Combatting Obama's Creed

-- By AdamCarlis - 4 April 2008

Introduction

This season's Democratic primary has pitted two gifted politicians against one another, providing insight into how campaigns rise and fall based on their ability to create and maintain a creed that captures the widest possible audience.

The Early Campaign

A One-Way Race

Early on, there was no Democratic primary. Clinton was running as the inevitable candidate; the one best positioned to beat the Republicans in the fall. Her creed was a simple promise to deliver what democrats most desired: a Democrat in the White House.

The Emergence of Hope

John Edwards and Barak Obama, however, altered the dynamic of the race. By speaking forcefully about change, they pushed Clinton onto the defensive. She pushed back, citing her experience and preparation for the job. For the first time, competing creeds emerged.

Edwards would fight for change, championing the working-class who, along with their unions, supported him in droves. That tent, however, wasn't big enough. While representing a sizable share of Democratic Primary voters, it alienated others. Moderates and the Wall Street crowd were turned off. Perhaps overestimating voter animosity towards big business, Edward’s pitched a pop tent and not enough voters could fit inside.

Simultaneously, Obama pitched the biggest tent of them all. He campaigned for "one America" – a nation where divisions of political party, and, most strikingly, race are obsolete. Arguing that change comes from collaboration, he invited everyone in and promised reconciliation. Arnold himself couldn’t have created a broader, more appealing creed.

The race became Obama’s "One America" against Clinton's predictable stewardship.

Obamamania

One characteristic of Obama's campaign, highlighted by the media and exalted by his supporters, is that he somehow "transcends race." He is a black man who is not angry at white America. Instead of demanding and confronting, Obama articulates message of unity, healing, and progress. He purports to create an opportunity to move past divisiveness: a message that is both necessary to maintain the "One America" creed and what makes it desirable to a broad audience (particularly white voters looking for redemption from sin).

Misguided Attacks

Clinton's early attacks failed because they did not undermine the basic tenants of Obama's creed.

First, Clinton tried to bring the whole tent down in one blow. She mocked Obama's creed, arguing that change and hope are just words, which, in the end, accomplish nothing. While perhaps true, this was like arguing that the wizard is just a man, without first pulling back the curtain. Her attacks played right into his argument that standing for change and unity causes resentment by the status quo. Because this attack failed to directly undermine the veracity of "One America," it was unsuccessful.

Next, Clinton argued that she, too, represented change. While obviously true, Clinton had to take a back seat on the issue. Not only was she late to show, but the idea of electing a woman proved less appealing than moving beyond racial divisions. Our long history of racial animosity makes the idea of coming together and transcending prior divisions more powerful than a female president: the past and present animosity between men and women, and the pain associated with it, does not rise to the same level. While this attack slightly broadened Clinton's appeal, it, again, failed to undermine the basic premise of Obama’s creed and so didn't wound his campaign.

Holes in the Tent

Since Texas and Ohio, however, the Clinton campaign has done a better job undermining the tent posts supporting Obama's broad creed.

First, Clinton publicly discussed Obama as a potential Vice President as if to say, "You can have 'change,' feel good about bridging the chasms that divide us, and still vote for me." Obama, sensing the damage that this would do to the central premise of his campaign, immediately rejected the VP job. Still, the seed was planted that perhaps Clinton could deliver on both her promises of leadership and Obama’s promises of "One America."

Second, the Clinton campaign directly poked a hole in the idea that Obama is someone above politics. Despite her own shady land deals, Clinton pushed the Tony Rezko story, arguing that Obama is part of the same political muck that plagues Washington. This is a perfect attack on Obama's creed with little cost to Clinton. She basically announced, "See, he is dirty like the rest of us!" This was an important move because it had the potential to change the way voter’s viewed Obama. His supporters enamored with a departure from politics as usual were left questioning whether Obama was what he said he was.

Recently, Clinton has shaken the very foundation of Obama's creed by questioning whether he transcends race. By highlighting his pastor's divisive words, Clinton raised the question whether, deep down, Obama is actually an angry black man, poised to spill the secret shame of racism in this country. For white voters, such a charge brought serious misgivings. No longer is Obama the fearless leader who will move the country beyond its deep divisions. Instead, if her attack works, his campaign will become, as Bill Clinton argued many weeks ago, in many ways indistinguishable from Jesse Jackson's. Without racial unity and reconciliation, "One America" quickly becomes many America’s again and the whole in the creed lets votes escape.

It is too early to tell whether Obama’s speech on race and subsequent campaigning mitigated the damage done by Clinton’s attack. The very fact that he give such a speech indicates that the campaign felt a major reaffirmation of the creed was necessary.

Endgame

While Obama remains strong, Clinton has found a way to hurt him. The Richardson and Casey endorsements may re-entrench the idea that his appeal crosses racial lines, but the question remains whether Clinton has enough ammunition to take Obama out. If so, we now know she can capably pull the trigger.

Regardless, the battle between these two politicians with similar politics, but quite different politicking, has given us insight into what it takes to cobble together and maintain a sufficiently broad creed.

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