Srikanth, on Peter Wehner:

Mr. Wehner,

You referenced Trent Lott’s comments lauding Strom Thurmond and his fate. Sen. Lott’s leadership position and career were immediately finished and nothing, (appearing in a remarkably contrite groveling session on BET, coming out in favor of the MLK holiday and affirmative action,) could save him. The reason was that his comments, while totally common in his social circles and age bracket, had by 2002 become too embarrassing to explain away. My best defense of him is contextual, but he was sunk because the comments (which were partly pro-segregationist) fit well enough with his persona (conservative good-old boy) that it created a meme that he couldn’t disentangle. These Ayers Wright and Rezko associations are all highly unimpressive, but will do nothing at this stage to help Mac. My best defense of Obama is inglorious (that he is a typical politician who will do what he has to do advance) but it undercuts the message that Obama is a radical or someone to fear. Moreover, his persona has been remarkably cool and disciplined, so for the majority of swing voters, the Obama-is-a-radical meme simply doesn’t resonate.

In the same way, picking Palin and unleashing her on Ayers attacks so late shows a poor understanding of how wedge issues work. Seen from a non-moralistic perspective, the Willie Horton ‘88 ad and the “Hands” ad of ‘90 may seem more overtly racial now, because the zeitgeist marches on, but both also spoke to legitimate fears of white Democrats at the time (crime and unemployment). This late “Who is the real Barack Obama” line of attack (also the subject line of the widely circulated and discredited Muslim email) is the indicator that McCain’s pres. hopes are on their last revolution of the toilet bowl because their just drawing a tight circle around the GOP 25 yard line, instead of their opponents’. 25% still approve of Bush. Some believe the earth is flat. But you aren’t going to build a winning coalition by indulging in their concerns.

Imagine a Dem trying to change the subject from terrorism post 9-11 to get an idea about how effective Bill Ayers is for McCain.