Word: mccain
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...late July, the McCain campaign had demonstrated that it could also shake up the presidential race by deploying outrage's lesser twin: outrageousness. In a set of advertisements for both the Internet and television, the campaign compared Obama to Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and even Moses, mocking Obama's "celebrity" in a way that was both controversial and certain to grab lots of free airtime...
...Meanwhile, the Obama campaign, which prides itself on running on an even keel, has rarely tried to push the same emotional buttons. The only comparable effort came shortly before the Democratic Convention, when the campaign latched onto McCain's admission in an interview that he did not know how many houses he owned with his wife, who is heir to a considerable fortune...
...Then last week, the Obama campaign shifted gears, launching two new negative attacks on McCain, one suggesting that he was old by highlighting his time in Washington and his unfamiliarity with e-mail. The second, which focused on the number of former lobbyists who volunteer or work for the McCain campaign, misled viewers by suggesting that these officials still lobbied for special interests...
...Neither attack was outraged or outrageous enough to create a new political conversation, let alone a tangent. This imbalance has caused some soul-searching and second-guessing in newsrooms as reporters realize they are being successfully manipulated by the McCain campaign. "Stop the madness," said TIME's own Mark Halperin in an appearance on CNN to discuss the controversy. "I think this is the press just absolutely playing into the McCain campaign's crocodile tears...
...weekend, many news organizations had mounted a backlash of their own, running prominent pieces accusing the self-branded "straight-talking" McCain of deceiving voters. "The 'Straight-Talk Express' has detoured into doublespeak," announced the Associated Press, while the New York Times blared, "McCain Barbs Stirring Outcry as Distortions...