Our "nation of whiners" has evolved a novel way to express its discontent with what it already has. It incorporates a concept as hip with the young generation as live DJing: passive aggression.
Instead of directly pointing out an opponent's flaws, one points out how the opponent has superficially capitalized on the spoils of his or her successes.
That means pointing out how the antagonist wears designer clothes or has a maid. The aim of this tactic is to ignite a feeling of jealousy in others, which eventually leads to resentment. The opponent will have no support and finally fail.
It's a trusted strategy that the current presidential candidates would be fools to overlook and an ingenious plan that has worked particularly well in an arena founded upon moral integrity: the media.
Last week, the Obama campaign jumped at another passe action from the Republican party's presumptive nominee Sen. John McCain.
In an interview with Politico on Wednesday, McCain revealed that he owned so many different properties that when asked about the number of houses he had, he replied "I think - I'll have my staff get to you."
Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, didn't raise much hoopla about McCain's inability to count. No, his trained ears picked up a flaw far more substantial: McCain had more than one house.
Obama responded in a rally at John Tyler Community College by proudly claiming how he, like most Americans, only has one house.
Now aware that the public finally saw McCain for what he really was - a royal jerk - McCain had to act fast and smart.
He couldn't just point out that most of his fortune was in the name of his wife, Cindy McCain.
He couldn't merely bring up that Mrs. McCain, as chairwoman of her late father's wholesaler Hensley & Company, spends most of her time with Operation Smile, which surgically repairs the faces of impoverished children with cleft palates.
No, if McCain just mentioned that, it wouldn't account for the fact that five of his eight properties are worth $11 million.
McCain was down and he had to bring Obama with him.
And that's just what he did. McCain's spokesman, Brian Rogers, refuted Obama's accusation, claiming that Obama "made more than $4 million last year."
And all he did was write a best-selling book. How dare he earn a seven-figure income?
Man, I thought McCain was the jerk.
Kartik Sreepada is a student at the University of Southern California.
