The Lion and Gun

Too Little, Too Late

So Jay Cost over at NRO suggests that Obama's thin resume allows Republicans to define him for the American people. Sure. He then goes on to say:

With the mentioning of William Ayers, the GOP has just now begun the process of offering its alternative definition of the junior senator from Illinois. It waited until October because, as I noted last week, anywhere between 20% and 30% of the electorate is now making up its mind. This is the time to begin this process.

Okay, so I respect Cost's optimism, but there's not a political operative worth half his salt who thinks it's a good idea to give your political opponent a two-year head-start on self-definition. Yeah, plenty of people have yet to make up their minds, but by and large these are low-information voters who aren't going to think about this long and hard enough to be persuaded. Defining the other candidate only works if it's conventional wisdom by the time Joe Sixpack chooses the news over another Perfect Strangers rerun. That's why charges of flip-floppery began against Kerry in the spring of '04; the first swift boat ads aired in early August. It takes time to define your opponent. Four weeks isn't close to being enough.