anyone see it yet? the ad itslf is pretty good stuff. in a very understated manner, it links Obama to our celebrity culture, implying that he is without substance.
looks like McCain is following the Rove strategy of trying to define the opponent early to the undecided voter before the opponent can define himself. Double-edged sword though, and I think McCain's moving in this direction too early:
1. Bush could go negative on Kerry early because, as the incumbent, he was already defined to the undecided voter. McCain does not have that same stature. McCain really needs to establish in the undecided voter now a strong sense of who he is. to date, i haven't seen this.
2. McCain vowed to run a clean campaign, and running attack ads early can be viewed as a repudiation of that vow. McCain could unwittingly cast himself as a cranky old man. also, it smacks of unnecessary desperation-the polls have narrowed in battleground states, so i don't see the need to do this now.
That being said, it's a bold stroke, and i will be interested to see if it works.
Implying he's without substance? Why would he need to imply it. Just speak the truth and get it out there....
D*ck Morris was on the O'Reilly or Hannity & Combes last night and said McCain was waiting too long to go on the offensive and "define" Obama. Said he had waited much longer than Bush's efforts to define Gore and Kerry.
As far as repudiating vows about how the campaign would be run... I guess he's following Obama's lead on that one.
Dunno if i would call it an attack ad. The simple fact of the matter is that the Obama campaign has, thus far, been more about cultivating a cult of personality rather than demonstrating why he is qualified to lead the country. In some regards, Obama is sort of the political version of Parish Hilton. Everyone knows who she is but can't really explain exactly why she has reached that point or if she really deserves to be there, other than the fact that they like to look at her on camera.
__________________
"Shoot him again....his soul is still dancing"
I'm inclined to agree that attacking Obama is not the best strategy right now. I think McCain needs to come on stronger pointing out to people why he should be president, as opposed to why Obama should not be.
McCain is climbing rapidly in the polls here in Michigan though.
May The Sheep Be With You
__________________
Proud parents of our own "Daddy's Little Girls"
I heard Jesus He drank wine and I bet we'd get along just fine.
I am not sure I would call this an attack ad or dirty. Swiftboat was dirty. I think its ok ad. If they were going to run it, it had to be after his big Germany trip. No doubt, educated voters know the trip bama took was a publicity stunt, paid for by us. But to others, bamas deal of flying all over and getting warm reception will help him. Mac had to put out something.
I am not sure I would call this an attack ad or dirty.
by using "attack ad" i don't use it in the negative/bad sense; rather, simply an ad that discusses the opponent rather than the candidate running the ad. some attack ads are "good" (effective) or "bad" (ineffective), and some are fair and unfair. and the boundaries between those descriptions are not necessarily co-extensive either. when reagan "willie hortoned" dukakis, that was a great ad, but probably unfair. the best attack ad of all time was probably LBJ's Daisy ad. it still gives me chills, and still causes controversy.
i put McCain's recentoffering in the "good" and "fair" category, but only question the timing.
I wish someone could provide a link to some of these old ads (as well as Mccains new ad if possible). They'd probably be great fodder for this place.
I'd like to comment on Mccain's ad but I seldom watch TV except backyardigans(don't want to corrupt the 1 yr old) and occasionally the news or some history channel stuff, but we've got tivo..so no commercials
__________________
Looney tunes deductive reasoning:
--Me smell Mohican burning
--Me last Mohican
--Must be me!!!
--EEEOOOWWW!!!!!
McCain's Attack ad
