?

He shouldn't be complaining about the Media in any event, given that his outrageous flubs are being covered up.  This is McCain about the surge and "Anbar" on CBS yesterday:

"Colonel MacFarland was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that's just a matter of history."

This is McCain, just before the "surge" using the "sheiks" as a reason for the surge (rather than the other way around, as he claimed:

"I really believe that there's a strong possibility that you may see a very substantial change in Anbar province due to this new changes in our relationships with the sheiks in the region. ... But it's important, as I said in my opening remarks, that this troop surge be significant and sustained. Otherwise, don't do it."

Incidentally, the false claim ended up being cut; and to cover up, McCain launches another attack.

www.huffingtonpost.com/.../mccain-gets-history-of-th_n_114419.html

He's not a doddering old fool.  He's Lee Atwater, Karl Rove and Dick Cheney rolled into one.

Wandreycer1: The problem is, it is not at all certain that it was the "surge" that worked - as in, sending in 30,000 fresh troops.  As the above post demonstrates, the task of pacifying Anbar had begun months before the surge was even conceived; and, if I had to bet money on it, I'd say that getting your enemies to stop shooting at you is a far more effective plan in reducing violence than putting in more targets on the ground.  In any event, the "surge" was a change in tactics as much as it was an increase in numbers - and it is not at all clear whether it was the chance in tactics or the numbers increases that helped reduce the violence.

As well, you can only say that the surge has "worked" if, by withdrawing the surge, you can be sure that the violence would not return.  Well, that remains to be seen.

Finally, the surge is a tactical move trying to correct a series of basic strategic errors.  In 2007, given the history of the management of the way by the BushCheney Administration, sceptics had every right to wonder about yet another plan that was going to lead to "Mission Accomplished", that  "stayed the course", that addressed the "lsat throes", that ....  That is to say, when you have no confidence in the Captain, a plan to reorder seating on the lifeboats to have fewer dead appears to me, at least, open to severe questioning.

Of course it is difficult to convey all of this in two sentences.

Obama always looks great - it's part of his appeal.   As for looking calm and cool, why shouldn't he?  He's just on a tour, it's not like he needs to do anything.

And now John Dickerson over at Slate, no fan of Obama's:

"But if McCain is going to make his surge argument stick, voters need to trust him. His "straight talk" reputation will have to be as sturdy as possible. The gas-prices ad—and the equally disingenuous one on tax cuts—dismantles that reputation. In 2000, McCain said that spinning is lying. By that standard, these claims are what? Double-lying. Super lying? "

Though the mood of the campaign could easily flip tomorrow, the current rough patch is feeding doubts about McCain's strategy and his chances in November.

icarusr is right, the only way to know if the surge truly worked is when we leave. McCain of course will just say the surge is working, working so we must keep it going which is meaningless since the purpose of the surge was so that we can draw down. McCain is really blowing this big time, he should have called for troop withdrawals as well giving credit to himself, and if he did become President he can always go back on it. Now he just sounds like the reason he supported the surge is just so he can say "I told you so."

McCain needs to attack. Turn the spotlight on his opponent's many weaknesses and make this a referendum on Obama. This plus the kind of microtargetting GOTV tactics Rove/Mehlman used to perfection in 2004 would be enough for him to squeak by in OH PA and probably MI MO and CO as well.

Imagery does matter.

Here's Obama at the Pakistan-Afghaistan border with Osama bin Laden, al-Zawahiri, and Mullah Omar handing them off to US Spcial Forces. "Thought I'd give you guys a hand," he remarked as he rushed off to destroy the Afghanistan opium crop. As he crossed Iran, he is seen destroying Iran's nuclear weapons and forcing Ahmadinejad to bark like a mad dog. Later he is in Baghdad with cheering crowds and flowers strewn in his path by happy Iraqis as he is seen making peace between the Kurds, Sunnis, and Shi'ites as the US Army makes preparations to come home. After that he is in Jerusalem shuttling between Olmert and Abbas to broker the lasting peace between the Israelis and the Palestinans where both sides symbolically lay down their arms in a gesture of friendship. Obama has hardly broken into a sweat in the 120 degree heat, wearing his cool wraparound sunglasses. With the peace concluded, he is seen walking across the Sea of Galilee. "I'm  a little late for an appointment to resolve the World economic crisis," he remarked to the slouching MMM reporters panting to keep up, forming a ragged flotilla behind him as they crowded into any boat they could scrounge .  Some swore they could see a cape fluttering behind him as he swept away . . .

Mean while back in Kennebunkport, John McCain is seen drooling and gnashing his teeth with petulant whiny outbursts of "he couldn't have done all that without the "SURGE," and "he's only doing things like bringing peace and prosperity to win an election."

mccain should be grateful the press isn't paying much attention to him, and hasn't been, because once they do, he's not gonna look good. That nasty smile smug smile turns me off everytime.

Frankly, it is singlehandedly responsible for turning me from a McCain fan to actively disliking the guy. And my dislike has nothing to do with wanting Obama to win. It's simply visceral.

It's especially appalling when he says something as foul as what he accused Obama of here. I can't imagine that it won't turn off most people the more it's flashed in conjunction with nasty comments. Even when the comment it accompanies isn't really that bad objectively, it has the effect of turning the comment into a snide one. I'd like to see somebody do a video collage of these smiles.

Does anybody else feel the same way?

scire, I was actually turned off to McCain when he started reversing himself on every policy I actually like about him, but I don't disagree with the visceral feeling of disgust I get at watching him give that smile after snarling such a contemptuous allegory of his opponent.

Respectful campaign, indeed!

I agree that McCain's age and health are indeed an issue. I've seen and heard him make dumb mistakes, in person (confusing India and Indonesia; referring to the language of "Iraqi" instead of arabic). It's pretty obvious that his time has passed.

That said, it seems equally clear to me that Obama's time has not yet arrived. He'd have done himself and the country a favor if he'd held off running until he compiled some real evidence of leadership, mastered some issues, acquired some battle scars.

Obama with battle scars, maybe a Purple Heart or something, would be just great.  A less incoherent, better informed, and nicer version of John McCain would be pretty good too.  

Given the two men as they are, I like Obama.

Neil

Tep,

Maybe Obama's not as experienced as you would like. But that doesn't mean his time hasn't arrived. That's a nonsensical statement. It has  arrived-- 'cause guess what? He's here. And he's one of two candidates, one of whom is becoming more and more anachronistic and  irrelevant with each passing day. and who confuses strong opinion with good judgment, indignation with honor, experience with ability.

I know a ton of teachers who have taught far longer than I have. But guess what? I'm much better at it than most of them: I'm smarter, I'm less jaded, I have vision, I don't mind putting in long hours and trying new things, I willing to take risks, I keep up with current research and apply it to my curriculum and methodology, I listen to my students' and don't get bent out of shape if they tell me how I could do things better, I have energy,and I haven't burnt out yet.

Doing something for a long time doesn't always make you better at it. Sometimes it makes you worse and limits your objectivity and vision.

John McCain started off the week with a yawning imagery gap , lurching toward a strategy based on either