RSI Delusion: Killer Ads for Obama

As someone who writes a lot, I have to admit that there are some delusional elements involved in writing. The biggest delusion is Malcolm Gladwell's fault. After the publication of The Tipping Point, every minor event is portrayed as a critical moment that can result in rearranging the whole structure of American politics, the Middle East, and the world in general. Even writers who haven't read the book now suffer from the delusion that EVERY SINGLE MOMENT IS UNBELIEVABLY IMPORTANT TO THE FATE OF THE UNIVERSE. Like a lot of delusions, the tipping point delusion threatens to kills us as a result of exhaustion.

But there are less tiring delusions as well. Political reporters often suffer from the "consultant delusion" that they can provide politicians advice on how to conduct campaigns. But unless their names are Karl Rove and James Carville, reporters have never been consultants for political campaigns and they don't have any idea of the basics of political campaigning. Most of what reporters seem to do is interview the campaign staff people who protect candidates from reporters. Just as sports writers don't know the basics of their games, political writers don't know anything about developing a message, organizing events, securing endorsements, fundraising, putting together a "ground game," or running an ad campaign. They don't have access to internal polling either.

But that doesn't mean reporters can't do ersatz consulting and they do a lot of it.

Bloggers like myself are even worse. We're under the delusion that we're political journalists even though most of us don't even do any of the background interviewing that "real" journalits do. Despite only having access to secondary or tertiary sources of information, blogs like this one are bursting with advice, commentary, and judgment. Needless to say, it's all very democratic and I often comfort myself with the thought that I do have a Ph.D. in political science from a reputable school (UNC-Chapel Hill). But I also have to admit that much of what I'm writing is speculative at best and that the specter of delusion haunts blogging in general.

But ploughing ahead despite the risk of delusion, I want to offer advice to the Obama campaign on their television ads. Now that the story of McCain's four separate properties with seven houses is out, Obama has a great opportunity to launch some attack ads on McCain's energy policies. One of the things that McCain and the Republicans are recommending is that our country build 45 nuclear power plants. But the power with nuclear power plants has always been where to put them. Given Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, the terrorist threat, and the problems with processing nuclear wastes, nobody but nobody wants a nuclear power plant built anywhere near them.

So, why couldn't the Obama campaign do attack ads at John McCain's various homes asking McCain if he wants a nuclear power plant next to one of Cindy's houses? They could do "man and woman on the street" interviews asking neighbors or actors posing as neighbors whether they want a nuclear power plant nearby. The Obama campaign could even do some sort of Michael Moore schtick with an interviewer searching a neighborhood for anybody who would want a nuclear power plant built in their back yard.

Yes, I know that it's delusional to think that I could give Obama's ad people advice on their ad campaigns.

But there it is.