Beckel has a suggestion he thinks might yet redeem the time. He thinks that
10 days to two weeks before the campaign ends, one of the candidates should
announce he is tired of the negativity and until Election Day will refuse to
utter a negative word about his opponent, focusing instead on the positive
aspects of his own campaign. Beckel thinks this would sway the large
independent vote in the direction of whichever candidate does it and means
it, thereby handing him the election.
It worked for Jim Webb. In 2006, Webb was running against incumbent Senator
George Allen, and the race was close. In the closing weeks of the campaign,
Webb emphasized positive themes while Allen attacked Webb for racy passages
in the novels he had written. Webb narrowly won. Beckel thinks the positive
commercials sealed the deal, especially with independent voters.
Beckel also believes - and I agree - that Obama and McCain should tell the
Commission on Presidential Debates that they are rejecting the tired format
of journalists questioning them and they should come up with their own
format, modeled after Lincoln-Douglas. The interest level would be sky-high
and be reflected in the TV ratings.
Obama and McCain could change politics for a generation if they did this,
but if they continue along their current path of mutual destruction, there
will be no common ground, only scorched earth that will enhance the
bitterness and cynicism most people already have toward politics and
politicians.