Maybe They Need a Hearing Test

Is Team Obama tone deaf? It seems like a strange question to ask given that the 2008 Obama campaign was touted as the most wonderful of all time. It is true that in 2008 the media all loved the idea of Obama and put all of its hopes and dreams into what was essentially a blank canvas. Obama sold hope and change and few details, while McCain sold the cranky old man who often seemed over his head. This year, the Obama campaign staff have to sell president Obama and his nearly four year record of failure. That is not an easy task. Even so, however, one would expect them to make a creditable effort to accomplish this task. Unforced errors happen to all campaigns, but Team Obama is supposed to be able to keep these to a minimum. But let's get back to the basic question: Is the 2012 version of Team Obama tone deaf? The answer seems surprisingly to be yes.

Just look at the last two days: over the weekend, the Obama campaign had Anna Wintour, the British editor of Vogue, onto the web to promote a fund-raising raffle for the campaign. Wintour is the woman who puts the haughty into haute coture. She is the model for the uber-bitch editor of "The Devil Wears Prada." She just oozes self-superiority. In other words, she has just about no appeal to an ordinary American. And she's British! Who came up with the idea of using her? It had to be some Manhattan based consultant whose wife shops at the designer shows in Paris, you know, just an "ordinary" person.

Then, yesterday Obama appeared at yet another fund raiser in New York City, this time with Bill Clinton. Here is part of what he said:

Even when it comes to their big issue, the deficit and the debt, as President Clinton just mentioned, you know, the truth is that the two presidents over the last 30 years, 40 years, who had the lowest increases in government spending, you are looking at them right here. They’re on this stage.

This is a lie. I know that, and you know that. More important, Obama supporters like the Washington Post and the Associated Press know that. Both of these outlets have already run stories explaining that this claim by Obama is totally false. But Obama read these remarks, so Team Obama thinks that sending the president out to tell whoppers is a good tactic. Let me rephrase that: Team Obama is happy to have Obama tell lies that most Americans know are lies. It is not just that he is lying, but also that he is blatantly lying.

Last weekend, you also had Obama avoid Wisconsin even though the recall campaign there was going into its final two days. Obama went from Minnesota and then flew over Wisconsin to get to Illinois, but he never stopped in Wisconsin. How many Wisconsin Democrats are going to forgive Obama if their candidate loses today's recall in a close vote? Could a last minute appearance by Obama have broken through the message clutter and given their guy one last push? We will never know, but the Democrats in Wisconsin will know that in their hour of need, Obama avoided them. It may not be enough to swing the result in November, but it has to dampen any enthusiasm for Obama among the left in Wisconsin.