In ’88 Campaign, a Lesson on Using Symbols as Bludgeons: Are these different times?

NYT: Political Memo
In ’88, a Lesson on Using Symbols as Bludgeons
By ROBIN TONER
Published: May 4, 2008

WASHINGTON — Sometimes, as Senator Barack Obama seemed to argue earlier this year, a flag pin is just a flag pin. But it can never be that simple for anyone with direct experience of the 1988 presidential campaign. That year, the Republicans used the symbols of nationhood (notably, whether schoolchildren should be required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance) to bludgeon the Democrats, challenge their patriotism and utterly redefine their nominee, Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts. The memory of that campaign — reinforced, for many, by the attacks on Senator John Kerry’s Vietnam war record in the 2004 election — haunts Democrats of a certain generation....

Senator Barack Obama has promised a different politics, one that rises above the fray and the distractions of wedge issues. As Glenn Greenwald, a columnist for Salon, recently put it, “The entire Obama campaign is predicated on the belief that it is no longer 1988.”

But is that true?...

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David Axelrod, chief strategist to Mr. Obama, argues that any Democratic nominee will be subject to the same withering attacks on values and character. “The question,” Mr. Axelrod said, “is whether given the abysmal state of our economy, given the war, given all the challenges that people sense we face that have led George Bush to have the lowest rating ever, do you believe that voters are going to be distracted from the fundamental need for change? I think the answer to that is no.” In fact, as Mr. Axelrod suggests, these are very different times....

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There are differences, as well, in the political skills of the candidates then and today...And yet, some veterans of past Democratic campaigns say, there are similarities, as well....

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...(O)ne of the clearest strategic errors of 1988 was the Democrats’ failure to realize that such attacks could stick and open the door to broader efforts to portray Mr. Dukakis as fundamentally out of sync with the nation’s values. “The attacks against Dukakis, which were systematic and attacked his patriotism, did a lot of damage to him,” said Tad Devine, a top advisor to the Dukakis campaign and the campaign of Senator John Kerry in 2004. “They developed words and phrases that essentially said this guy is not part of the mainstream.”

If Mr. Obama is the nominee, Mr. Devine said, “I think it will happen again, and it will be aimed at both the candidate and his wife.” Michelle Obama has already drawn conservative fire for declaring that, because of her husband’s success and the voters’ hunger for change, “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country.” And Mr. Obama has been questioned about why he does not wear a flag pin every day....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/us/politics/04memo.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

This obsession with symbolism and image is designed to keep consultants employed and journalists busy.