McCain’s Ugly Frogs!
By NancyA on September 16, 2008 at 9:30 PM in Arrogance, Arugula (Elitism), Barack Obama, Current Affairs, Germany, John McCain
Democrats are on defense and not playing it well, as highlighted in my recent article quoting legendary politician Willie Brown, “The Democrats Are On Defense And They Don’t Play It Well.” However, the Telegraph.co.uk calls the put-them-on-the-defense routine McCain’s “Ugly Frog”, writes Craig Crawford at CQ.
The “ugly frog” is a well-known routine that predates Karl Rove’s infamous “Rovian” tactics. Craig Crawford described the “ugly frog routine” this way:
[A] top Republican operative who specializes in electing weak candidates once explained to me how you derail a powerful foe who’s winning on issues. He called it the ugly frog routine.
Ugly frogs in this game can be anything that opposing candidates do or say that, out of context, puts them on the defense.
“Stick that frog right in their face, shake it all around, and say, ‘Here, look at this BIG UGLY FROG,’” the GOP consultant said. “Then, as they defend themselves and explain the context, real quick grab another ugly frog. Repeat often until they’ve spent most of the campaign reacting to your agenda.”
Crawford pointed out something that McCain has been very good — and consistent in exploiting this routine. McCain’s primary routine has been to point out that Barack Obama is an elitist, rock star, out-of-touch Democrat!
John McCain’s team has been playing the ugly frog routine against Barack Obama almost daily, starting with the Paris Hilton celebrity advertisement, forcing the Democrats to react to a barrage of silly attacks.
Do you remember this?
Craig asked the “dark operative” how to combat the routine:
“Get your own frogs,” he said. “Stay off defense.”
Whether it is the ugly frog routine or getting Obama’s “achille’s heel,” as I call it, McCain has it over Obama. McCain’s tactics are keeping Obama off his game, not knowing where to find his own “ugly frogs”. Obama scrambled to find his own “ugly frog” but came up with one that back-fired:
This ad drew strong criticism of Obama, as Uppity Woman pointed out in “Obama Makes Fun of McCain’s Disabilities in Ad.”
Well, Obama’s first “ugly frog” died. I guess he will have to try again, if he can just find another one!
by Ronald Scott
* More novels by 
* 
(
)
- You'll have access to 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books, as well as ultra-fast Web browsing with Amazon Silk -- faster than iPad. Full e-mail and document access and a keyboard. Fire can transmit what is on your screen onto a connected TV or monitor without an accessory. It runs Flash (iPad doesn't). 
