Crossposted from Matt
The phrase “I ain’t no punk” has probably led to more renditions of “Blessed Assurance,” more grandmothers in big hats and dark dresses, and more black boys laid out in closed caskets than any other four words in the English language. “I ain’t no punk,” is of course corner-talk for “I am foolish enough to mortgage my life on even the pettiest act of perceived disrespect.” I grew up in West Baltimore during the late 80s, a time when being seen as a chump was basically the worst thing that could happen to you. So I’ll admit to throwing out that line once or twice in my younger days, though I can’t think of one instance where the "slight" was actually that bad.
Having seen the cost of living by the “I ain’t no punk” credo, I have an instant distaste for posturing. This runs the gamut from rappers who threaten each other with great bodily injury (often mere months before doing a press conference, and recording a song together) to Democrats attempting to show that they're tough on the various annoying phenomena of the day. (crime, defense, obscure black people etc.) So I’m going to whole-heartedly back John Dickerson’s call for Obama and McCain to kill the “I’m more macho than you act.”
I like seeing Obama get after McCain as much as the next vino-sipping, Claritin-popping, trust-fund dipping lefty. (It’s been told to me that you can put virtually any string of adjective in front of “lefty” now.) But I’m now seeing how much more I enjoyed watching Obama mix it up with Hillary. I think maybe because he was running against a woman, or a fellow Democrat, Obama basically didn’t get into a competition of brass balls. Instead he responded with the jujitsu of humor, which repeatedly exposed the stiff, stilted nature of Hillary’s whole campaign.
Much has been made of gender’s role in this race. To me, its most insidious effect was that Hillary always had to show she “wasn’t no punk.” In debates she was always solid on the issues, but then she’d throw these wild haymakers which would leave her open to some brutal counterpunches. It began with her yucking it up during an Iowa debate at a tough question about Clinton advisors on Obama's team, and Obama catching her flush with that "I look forward to you advising me Hillary" line. In the Ohio debate, she allowed Obama to get in the last swing (“I would reject and denounce.”) when Tim Russert had him in a tough spot on Farrakhan. What I remember most about her “Shame on you” rant, is how Obama turned it on its head with that Annie Oakley riff. Her woefully scripted “change you can xerox” line only served to highlight Barack’s earlier “silly season” response to the whole plagiarism flap.
But the jujitsu period of this campaign seems to be over, and now its Obama who has to show that he “ain’t no punk.” Of course, war hero John McCain is going for the gold in the "ain't no punk" olympics. So now we reconcile ourselves to a long hot summer of dueling press releases, miscellaneous rants, and feigned rage. Yay. Obama really shouldn't drop the humor from his pitch--it's one of his best qualities. McCain may not need to show toughness because of gender, but he can’t help himself, and does it anyway. I’m hoping Obama doesn’t leave me thinking he deployed his humor, strictly, against the only woman in the room.
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My 15 year old cousin, who is in some kind of juvenile detention visited home this weekend. We spoke, and eventually as the topic of real prison came up he said "I aint no punk." I borrowed the outkast line, where big rub says "Prision is full of niggas who aint punks." Do you think succesful people walk around saying that?!? (I dont know if it worked, but I tried)
This mentality is basically what costed Kerry the election, (aside from the robbery) he kept allowing Bush to pull him further to the right with the tough on terror talk, and he ended up fighting Bush's kind of fight.
The battle between Obama and Bush is much like that 04 battle. theres a smart guy and a dumb tough guy. A boxer and a fighter, if Obama doesn'y get caught up in trying to out slug McCain, the fight should be brutally one-sided as McCain is simply outclassed in every respect. I expect the debates to turn into Mayweather-Gatti. Elite brutality. lol.
"Much has been made of gender’s role in this race."
No kidding. It is an admirable (and strangely rare) undertaking to view Hillary's errors within the context of gender inequity. I am so sick of hearing that it is all Hillary's fault. Obviously she is a free agent. I don't espouse determinism. But to perceive her as tilting at windmills is bad for feminism, bad for women, and ultimately bad for Democrats.
Anyway, I greatly appreciate your sanity on this, and I look forward to seeing you continue to hold Obama accountable to his success. You remain one of my most favorite bloggers.
Once you let the genie out the bottle, its hard to get it back in. Obama will look weak if he backs down, as retarded as that sounds.
I look at it like this, if Obama can ether mcCain on National Security/Foreign policy, the only thing likely to stop Barack from winning are bitter feminists and undercover klan sympathisers. cant afford to take an L on this, thats the republicans turf. Take it away from them, and what do they have?
Art of War 101.