Revisiting the Politics of Fear

So Charlie Black, John McCain's foreign policy advisor, made a serious mistake this week. He was candid with Fortune magazine in saying a terror attack on US soil would help his guy. He also said the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan may have been an "unfortunate event", but it helped McCain in New Hampshire.

Charlie Black was saying something the McCain camp has been trying to promote in a more artful way. That is, their man is better suited to keep the nation safe from terror. Despite McCain's disavowal of Black's blunt assessment, and Black's own regrets, this will be a recurring theme in the battle for the White House.  And why not? It's worked before. 

The GOP ran with the Osama bin Laden tape that appeared less than 100 hours before the 2004 presidential election. Again, it gave their man the ability to tout his national security credentials. Even McCain himself was quoted as saying the tape was "very helpful" to President Bush. Since they seem to have little else to use as a wedge issue this time around, why not use national security?

However, the politics of fear may be doomed to failure this time around. It could well be trumped by the politics of change as articulated by Barack Obama. Yet there are still some who worry that some event, either inside or outside the US, will refocus the nation's attention on whether we are truly safe. The possibility of an Israeli military attack against Iran comes quickly to mind.

Something like that happens, the politics of fear will make a comeback.