Bizarrely Irrelevant

From the AP:

Republican White House hopeful John McCain’s campaign on Tuesday lashed out at the US media’s “bizarre fascination” for Democrat Barack Obama with a new Internet advertisement.

Yes, in the same way that media outlets have a ‘bizarre fascination’ with Paris Hilton or Britney Spears, the same way that they have a ‘bizarre fascination’ with local murders involving soldiers, children, or coded messages. It’s not the media, though, that’s obsessed with this stuff; after all, they are businesses, and are merely supplying a demand (it’s what we call the economy, Senator). It is Americans that are fascinated with Amber Alerts, Americans that want to know who will have custody of Britney’s kids or Anna Nicole’s money, and ultimately it is Americans that are fascinated by the campaign of Barack Obama.

Not all of this fascination is supportive, but even Obama’s opponents are more interested, whether or not they admit on, on him than his opponent. The Politico already caught onto this:

“There has never been a major party candidate less relevant in an election than John McCain,” said Democratic strategist James Carville. “It’s all about Obama.”
To Obama right now, McCain is indeed almost incidental.
. . .
“It’s Obama against Obama—and Obama’s narrowly winning,’ [Doug] Schoen said

Bob Dole strikes me as slightly less relevant, but that’s quibbling. However, reality has never been an issue in this campaign, so the McCain camp decided that it would be wise to release an ad on this non-issue:

In the Internet video, the 1960s hit song “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You,” plays in the background as journalists are shown describing their feelings for the Illinois senator, interspersed with a video collage of news reports about Obama and his wife, Michelle.

You try to show that you’re still relevant by playing a Frankie Valli song? Even “Every Breath You Take” is new and modern next to that. If you really wanted to make a point, why not use Tupac’s “All Eyes on Me”? OK, I know why not. But still.