That might explain the pathetic nature of the ads and attacks against Obama, but it does not explain why the media is so complicit with these themes. The newest one is the "arrogance" recently started by Karl Rove.
On July 2 the McCain camp put Steve Schmidt in charge of messsaging.
From the Star Tribune:
McCain camp puts Rove man in chargeNew chief Steve Schmidt, right, a veteran of the Bush campaign, will focus on honing McCain's message. Republicans have complained the campaign lacked clear themes.
...."The elevation of Steve Schmidt -- who worked closely with Karl Rove -- at McCain's headquarters represented a sharp diminishment of the responsibilities of Rick Davis, who has been McCain's campaign manager since the last shake-up nearly a year ago.
The move is the latest sign of increasing influence of veterans of Rove's shop in the McCain operation. Nicolle Wallace, who was communications director for Bush in the 2004 campaign (and in his White House) has joined the campaign as a senior adviser, and will travel with McCain every other week. Greg Jenkins, another veteran of Rove's operation who is a former Fox News producer and director of presidential advance in the Bush White House, was hired by Schmidt last week after a series of what McCain's advisers acknowledged were poorly executed campaign events."
The day after that on July 3, Wayne Slater wrote about this McCain move.
Rise of the Rovians: Karl's EverywhereThe conventional wisdom is that Karl Rove ripped his britches in 2006, when massive GOP losses upended his hopes of an enduring Republican majority. Rove himself has denied he's an adviser this year to the McCain campaign. He downplays his conversations with Team McCain as merely "chit-chat." But yesterday's shakeup in the McCain camp suggests the Rovians are on the ascendance.
Political strategist Steve Schmidt in now in charge of daily operations. He's a Rove protégé, and his elevation is evidence of increasing influence of Rove-trained operatives in the McCain camp. White House and Bush campaign veteran Nicolle Wallace has joined Team McCain as a senior adviser. And yesterday's shakeup has put the unflappable Greg Jenkins, Bush's highly regarded political advance man, joining the communications effort.
Here is an interview with Wayne Slater on PBS Frontline in March 2005. It is called
The Architect"Wayne Slater, the author of Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential, has reported on George W. Bush and Karl Rove for The Dallas Morning News for more than a decade. In this interview, Slater gives an overview of Rove's personal and political background, from his childhood when he has a poster that said "Wake Up America," on his wall; to his days as president of the College Republicans; to his career as a political consultant in Texas; up to his becoming "the architect" of George W. Bush's political career. "Rove already had a blueprint for the Bush presidency before George Bush even knew he would become a candidate," Slater tells FRONTLINE. In addition, he discusses the allegations of dirty tricks that have followed Rove throughout his career. This is the edited transcript of an interview conducted on March 2, 2005."
