The credit squeeze, the character slurs and the political themes

There is a small amount of time left before the general elections, but the last month still has two presidential debates as well as all of the twists and turns that this extraordinary financial crisis can muster.  This weekend has seen activity from Palin that has already driven from the news the Republicans withdrawal from keeping Michigan in ‘play’.  In this race the Republicans, although underdogs, are still not ‘dead dogs’ as the Democrats could have achieved by now.

Palin’s highlighting of Obama’s connections to Mr Ayers (and by implication the Weather Underground) will not, by itself, win any more voters to the Republican cause.  In order to roll back Obama’s lead, the McCain/Palin ticket needs to organize a concerted attack that weaves together a pattern that will make sense in terms of a narrative ark to the American people.  Otherwise these attacks will just appear as they do hitherto – shots in the dark.   

Obama needs to maintain a steady hand in face of these pinpricks.  At a certain point, if these attacks do morph into a strategy he won’t be able to brush them off as mere slurs and smears.  Headlines are how politicians rise and fall.  Headlines if they persist become the news.