The other Bradley effect

[sigma7]

Ashley Todd, a Pittsburgh McCain campaign volunteer, claimed to have been mugged and sexually assaulted by "a dark-skinned black man, 6 feet 4 inches tall, 200 pounds with a medium build, short black hair and brown eyes." And after noticing the McCain sticker on her car, "he" used a knife to scratch the letter "B" into her face. Backwards, as it turns out.



All this must look pretty convincing in the mirror, but not so much to skeptical police and an outright disbelieving blogosphere. Next thing you know the names "Tawana Bradley" and "Morton Downey Jr." are being bandied about, and empathy on the left and the right evaporated. And as I type this, local media's reporting that cops have a confession of fabrication on her part. Nice.

A FOX News VP is saying that this means the end of the McCain candidacy, but that's ridiculous on five different levels -- yes, Pennsylvania's a swing state, but it isn't populated by idiots, Ashley Todd notwithstanding. The left and the right were keen to clue into the sub-Encyclopedia-Brown-level clues that something wasn't quite kosher here, and this obviously disturbed individual's actions and allegations are not the product of policy or politics. Linking McCain, his party or his philosophies to this event does a disservice to the national dialogue, and I don't see it gaining traction with anyone except the most superficial observers. Hm.

Comments

[rainfletcher.livejournal.com]

I think the Fox VP's assessment is a bit much, but this is a -- wow, I need to find another term than Black Eye, don't I? -- well, it's a good, sharp kick in the 'nads to his campaign, at any rate. His People have been busily dismissing concerns of stirring up race/class unrest, and now here's a legit piece of race-baiting. I agree that reasonable people will recognize that this person is a nutjob, but I question the quantity of reasonable people. Especially of late.

And because I am cynical, I wouldn't be surprised if Fox Guy was blowing this out of proportion so that they can eventually use her as a (partial, at least) scapegoat for a McCain loss in Pennsylvania (if not elsewhere).

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

Given current aggregate polling putting McCain down 11 in PA, blaming her for losing is a bit like blaming the Chiefs blowout against Tennessee on their punter (still your MVP, folks). I'm guessing he saw the potential explosive implications of Obama-fueled-race-war as the McCain camp's last best hope for peace electoral triumph, because nothing else is panning out.