Some of the more ludacris things I observed this weekend:
The Britney/Paris ad endorsed by McCain.
And responses to it.
One response coming from liberal radio commentator, Bill Press, who said that “the McCain campaign is simply trying to plant the old racist seed of black man hitting on young white woman. Not directly, but subliminally and disgracefully.”
Press’ critique of the ad was brought up for discussion on CNNs Sunday morning show, Reliable Sources, and challenged by a Scripps Howard News Service columnist who offered up a different response, this one in McCain’s defense, saying that “this ad with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears - if you think about those two, you don’t think of them as white women, first of all. You think airhead. You think vacuous celebrity. That’s why they were used, not in any strange way to try to link Obama with being involved with white women or something like this.”
The argument that the ad in question reinforces the stereotype of black man chasing young white woman seems to me a desperate attempt by a radio commentator to come up with some clever observation that uncovers an insidious political message. Bill Press’ accusation is unnecessarily inciting and in and of itself promotes a tired and hopefully fading stereotype by simply bringing it up when there is no real evidence to support his claim. It boils down to yet another member of the media grasping at straws in an already murky slush of propaganda.
The critical opinion of the ad, however, is not my biggest concern. What makes me cringe is the Scripps Howard columnist’s response in defense of the ad, which I believe hits closer to the real message it is attempting to deliver. My concern is this:
In a campaign where it is obvious, if not fair (what in politics is?), that McCain’s political Achilles heel is his age, why would he endorse a message that slams two young women (one of them struggling…who cares if she is a celebrity or not) and general youth culture in one fell swoop?
As it turns out, the ad that McCain endorsed is creating the exact media frenzy/hype it aimed to poke fun at (just as the aforementioned left-wing radio commentator inadvertently brought back a troubling racist stereotype that he was attempting to denounce).
I am tempted to pose the argument, now, that the truly insidious political message driving this ad is one of misogyny. But then I would be just like Press and McCain - putting my energy behind something I stand against in a failed attempt to fight it (I’ll leave that for someone out there to swarm upon).
Instead, I might suggest a solution for the McCain camp and perhaps the Obama camp as well.
Rather than trying so hard to pick apart the flaws of the other guy, why not simply show us/tell us what you can do? For example, Mr. McCain, instead of isolating and separating yourself from young people (celebrity, minority, democrat, republican, or not) embrace them…or at least refrain from haranguing them. Ignore the glitz and glamour that you believe is Obama…if Obama and his messaging truly are empty, then what do you have to worry about? Show us your substance. Run ads that do that. We are listening, believe it or not.
I understand that in this country there is as much latent ageism as there is lingering racism. It is sad and telling but, I feel, it is true. Both candidates must know this. If McCain wants to win over the “youth” vote, he is going to have to be a lot smarter when it comes to his messaging and tactics. Promoting an already unfortunate image as a stodgy right-wing white male is not, in my humble opinion, going to do it. Just as Obama will have to carefully measure his every word, endorsement, alliance, acquaintance, and disposition when it comes to race, so will McCain when it comes to age.
So in the end, this is my message: smarten up, McCain, because love him or hate him, your contender is one intelligent guy and I believe that after the last eight years THAT is what America is looking for. Or at least, I hope it is.
EAT THIS: Political Rolaids (do they exist?)
