I ran across this while searching for something else.  I felt compelled to post some of it here.  This is no surprise to most, but disheartening for the American people.  How will we ever get to the issues this country needs to face and solve if we spend so much of our time on faux outrage?  Thoughts?  

Campaigns quickly answer each perceived slight
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Wednesday, July 2, 2008

(07-01) 20:06 PDT -- The 2008 presidential campaign is becoming the "How dare you?" race. That phrase of outrage has become the mantra for both Republicans and Democrats, who have made indignation the most over-utilized ammunition in the campaign arsenals.

In the contest between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain, their campaigns have resorted to full-fledged, red-blooded umbrage - usually over a statement by a candidate or his surrogates - just about every week.

The latest example: Team McCain, which is asking, over and over and over, on cable TV, in conference calls with the media and in press releases - "How dare you" question the Arizona senator's military record?

Team Obama recently played the same game: "How dare you" question his patriotism and "How dare you" attack his wife, Michelle Obama?

The umbrage campaign of 2008 is fueled by a political environment juiced up by the fast-paced Internet and its ever-watchful bloggers, by hyperkinetic 24/7 cable TV coverage and by an increasing trend of rapid response in campaigns.

This has created what some political insiders say is a perfect storm of, well, perpetual perfect storms - outrage, indignation and offense - in the race for the White House.

"There's a lot of shock and dismay that there's gambling in Casablanca," quipped Democratic pollster Phil Trounstine. "Obama and McCain both have set themselves up as the purveyors of the new paradigm in politics ... so shots that are taken that might otherwise be part of the cross fire, in most circumstances, are looked at as cheap shots."

Republican strategist Adam Mendelsohn, former communications director for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who is assisting the McCain campaign, says much of the eternal dismay and anger of political campaigns is a result of painful awareness that "the news cycles are now about eight minutes long."

With bloggers, cable shows and even mainstream media reporters posting instantaneous reports on the candidate's latest tidbits, "the reality is that the beast of the media exists - and it's incumbent upon a campaign to feed that media, or you're left behind," Mendelsohn said.

The article ends with this: 

Rapid response

More than ever, during this presidential race the major candidates' campaigns are responding rapidly and forcefully to any perceived slight. The most recent example began Sunday, when retired Gen. Wesley Clark talked about Sen. John McCain's military record on "Face the Nation." Here's how it played out:

The spark:

Wesley Clark: "I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war ... but he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded, that wasn't a wartime squadron. He hasn't been there and ordered the bombs to fall."

CBS host Bob Schieffer: "Barack Obama has not had any of those experiences, either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down."

Clark: "Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president."

The response:

Monday 5 a.m.: E-mail press release from the Republican National Committee arrives in reporters' mailboxes: "New Politics? Wesley Clark's attack on McCain's military service demonstrates Obama's 'new politics' are just words."

8:15 a.m.: McCain campaign conference call to the media with Virginia Sen. John Warner, retired Col. Bud Day, retired Lt. Col. Orson Swindle, retired Lt. Cmdr. Carl Smith "to set the record straight about John McCain's military service in face of recent attacks on his record." Warner says he is "utterly shocked."

11:44 a.m.: Obama campaign announces conference call with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to respond to a comment by Day during the previous conference call about the 2004 attacks on Kerry and his military service.

4:41 p.m.: Press release from California Republican Party announces California veterans "respond to Wesley Clark's attacks on John McCain's service."

4:43 p.m.: McCain campaign announces creation of "Truth Squad," headed by Warner. "In the event of false attacks on John McCain's military service record, the McCain Truth Squad will issue statements to voters and to members of the media that set the record straight."

Tuesday 7:16 a.m.: McCain campaign holds conference call with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Swindle to discuss "Wesley Clark's continued attacks on John McCain, and the Obama campaign's response to them."

2 p.m.: Clark defends his comments on MSNBC, saying he considers McCain a "personal hero," but that the senator's military experience doesn't necessarily equate to managerial or executive experience.

Candidates' responses to Clark's comments

McCain: "That kind of thing is unnecessary."

Obama: "No one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign, and that goes for both sides."

SOURCE:  SFGATE