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Posted Monday, June 09, 2008 5:21 PM

Obama's Official Blog is Boring. McCain's is Enjoyable. Why That's Bad News for the GOP.

Andrew Romano

 

When I visited the Chicago headquarters of Barack Obama's nascent presidential campaign more than a year ago, his staff was just finding its footing. After all, it was only a week or two earlier that they'd moved from a small, cramped office on the 17th floor of 233 N. Michigan to a full 33,000-square-foot space six stories down. The sign for the press shop was a computer printout taped to a pillar; interviews were conducted in a spare closet. But it was clear even then that Team Obama had a pretty precise plan for the primaries in place. When I asked new media director Joe Rospars about Obama's official blog, for example, he gestured to a guy named Sam Graham-Felsen, a former Nation reporter, sitting in a nearby cluster of cubicles. As our online donations come in, said Rospars, Sam calls up the contributors at random and asks why they chose to give to Barack. Like, right away? Yep, he answered. They're usually pretty surprised. Then he posts their stories on the blog. Sometimes, they even make their way in Barack's speeches. The point: "to make sure that whatever we're doing in new media is totally integrated with whatever else is going on: politics, finance, field operations, communications." For Rospars, an official campaign blog wasn't an informal diary of some dude's views on the news of the day. What was the point of that? Instead, it was a tool for harvesting useful information from supporters--and shaping their perceptions of the race with a steady stream of positive press releases, videos and news articles.

I bring this up today because John McCain just launched his own* a new blog, the McCain Report--and the differences between the two sites say a lot about the character and, I think, electoral chances of the two campaigns. If there's one phrase to describe Obama's blog--and, in fact, his entire Internet operation--it's "a means to an end"; Obama may benefit from unprecedented online enthusiasm--four to eight million email addresses, 1.5 million donors, 800,000 registered users of my.barackobama.com, his social networking platform, and hundreds of commenters on every post--but his team's greatest innovation has been its relentless focus on converting that energy into favorable offline outcomes: registration drives, caucus turnout, et cetera. As a result, Obama's blog is about as interesting as a Club Med brochure. Take today and yesterday's posts, for example: photos of Obama and John and Elizabeth Edwards at an event this afternoon in Raleigh, N.C., coupled with excerpts of the candidate's speech; an "exclusive 'Lunch with Barack'"podcast; a news story about a Republican who is voting for Obama ("Men and women across the county come up to [Obama] and tell him, often in hushed voices, that even though they are Republicans, they are voting for him. And this November will be no different."); messages from "Obama supporters expressing their admiration for Senator Clinton [and] Clinton supporters declaring their support in the general election for Barack"; and a video of Obama speaking in Bristow, Va. Each of these items is presented without comment, analysis or voice, except for the occasional note that a "message of unity is spreading throughout the nation"--and a link to Obama's donation page. In keeping with Rospars' top-down pragmatism, it's an anodyne, corporate affair that might as well be produced by a bunch of robots.

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The McCain Report, on the other hand, is actually readable. Written by new hire Michael Goldfarb (formerly a blogger at the Weekly Standard), the Report wouldn't seem out of place on any number of smart, substantive conservative websites; it just happens to be an official production. Since launching the blog on Friday, Goldfarb has advanced an interesting (if debatable) argument about how increased taxes won't lead to increased government revenue; characterized Obama's early opposition to the Iraq war as a matter of political convenience rather than bold leadership; and reminded readers that Obama wasn't always opposed to the Bear Stearns bailout. He's even tried a little--gasp!--humor. In an item titled "Take a Chance on McCain," Goldfarb informed "disaffected Hillary supporters" that "John McCain is a huge ABBA fan," then posted a vintage YouTube clip of the catchy Swedish quartet. "We're still working out a few kinks," he writes elsewhere. "A last-minute decision to ditch the lime-green background cost us some time." Needless to say, this is more self-mockery than the earnest Obama bloggers have mustered up in 17 months online.

The important thing here is that this personal tone and personal scale isn't limited to McCain's blog--it's reflected throughout the campaign. Obama's venue of choice? A 25,000-seat stadium. In contrast, McCain prefers the push and pull of a town-hall meeting--and has, in fact, challenged Obama to join him on stage. While a fixed, frictionless inner circle of aides runs Obama's massive, efficient organization like a successful private corporation, McCain is relying on a decentralized network of 11 "regional campaign managers" stationed in places like New Brunswick, N.J. and Royal Oak, Mich. to handle his affairs. Obama has 700 staffers blanketing nearly the entire nation; McCain employs only 250. Finally, McCain still invites reporters to cycle on and off his bus for face time and interviews, and top aide Mark Salter regularly responds to unfavorable reports with lengthy personal letters--unlike Obama, who interacts with the media only when necessary. "That's not how you win an election!" a McCain associate recently told Time. "McCain is about the only person left who thinks we ought to keep the bus going. Obama keeps the press at a distance. Why? Because he's trying to win!"

And that's precisely McCain's problem: while the Obama campaign is even bigger and savvier than George W. Bush's legendary presidential juggernauts, Team McCain is still stuck in its default mode: scrappy insurgent. Of course, the Arizona senator doesn't appear to have much of a choice. Obama can afford to launch a massive 50-state voter registration drive because he's raised about $300 million to date. McCain's receipts? About $118 million. Without Obama's resources, Team McCain has concluded that the only way to stay competitive is to stay lean and "human" and hope that the candidate's accessibility and charm earns him free coverage. But there's no doubt that Obama has--and will continue to have--sizable advantages in every area that matters: field organization, voter outreach, television spending, message control. Is this enough to win the election? We'll know in November. Until then, McCain underestimates the power of Obama's ruthlessly efficient operation at his own peril--even if his blog is more fun to read.

UPDATE: Just to clear up some confusion: Obama is light years ahead of McCain on the Internet, especially in terms of converting online energy into offline results. This item is talking about Obama's blog----not his web strategy or site as a whole--to make a point about the scale of his campaign as compared to McCain's. Obama's blog is sterile; McCain's is human. The former is highly strategic and goal-oriented; the latter, sort of improvised and messy and fun. As I wrote, I think that says a lot about where this race is going--and it's not where McCain wants.

Another thing I've noticed about the McCain Report that spells trouble for Republicans: like the Obama blog, it's all about Obama, from the mocking subtitle (A Blog You Can Believe In) to the actual posts (16 out of 19 are attacks on the presumptive Democratic nominee). The point, I suppose, is to shape media coverage; meanwhile, Obama goes directly to his supporters. This reflects the dynamic of the race so far--McCain plays on Obama's field, offering negatives instead of positives--and hints that the election will be all about Obama, too, with McCain winning or losing as a default.

*ALSO: As reader Susanna Dyer notes, there's also a sterile, standard-issue blog on the McCain website that's been there for awhile. " If both blogs continue to exist," she asks, "does that modify your characterization of McCain's blogging efforts?" I'd say no. The decision to hire Goldfarb and task him with creating an interesting site is still symbolic of McCain's scrappier, more personal posture. And until Team Obama hires, say, Ezra Klein, I'm going to assume that their blogging priorities are elsewhere...
 

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Member Comments

Posted By: b10512 (September 6, 2008 at 10:43 AM)

Why isnt everyone just looking at Obama like the scripture tells us in MAtthew 7:15-29, What are his fruits, of love (Obama's part of a hate church for20 years) starting with the unborn babies, who has and lives the love, Obama (NO) or Palin (DAH, isn't it obvious)


Posted By: msindependence (September 3, 2008 at 3:10 PM)

The GOP base is not even warming up to mccain (of course, i could be wrong) and even though it's still early in the game, this just proves to show how we see our candidates to-date. i know i will get burned for this, but i think mccain is a warmonger. i get the impression that he doesn't care to what happens to our troops in the middle east and the other parts of the world. Can’t we just all get along? Also I found these side-by-side videos entitled “Presidential Campaign TV Ads Getting a Little Nasty!, which the McCain's New TV Ad on Obama's 'Celebrity' like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and The Democratic TV Ad on McCain: Are We Better Off? Well, sooner or later you knew it had to start! The media is begging for it and the people want to see some fight in their candidates. So here ya go...and I am sure this is only the beginning in http://clashorama.com/index.php?id=191


Posted By: marcusp (August 29, 2008 at 3:23 AM)

After the acceptance speech hype all week, as a 49 yr. old "angry white man" (1 out of three ain't bad, I'm a man) I observed the misled children of their own Father (Martin Luther King, Jr.) both his son and daughter (a reverent?) stand on the stage and hisown daughter quotes the words that I had hoped for more than 4 decades would indeed be quoted to come to fruition; "I have a dream that some day a child can be judged not by the color of his skin, rather the content of his character". No one, including MLK's own daughter seemed to grasp the meaning of those words, or maybe everyone did, and simply didn't care? Barack Obama may become president, he may be the Messiah, he may be the antichrist, what I care about is WHO HE IS, and WHAT HE BELIEVES IN, far more than the color of his skin, and I always have. I always will. What I saw tonight motivated me to come here and type this. I see reparations taken from my ability to make a living and retire in the standard of even my parents quality of life to pay for former slavery of which I had no part (my family immigrated here in the 1900's to 1940's respectively), I see 20 million illegal aliens added to the rolls of social security and medicare, I see "thought police" who will come and incarcerate me for exercising my 1st Amendment Right to pen this here, see the exponential expansion of gov.org to encompass and engulf every singular part of our individual lives so that there is no escape from the ever watching eye of "big brother", see taxes on the "rich"(that would be us, the middle class, that actually PAYS them, and RUNS this country) as exponentially expanded as that government, I see a man to be feared, surrounded by like minded vengeful people (like John Lewis) looking for 45+ (or is it 200+?) years of "Payback", and all I ever did to earn their disdain was not be born black? (or half black?). In these days of hyphenated Americans and our fractured society, we need a leader who understands basic principals of economics & government, like less taxes = more revenue (Like JFK, & the often hated Reagan), and that a hand up, rather than a handout, should come from the private sector, not the government. Our Messiah (or not) I fear with every fiber in my being, NOT because of the color of his skin, rather Because of the Content of His Character. Who Barack Obama "is", what he stands for, what he has said he will do if elected, and who he has sought counsel from over the past 3 decades should terrify ever small busiess owner, every large business owner, every hard worker who is raising children praying that they may have a better life than us, those of us already contemplating the passing on of our lifes' work and it's accumulated value to our children (without Uncle Sam expecting and getting half of that wealth), every person in America who has a job and realizes it's not their employers Obligation to provide that job, rather it's their obligation to provide a service to the employer that causes the employers' good or service to be produced, distributed, or consumed that guarantees the next paycheck; if You grasp any of these concepts, You probably weren't educated in government schools, yet if You were, must accept that the "real" Barack Obama told the truth tonight as he has in his books, and his votes on the US and Illinois Senate Floors, and from his own lips I give You more government, sprawling government beyond your wildest expectations, government in the stall with You at the convenience store waiting to wipe Your fanny after using that toilet for You can't be trusted to do a good job of it Yourself. Barack, I can have a better life. I Do have a better life because I have spent it learning and working and never (unlike Katrina victims) ever relying on gov.org for ANYTHING, and in this fashion like my fathers before me, and our 5 generations of United States Marines hailed from, we have adapted, improvised, and overcome, however the Mount Surabachi in our case IS Government, Taxes, and Intrusion in to our public, private, and business lives, we had as much to do with slavery as You did, we feel no remorse for that which we had nothing to do with, especially after we have experienced the same descrimination with "affirmative action" and hiring quotas based on the color of our skin, rather than the content or our characters; I wish to live out my days in a free, less intrusively governed, less taxed, and less socialist, country. I understand that "corporate loopholes" that allow companies to pay less taxes for successful companies equal longer business lives for those companies, and better returns in MY 401k retirement program. I understand that Corparate Taxes drive businesses formerly here to foreign bases of operation. I understand that punishing taxes destroy incentive, and the entreprenurial spirit that has made ours the greatest nation in the world. I personally can't afford Your reparations, I don't owe them. I can't afford healthcare for everyone, and neither can anyone else. I can't afford the tuition for every American child to graduate from college (especially those who don't wish a better life for themselves, and they are many) and I don't know anyone who can, and I pay a LOT of taxes today. When, not if, my taxable income and tax ratio exceeds that which I personally deem worthy of my contribution, I will stop contributing, just like every other entrepenuer who has made this country great, and employed folks in the conquest of our dream as those entrepenuers; our dream has not, was not, and will never be...to pay more taxes, to employ more people, or to give more of that which we have sweated and bled to make a success, to our government. It's for ourselves, our personal respect, our families, and our prodiginey. Carl Marx said "From each according to his ability, unto each according to his need", and Marxism, Collectivism, Communism, Socialism, and even "democracy"(one man one vote equals anarchy in any state where the people can vote themselves the governments' treasury) in their purest forms have all failed, because the desire of the entrepeneur is robbed of his incentive. A band called "10 Years After" spelled it out far more aptly..."Tax the rich, to feed the poor, until there are, no rich no more". What then Barack? What happens when all the incentive has been robbed of us, the job creators, the wealth makers, and the tax PAYERS? When our inspiration is gone, and we decide Your taxes, for everyone, for everything, as our "moral obligation" is just too high a price to pay and we collectively say "I quit"...what then? Your belief in what government should do for everyone I view as done To everyone, and know we'll never be able to afford the price tag. Your politics of race scare me to the innermost fibers of my marrow. I know as a student of history how this ends. I pray I'm wrong, I pray others realize the price tag for Your presidency is the future of our country and our children, along with our mutual funds and retirements. Messiah? Not likely. Antichrist? Even less likely. Inexperienced & Clueless about the position considered, probably. Misled by a lifetime of counsel from those who preach hate, dissent, and division? Definitely. I judge based on Your track record, more than Your words, although both speak volumes to Your character. We don't need a President who's "Present", we need a President who's ready to lead. You can't just show up for this job, You have to actually do it. The buck stops in that oval office, and with 1 billion moslems seeking my head on a stick as I will never pray to Allah, now is not the time to ignore the biggest threat the civilized world has faced since the middle ages. I don't need Your kind of change, and know our country (& the balance of the worlds economies combined) can't afford it. Let us all judge, all people, Not by the color of their skin, but rather by the words that come from their mouths, and the actions taken in their deeds, which indeed demonstrate the content of their character.


 
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