Found via: Ed Brayton
Commenting on blogger John Hinderaker who calls Obama “the most gaffe-prone politician in memory,” Radley Balko writes:
It is sorta' cute, though, to watch the right-wingers and longtime defenders of President Bush attack Obama for--of all things--his inability to speak articulately. The choreographed way in which several high-profile right-wing blogs picked up the gaffe meme strongly suggests hat there's already a coordinated effort afoot to push a narrative, here. "Barack's a doofus!" (You may remember similar memes, such as "Al Gore invented the Internet!" and "John Kerry's a Flip-Flopper!)
I know. The lack of self-awareness is mind-boggling. But I think it's calculated. This is a page right out of the Rovian playbook. Project your onto your opponents your own biggest weaknesses. So the Bush campaign ducks the National Guard issue by calling John Kerry a coward. Draft-dodging Saxby Chambliss attacks Max "I Left Three Limbs on the Battlefield" Cleland's patriotism. It's brilliant, really. Your opponents are so taken aback at the sheer audacity (sorry, it's the only word that fits, here) of the charge, they stagger, nonplussed. Then of course, you pounce.
Hence, the spectacle of a Bush sycophant like John Hinderaker taking aim at Barack Obama's eloquence.
These sorts of stories are useful, though. And I'm sure we'll see similar stories emerge from the left about McCain. The come out in every campaign. They're useful in that they let us see which bloggers and pundits are serious people with any semblance of intellectual honesty, and which are knee-jerk party hacks (emphasis mine).
Offhand, A few other tells:
Hacks regularly engage in rumor-mongering.
They regularly ignore or dismiss evidence when it contradicts their positions.
They rarely express admiration for anything about any opponent, unless they can do so in a dismissive or condescending way.
They never, under any circumstances, prefer an opponent's position on a particular issue.
With respect to opponents, they always articulate the most uncharitable interpretation of any situation that arises. Even when a particularly nasty interpretation is far-fetched, they get it out there. An army of blogging zealots will disseminate it as established truth.
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