Clothes by Issey Miyake

Because it worked so well last time:

I wrote about McCain’s attempt to conjure up this issue four years ago, the “Celebrity” ad that seems even sillier in retrospect:

• still fairly early in the campaign, McCain was obviously clueless as to how to take down Obama
• McCain himself had enjoyed a notoriously cozy relationship with the media up to that point
• the subsequent Palin circus made it clear that the ad was driven more by envy than dismay

There was also the inclusion of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, an ambiguous linkage that set off alarms everywhere.

The dog-whistle stuff is still there in “Cool”—take note of the almost subliminal shot at 21 seconds—but, on the whole, this one seems less clumsy to me. Stipulated: this is all temporary cosmetic diversion that has no bearing on anything. Obama could spend the next three weeks guest-hosting Jimmy Fallon’s show, and the actual impact on the machinery of Washington would probably be nil. It’s all about perceptions that may or may not seep in over time. With that in mind, this is what I perceive:

• the Fallon appearance (the comedy bit—didn’t see the interview) was puzzling; it didn’t seem to be about hastening legislation
• the difference between a candidate and a president doing such stuff is noticeable
• Romney’s abject squareness (much more so than with McCain) may cast him as an underdog by contrast; it’s something of a subjective call, but, from Carter forward, I think you can point to an unbroken pattern of more charismatic followed by less charismatic in presidential succession
• what McCain couldn’t cut to: everything after the 25-second mark

American Crossroads is Karl Rove’s outfit. His political instincts when it comes to Obama have generally been lousy. So I don’t know—maybe this is just more petulant overkill.

(Postscript on why I shouldn’t theorize: the more charismatic/less charismatic sequence only works if you ignore the fact that Reagan and Clinton won re-election against less charismatic challengers…for most people, anyway—Bob Dole always cracked me up. So maybe that bodes well for Obama.)