The Daily Background

Ever since it recently was made public that the highest-paid member of John McCain’s presidential campaign was Sarah Palin’s makeup artist, and that she had spent more on clothing than a lot of American’s houses are worth, I’ve been thinking about how the two campaigns choose to spend their money.

I thought I’d share this anecdote from a community meeting I went to the other day for a documentary I’m working on. The meeting was on the South Side of Chicago in Hyde Park, which is the neighborhood where Obama lives: his political (and literal) backyard. Even though it was off-topic, the subject of politics came up as it inevitably does around here these days. Anyway, several Hyde Park residents commented that they had been robo-called by Rudy Giuliani on behalf of John McCain.

Stop and think about that for a second.

Mass robo-calls at a presidential level aren’t cheap. John McCain’s campaign is actually spending money to blanket the South Side of Chicago with robo-calls. This part of the country hasn’t voted for a conservative since… well, ever. What on earth would make McCain’s consultants think that they could peel off enough support to put Illinois (which hasn’t voted Republican since the 1980s) in play in a normal year, much less a wave year like this?

This obvious mistake is compounded when you keep in mind that the McCain campaign has a limited amount of money to spend, due to public financing limitations. Can you think of a stupider use of money? I can’t.

If I were a McCain donor, I’d be pissed as hell that this is how they’re spending my money. And if I were an undecided voter, I’d be deeply skeptical that McCain would do a good job managing our entire country’s pocketbook.

Filed under: Z-TDB Blog