The Strib has an interesting look at what lies ahead on the road to the Democratic nomination, in light of Hillary's wins in Texas and Ohio on Tuesday. The headline says it all: "Wins could ratify bitter attack ads." In my mind, here's the money quote:
And yet, Clinton's "3 a.m." ad seemed to do the trick. It'll keep her in the race, and it'll probably lead to more mudslinging before the Pennsylvania primary next month. Is it any wonder people are sick of politics in this country?In Ohio and Texas, a majority of voters also thought Clinton attacked Obama unfairly, the exit polls found.
"That ad makes me angry," said one Ohio voter, Josh Stoneburner, a dog groomer. "We've been dealing with that kind of politics long enough. I don't want to be scared into voting. Enough fear-mongering."
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Ah yes, politics. . .
Attack ads have proven to be successful in the past, we've seen example after example (which you pointed out in your last post) from Rove and the rest of the the party in control of the White House. With the soundbite mentality that exists in society, the Republicans have definitely done a better job of using this format than the Democrats.
However, I think this last "Super Tuesday II" vote hints at some other issues that are evident in the psyche of the American people. Could we look back to 1980's and the advent of the Reagan Democrats (and to a certain, later extent the Blue Dog Democrats)? No longer were the dems viewed as champions of the working/middle class, but instead they were viewed as the party who worked primarily for the benefit of others: special interest groups, the unemployed and other victims, the indigent and frequently African Americans (see the fiasco with Jesse Jackson holding the Democratic Convention "hostage" in 1984 and in subsequent years).
Since that time, the Democrats have been looking at bringing these individuals back into the fold without much success. Old line Democrats (see labor) can not stand many things the Democratic Party has come to stand for (see above paragraph)
The Saturday Night Live skit (can you believe this is where America turns for political news?) was a huge benefit for the Clinton camp. When someone actually pointed out the "soft" treatment that Obama has received from the media (also being pointed out by Clinton), all those old feelings of resentment came to the forefront again. This favoritism was what originally drove the Democrats to Reagan and now it is all coming to the forefront again.
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