… or so seems to be the common wisdom on the liberal blogs that I check obsessively. Glenn Greenwald has an interesting column on Salon about it today. That Obama’s rising numbers prove Americans are sick of all the negative campaigning and “politics as usual” in Washington. 

Personally, I doubt it. I think there are two reasons why Obama is polling ahead, and neither of them have anything to do with America’s intelligence level: he’s good-looking and he’s raised a shit ton more money. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an Obama fan through and through, but it seems like everyone just crafts whatever narrative justifies their worldview. So, for instance, someone on my side of the political fence would tell you that in 2004, John Kerry lost because the negative attacks successfully made people doubt his competency. Four years later, Obama is winning because negative attacks no longer work. While someone on the other side of the fence would tell you that Kerry lost in 2004 because he was a liar and Obama is winning in 2008 because the press is in the tank for him. 

I’m not saying truth is relative. I just think you’re probably fooling yourself if you’re banking any hope on the possibility of the average American becoming more enlightened. According to the revolutionary political theory that I just concocted, there are three ways to get elected in this country: 1) get the churches to vote for you, 2) oversaturate all forms of media with your message, or 3) make the other guy look like a dick. Notice that “be competent and intelligent” are not anywhere on that list.