It seems that every time he turns around, John McCain is directing people's attention to something besides himself, his qualifications, and his plans for America. I call this the Wizard of Oz Strategy, based on the scene in The Wizard of Oz where the scary wizard turns out to be just a little old man behind a curtain bellowing into a microphone and turning the knobs.
The Wizard of Oz Strategy works like this: Something goes wrong in the campaign. Some negative story or meme takes over the news and the blogs. So McCain throws up a distraction, anything to take attention away from himself and what kind of President he would make.
The first such distraction occurred as the DNC was winding down and Barack Obama was due for a subsequent bump in the polls: namely, the nomination of Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska for Vice-President. And what a distraction that was! It took over the news cycle for at least two weeks, maybe three.
In the midst of this first distraction, McCain also threw up a mini-distraction: the cancellation of the RNC's first day due to Hurricane Gustav. Although hardly an absolute necessity, it served multiple purposes: it distracted from the Republicans' lack of substance and ideas, and it allowed for the elimination of "George W. Bush Night" from the Convention, something the Republicans were trying to avoid at all costs.
Now, the polls show McCain a few points behind again. So he distracts again, postponing his first debate with Obama, claiming that the impending economic collapse has precedence over any partisan political considerations. Yet ten days ago, he was saying that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong."
How do these distractions work? First, they allow Mr. McCain to avoid video time, which is something that he knows will make him look bad. He is older, more wooden, and less articulate on camera than Obama is. Also, he has very little of substance to say, relying mostly on stock phrases such as "We'll reform government" or "We need to drill here and we need to drill now." In the days of TV being the only medium of conveying images, McCain could have gotten away with this. He would have appeared on camera only at specified times, giving totally scripted addresses or partially scripted press conferences, interviews, and debates. In contrast, Barack Obama cuts a dapper figure on the screen, speaks well and forcefully (especially since the DNC), and has a whole lot to say of substance. It's almost an unfair fight.
In previous presidential elections, there was no YouTube. Sure, there was video out there (I remember accessing some videos on John Kerry's site), but it was much more scattered across the Internet and harder to find. Now, with YouTube, everything each candidate does or says gets magnified. Every little slip, every little mistake or misstatement or funny facial expression could possibly "go viral." To take the last example, McCain smiles non-congruently (to use a Tony Robbins word), a lot. (For example, in his acceptance speech, he gave a funny little smile after asking for uncommitted voters to consider him; check it out here at 5:47.) Also, he makes contradictory statements constantly (the economy is fundamentally strong vs. my campaign must be suspended to deal with the economic crisis). In sum, McCain now appears constantly in video before the public, but unlike Obama, he does a lot of weird, embarrassing stuff.
That's why McCain has to keep on changing the focus. In the old days of television politics, and even four years ago before YouTube, his deficits wouldn't have been as obvious. The two candidates would have appeared together only on a few, isolated occasions: the debates, essentially. Those who watched the debates would've had to do so in real time only. And although technically, people could always tape or TiVo them and rewatch them, only a few die-hard politicos ever did that. Yes, certain sound-bites would be repeated endlessly on the cable news programs, but there were two big differences.
First, who chose those sound-bites? The networks and the cable news shows. That meant that potential damage was limited to the "obvious" flubs and funnies. Now, the video can be examined over and over, literally by millions of people. And every possible error, "off" facial expression, or badly expressed idea could be red meat for those masses. Suddenly, John McCain has a lot to worry about.
Second, the damage that any particular sound-bite could create would have been limited. It may have seemed so, but people did not watch cable news 24-7. However, people really can watch YouTube 24-7, even at work. In addition, YouTube permeates the culture in ways even television did not. YouTube is not just YouTube; it is linked, via the Internet, to blogs, news sources, diaries, and every other website imaginable. You can be led to a YouTube video from an email as well. Thus, YouTube has become, in a sense, a form of interactive, two-way video communication. This is potentially much more damaging than a one-way sound-bite repeated over and over, even on 24-7 cable news.
Therefore, McCain has to distract attention from the videos, the true record of how he behaves and talks in public. He must create these distractions that say: "I'm not important. The hurricane is more important." Or: "I'm not important. Sarah Palin is important." Or: "I'm not important. Our deteriorating economy is important."
McCain's Wizard of Oz Strategy: Only pay attention to these distractions I'm putting up in front of you, the fire and smoke and projected terrors. "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain." He's just the real person running for President.