It's a balancing act. He needs independents to vote For John McCain, and he needs Republicans to vote Against Barack Obama. Playing to independents to vote Against Barack Obama isn't going to fly because they like him too much. Playing to Republicans to vote For John McCain isn't going to fly because they don't like him.
Hannity and Rush know they're playing to a Republican audience, so they're trying to stir up antipathy and get more people to take the effort to vote Against Barack Obama.
Yeah, I think that's well-said. But it's still a defensive move. You'd much rather be in the position of selling your candidate to your base and then selling Swiftboating to the undecideds.
This was why we had eight years of George W. Bush - the base loved him and the Democratic candidates garnered enough antipathy to put Bush over the top. Yeah, yeah, electoral irregularities and all that, but if it did nothing else, this strategy got Bush to within spitting distance and the saliva took care of the rest.
