How can you not love Slate?
Came for the breezy, smart-but-funny analysis of John Dickerson about last night. Stayed for the wonderful column by Jeff Greenfield that will keep me smiling til Obama’s nomination - the Rosetta Stone of American presidential politics: Bugs Bunny always defeats Daffy Duck. Even if posted at an odd time - and they should have re-written the lede, as you’ll see. But the theory I think is still a good one and the best political mantra you could want.
(If you’re ever in a debate and feel yourself losing your cool, repeat that mantra to yourself, and remember, It’s Duck Season.)
It’s one that will serve Obama well against the urge (within or from advisers) to retaliate in kind against Clinton. And should have served him well last weekend.
I think the reasons that Clinton’s Ohio redoubt held — Obama was down 20 points in Ohio two weeks ago and cut into her lead with lunchbucket guys and angry white women over 40, just not enough — and why she held Obama to a draw in Texas (he’ll net delegates from the state) are many, but I think the decisive one was that for the last three days of the campaign he seemed decidedly un-Bugsian.
She won every news cycle of the previous week and got the media to overcompensate vs Obama in the Monday press conference before polling day. Self-inflicted wounds (mostly) over NAFTA and Austan Goolsbee, entirely predictable commander-in-chief argument from Clinton’s 3AM ad, and Tony Rezko questions all merged at the same time. Faced with the reversal in media fortune he was forced out of his cool posture.
You could just as easily apply the model to any other contest I can think of, intra-party or general election.
Some other Bugs v Daffy pairings I can think of:
Bertie Ahern v Enda Kenny (until recently)
John Major v Neil Kinnock
Tony Blair v John Major
Tony Blair v Gordon Brown
David Cameron v Gordon Brown
Nicolas Sarkozy v Segolene Royal
Others?
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