The world turned upside down

by Denis Campbell

I love The Daily Kos. Yeah, they blew it on the Palin granddaughter as her baby thing, but it is a place of great political wit and writing. My favourite debate post-game read was from there this morning…

The business of focus groups is serious, as are the people who prepare the 527 group attack adverts we see. Here is the result of testing one such ad (remove all liquids from mouth before reading warning…

Ben Smith talks to a Republican consultant, who had done a focus group showing a hard-hitting, no-holds barred anti-Obama attack ad from a 527 that has yet to air, to a group of midwestern Reagan Democrats. The results:

Reagan Dems and Independents. Call them blue-collar plus. Slightly more Target than Walmart.

Yes, the spot worked. Yes, they believed the charges against Obama. Yes, they actually think he’s too liberal, consorts with bad people and WON’T BE A GOOD PRESIDENT…but they STILL don’t give a f***. They said right out, “He won’t do anything better than McCain” but they’re STILL voting for Obama.

The two most unreal moments of my professional life of watching focus groups:

54 year-old white male, voted Kerry ‘04, Bush ‘00, Dole ‘96, hunter, Nascar fan…hard for Obama said: “I’m gonna hate him the minute I vote for him. He’s gonna be a bad president. But I won’t ever vote for another god-damn Republican. I want the government to take over all of Wall Street and bankers and the car companies and Wal-Mart run this county like we used to when Reagan was President.”

The next was a woman, late 50s, Democrat but strongly pro-life. Loved B. and H. Clinton, loved Bush in 2000. “Well, I don’t know much about this terrorist group Barack used to be in with that Weather guy but I’m sick of paying for health insurance at work and that’s why I’m supporting Barack.”

I felt like I was taking crazy pills.  I sat on the other side of the glass and realized…this really is the Apocalypse. The Seventh Seal is broken and its time for eight years of pure, delicious crazy….

You can sense the frustration in GOP ranks — the playbook that has been so successful for so many years has been ripped out of their hands and thrown out the window. People want substance? They want their elected officials to be on the right side of the issues? But what about the crazy liberal terrorist-living Democrat??????

How can substance be trumping character attacks?

Only a Republican ideologue would think that we haven’t already lived through eight years of pure crazy, not to mention a generation of voters voting against their own interests because of bullshit social issues that affect them little. That’s why these voters are shrugging off allegations of Ayers and sticking with Obama, no matter how much slime the Republicans dish.

And if Obama ends up being a good president and proves to the American people that government can be their friend? Republicans are going to be in an even bigger world of hurt than they think.

Lookin’ good Winthorpe!
Feelin’ good Bill Ray!
(Apologies to Dan Ackroyd and Eddie Murphy in Trading Places.)