The American Mind

The New Republic’s Jason Zengerle thinks he knows the underlying strategy behind the North Carolina GOP’s Jeremiah Wright ad:

I mean, if the NC GOP really wanted the ad to help McCain, wouldn’t they be running this ad in October or November? This is clearly an attempt to play the race and the Wright card against Obama in the hopes of hurting him in the Democratic Primary. Which suggests that there are at least some Republicans out there who still think Obama is the more formidable general election candidate.

Now, granted, there’s nothing Hillary can really do to stop the NC GOP from doing this. If the state party isn’t going to abide by McCain and the RNC’s demands that they take down the ad, they sure as hell aren’t going to listen to Hillary. But it’s pretty clear that she’s the one who stands to benefit most from this ad.

I haven’t talked to any GOP strategists about who would make a better opponent for McCain it’s my sense that Obama’s online and offline organizing combined with his speaking ability and general likability make him the more formidable opponent.

The NC GOP’s goals are three-fold:

1. Hit Obama.
2. Hit the two Democratic governor candidates by linking them to Wright through Obama.
3. Raise money.

From the attention and support they’ve gotten online I’d say they’ve succeed in #3.

By the way the only way that ad is “race-based” is Obama and Wright are in it. So any criticism of Wright’s anti-America words along with Obama’s long-time association is inherently racist? I thought Andrew Sullivan earned a Ph.D. Those letters sure don’t assume the recipient is a logical thinker.

“Is That NC GOP Ad Really That Hard to Figure Out? ” [via memeorandum]