Americans aren’t stupid — except sometimes

On MSNBC’s new “Rachel Maddow Show” last night, a pundit type named Steve Benen, who writes for the Washington Monthly, chatted about John McCain and his campaign’s new emphasis on bringing change to Washington. (See the segment here.)

At one point, Maddow, an established presence on the network who just last night hosted the first installment of her own show, compared McCain’s talk of a new brand of maverick-y, change-oriented Republicanism to the earlier calls for “compassionate conservatism” we heard fromm the current president during his initial presidential campaign. (The merits of that comparison can be discussed later.)

Maddow and Benen then call George W. Bush being branded as “a different kind of Republican” and his father before him who ran under the auspices of being a leader of a kinder, gentler nation. They make no mention, however, that both of those men won in the elections being recalled here. They do, however, mention that, in this current case of McCain representing change, “it’s a tough sell, especially if you look for the substance.”

Maddow later transitions from how the campaign seeks to represent itself to how those messages will be received. We’ve seen this type of rebranding before, she says. Do you think Americans will be too smart for this type of politics this time around. Benen recalls a campaign stop at which Barack Obama said, “Americans aren’t stupid,” and Benen goes on to explain that he believes that’s Obama’s not so subtle way of suggesting the McCain campaign is simply trying to fool voters. To pull the wool over their collective eyes. In effect, he’s saying:

So Americans aren’t stupid. They won’t fall for this merely superficial rebranding. I mean, you know, they did, I guess, because how else do you explain George H.W. Bush winning in 1988 and his son winning in 2000? I mean, that was just good branding and vicious Karl Rove attacks. So maybe American’s were stupid — but no more! This time, when my party really needs them — again — voters will be too smart to fall for this.

Yes, and perhaps they’re also smart enough to notice that you’re quite literally calling them stupid for having “fallen for it” before.