A new McCain ad ripping Obama for going to the gym:
And in a McCain ad that began airing Saturday, Obama is chided for making “time to go to the gym” instead of visiting with wounded troops.
I honestly laughed my ass off after reading that story. If Obama had visited the troops, there’d be a McCain ad criticising him for making those troops part of a campaign event. It just smacks of desperation on the part of McCain. I really think the man has lost his marbles. Next up: McCain criticizes Obama for going to get groceries instead of visiting the troops!
The difference between McCain and Obama: Troops are disappointed when Obama doesn’t visit.
El Cid
Obama should cease using any words that are not “troops”. He should begin to communicate in a language comprised 100% of the word “troops”. Otherwise he hates the troops with his fancy words & language.
El Cid
Also, in McCain’s ads showing all the troops let down by Obama’s heartless not-visit, the troops will all be portrayed by these figures, in order to demonstrate clearly their heartfelt disappointment.
dmsilev
It’s worse than that. The footage of “Barack at the gym” used by the ad is the “Barack sinks a 3-pointer in front of a bunch of cheering soldiers in Kuwait” clip that we’ve all seen so many times.
FAIL.
-dms
Michael D.
In other news, some asshole stole the note that Obama left at the Wailing Wall. Fortunately, it was a nice note and not a “to do” list.
Conservatively Liberal
I laughed my ass off when I saw the ad. I immediately saw what the footage was from and I knew that someone really dropped the ball in the McGoo camp. That or they did it deliberately because they really don’t like McGoo…lol
I was wondering if someone would do it and I figured it would be the press, but I heard that a Jewish student was the one who snatched it. Too bad Obama didn’t write “GOTCHA!” on it.
Joshua Norton
Teh Stupid gets worse.
Idiot journo, Andrew Klavan, tries to make the case that “The Dark Knight” is really a tribute to the Chimpster in the Oval Office.
I haven’t seen it yet, but I really somehow doubt it.
ploeg
It’s worse than that. The footage of “Barack at the gym” used by the ad is the “Barack sinks a 3-pointer in front of a bunch of cheering soldiers in Kuwait” clip that we’ve all seen so many times.
Yes. Well you see, that just proves that Barack cares about visiting the troops only when TV cameras are around. If Obama really cared about the troops, he would load up the media on the bus, tell them that they’re all going to Burger King, wave them goodbye, karate-chop all of his Secret Service guards, hot-wire a car, change into a monk’s cowl, break into a VA hospital in the dead of night, and kneel in prayer at the beds of our wounded servicemen.
Just like George W. does. So I’m told.
Tom
It’s kind of ironic. Obama didn’t visit the base because he didn’t want the visit to pull the wounded troops into the politics of his trip. So, now that he skipped the trip, McCain is using these wounded troops (and Obama’s lack of a trip to visit them) to attack Obama in a political ad.
It’s all just so f’ing ridiculous.
Stephen1947
The McCain camp is having a lot of trouble with footage lately – mostly that people recognize when it’s being misused. Not only this in an from the campaign itself (Steve Benen at Carpetbagger Report says that the only true statement in the entire commercial is “My name is John McCain and I approve of this message”) but also the campaign stealth surrogates on TV – Katie Couric and the entire Fox News apparatus.
Couric’s team edited her interview with the cottage-cheese faced old codger to leave another embarrassing blooper (about the place of the surge in Iraq’s recent history) on the cutting room floor. Fox News tends to use coverage of McCain’s 2000 campaign in preference to more recent footage of 2008 campaign events – maybe because he looks 8 years younger?
Joe1347
Maybe the McCain campaign is full of idiots – but remember who the message is likely directed towards. Nobody with half a brain, but instead the new campaign commericial is likely directed at the white racist rednecks who may still be wavering as to who they’ll be voting for. Showing Obama playing basketball may simply be a way to reinforce to the white racists that Obama is B-L-A-C-K and not Colin Powell black, but the scary ghetto basketball playing black. So, you better vote for the white guy instead of the scary black guy.
Scott H
Contortionism in a man that age is just painful to watch. And a bit sad as I used to admire McCain.
harlana pepper
I’m hoping someone can help me out with this:
I’m listening to WJ on CSPAN. The subject is whether Obama’s overseas trip will help him. I’m not watching the bobbleheads this morning, but from the excerpts of various publications read on the program, this is what I gleaned:
Obama goes to Europe. The trip went smoothly (except for a Pentagon-orchestrated ‘gaffe’). Throngs of people came to just to see him. World leaders took to him. He looked presidential. He connected with our allies. He was humble upon his return, saying it was no victory lap.
But, somehow, this is a bad thing.
I’m stumped.
w vincentz
Well LA-DE-DA…Obama scores a three pointer shooting hoops, right? McCain can score a six pointer shooting shuffle board.
Mark-NC
Really?
Then you’ll also be stumped as you watch the “liberal media” look the other way as McCain calls a presidential candidate a traitor.
You are talking about the media that sat a watched (or participated) in Swift Boating Kerry, then, blew a gasket when Gen. Clark said – perfectly accurately – that McCain was an honorable soldier but had no command experience from his military days.
What part of this is not perfectly obvious?
Brachiator
Maybe the contrast is supposed to be:
“Obama goes to the gym. McCain takes a nap. Vote Gramps McCain.”
I didn’t realize that since they couldn’t get any actual footage of Obama working out, they decided to use the footage of Obama sinking the basket in front of the troops. Are these people total fools?
This defies any rational explanation. The best I can come up with is that a compliant media is somehow trying to present McCain as the incumbent, and so the only candidate who can frame the terms of the debate. So only McCain can talk about troops or foreign policy or economic policy, and Obama is either supposed to sit in the corner and learn from his elders, or wait for McCain to invite him to go to Iraq or to appear at joint town meetings, again so that he can learn from his elders.
I was going to avoid them, but I may watch a couple of the weekend talking head shows. I see that McCain is going to appear on the ABC interview show with George Stephanopolous.
I’m curious to see whether anyone asks McCain why it is a good thing when McCain traveled to Europe, Mexico and Colombia in late June, but a bad thing when Obama travels to the Middle East and Europe.
Phoenix Woman
Mark-NC: That’s why I refer to it as “the GOP/Media Complex”. Because that’s exactly what it is, and has been for decades now.
No kidding. McCain/Bush people took one look at the Kuwait footage, saw the glows of happiness on every single soldier’s face, black AND white, and decided that they had to prevent that from happening again any way that they could.
The men and women at the Kuwait base KNEW they were looking at their next C-in-C, and they liked what they saw — a LOT.
Dennis - SGMM
I’d add to Mark-NC’s comment the fact that CBS’ Katie Couric allowed a monster gaffe from McCain (The “Iraq/Pakistan border”) to be edited out and a less confused answer to be edited in.
Or you could look at the lukewarm reaction to McCain’s comment that Obama would lose a war to win an election and contrast it with the harrumphing that broke out over Wes Clarke’s comments about McCain’s command experience.
I have no idea why the media is so protective of a candidate who would continue the policies that have turned America into a beached whale being pecked to death by joblessness and high prices for gas and food but they’re doing it nonetheless. Maybe they’ve quietly declared themselves to be 527’s for tax purposes.
zmulls
Waits for media to remember to report that Bush uses the gym every damn day, and excoriate him for leaving the troops behind
Zach
I made a video response to McCain’s ad – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StvCkAFKu4w
Clair McCaskill did a fine job bringing up the point you did (that Obama was damned if he did/didn’t) that shut up Brit Hume pretty well this morning.
El Cid
Did Bob Schieffer stammer and nearly cry today about such a calumny being spread about Barack Obama?
Or does CBS’ veteran ‘journalist’ only do so when someone makes John McCain pouty?
carsick
I understand the strategy to re-enforce some ideas of low information voters but this new strategy seems to push for a possible one day bump in the polls driven by the most low information voters. Ultimately though, the possible one day bump comes at the cost of long term credibility because the statement is so outlandish that even the Pentagon ends up pushing back. McCain would have called this BS as a senator but as a candidate I guess he feels the Rove strategy owns him.
Brachiator
Yeah, but didn’t Dubya make that great sacrifice of giving up golf as a “gesture of respect” to the troops?
Or maybe it was Cheney, saying that he would still go hunting, but would at least stop shooting his buddies in the face.
PeterJ
About that pro Obama, anti McCain media bias…
Dennis - SGMM
McCain’s pliability in the hands of the Bushrovians he recently added to his campaign staff recently added is as disturbing as anything else about the man. He seems to have decided that being the president is more important than being John McCain. In the end he will be neither. He’ll instead be, “That old guy, what was his name, who ran against Obama.”
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
The place: Bethesda, Maryland
The time: March, 2008
The participants: John McCain, Karl Rove
JM: Hello Karl – say, what are you doing with the gi-normous glove
KR: John, it’s time for your proctology exam
JM: What?
KR: It’s part of the Presidential nomination contest. We have to certify that you have what it takes to deal with the stress of the the office.
JM: Are you sure?
KR: Yup. W did it in 2000. Now it’s your turn. Now please bend over.
JM: Geeze! That glove goes all the way up to the top of your arm. You aren’t going to…
KR: This might hurt a little.
JM: YEAAAAGGGGGGGHHHH
KR: Don’t worry John, this will make you a better candidate.
JM [robotic voice]: Democrats are traitors! Democrats are traitors!
KR: Very good! Now’s let’s practice some more..
JM: You bastard! You’re making my lips move! You have your hand so far up…YEAAGGHH [robotic voice]: Democrats are traitors! Obama is not a real American!
KR: John, it might hurt less if you try to smile while I’m doing this.
[rictus grin]
[robotic voice]: Democrats are traitors! Democrats are traitors!
Dennis - SGMM
Hmm, depart ment of redundancy department in my last. Clearly, coffee is needed.
tim
Of course, all of this is profoundly stupid, and obvious…to US.
It also resonates as true with millions upon millions of Americans…who are also profoundly stupid.
Stupidity is an excellent campaign strategy for a stupid voting population. Why is this hard to understand?
Tim Troll Hole
TR
Great article. It was obvious that the media attention on Obama was largely negative, but nice to see it quantified … and by a watchdog conservatives normally love, too.
GTinMN
POTD!
nightjar
You can say that again!
Bob In Pacifica
The U.S. media is pretty much in lockstep with the military-industrial complex. Some media outlets are owned by the M-IC, like NBC and GE, but they’re all playing in the same sandbox.
During the time of the Church and Pike hearings in the late seventies it became known that hundreds of reporters were either on the CIA payroll or were otherwise intimately connected with them. Deborah Davis’ book on Katharine Graham went into the many connections between her newspaper and the Agency. The Rev. Moon-owned Washington Times is practically a military-industrial complex mouthpiece. Moon is connected to the KCIA and the Japanese national security apparatus. Christ, the National Enquirer was founded by Generoso Pope, a CIA propaganda specialist.
When Oliver Stone’s “JFK” came out over ninety percent of Americans believed that there was a conspiracy to kill Kennedy and yet there wasn’t one major figure in the MSM who would argue the same. Quite the opposite. That should tell you something about the composition of the media. It would be like ninety percent of Americans believe in God and everyone in the mainstream media is an atheist. Not that saying belief in God and belief in a conspiracy to kill JFK are equally believable. There’s a lot more evidence of a conspiracy to kill JFK.
Just saying.
nightjar
Just watched Saint John with George Stephy. Let’s see, reiterates his comment that Obama would rather win a political campaign than win a war, but says he’s not questioning Obama’s patriotism. Disses Obama’s claim of it being inappropriate to visit troops in Germany because he was there for political reasons. * If he had Mccain would be yelping that Obama was using said wounded troops for political benefit as part of said political trip.
The gloves are of Gracie. Now Senator Obama, what are you prepared to do?
Jason F
Well, the important thing is that Senator McCain is running an honorable campaign, just like he said he would.
Phoenix Woman
Well, looky here:
So the last of McCain’s and the Bush Pentagon’s lies on this has been detonated.
By the way, Chuck Hagel has come out against the ad and in strong defense of Obama.
gbear
“…absolutely no attention…”
nice typo. ‘intention’ much?
Perry Como
That’s because they don’t want footage of Obama working out. Obama’s ability to curl 36 kilo dumbells shows how much he hates America.
Brachiator
Obviously a case of intention deficit disorder.
Just Some Fuckhead
Time for Obama to give a speech where he tells everyone what a fighter he is and how he’s really prepared to fight Republicans while failing to actually fight.
gbear
Well someone somewhere along the line should have been paying a little more intention to detail.
aarrgghh
if anything, this campaign has demostrated that nobody knows what the hell “being john mccain” means and most likely nobody ever really knew. that’s the fundamental problem with liars.
all we really know is that mclame is prepared to say absolutely anything, depending on who he think is listening, to get elected. success unfortunately depends on not having to revisit his past statements, which he was able to get away with in the past.
but this year mcworse has an impossible task — to repudiate the chimperor while seducing his winged minions — a strategy that necessitates littering the airwaves with flip-flop-flipovers. oh, and did i mention he also has to sell a vision of the future that’s been thoroughly discredited? he’s basically stuck selling seats on the hindenburg.
add to that an aggressive and charismatic opponent with an energized base and it’s no wonder mcgramps is turning into mcshrill.
KRK
Some interesting context from Al Giordano at The Field:
Points out another reason McCain has gone to basically all smear ads and another way in which the media falls all over itself for McCain — by putting out an attack ad in just a few markets, McCain creates “news” and justifies the endless looping of the ad on “news” programs reaching national markets and with the talking head wankers commenting on how these criticisms of Obama must be taken seriously. McCain thus gets a lot of free air time for each dollar spent on advertising.
rob!
McCain is already using the “Kitchen Sink” strategy, and its only July. hmm…
first off, we can see how effective that was for Hillary, and they must have REALLY BAD internal polling that shows they have to no nuclear RIGHT F**KING NOW.
McCain is shaping up to be a WAY worse candidate than i ever would’ve imagined.
myiq2xu
Well, from the comments on this thread I see reality is still for people who can’t handle kool-aid.
Obama was scheduled to visit wounded troops but canceled because he couldn’t bring his campaign with him and make it a photo op.
He would have to visit by himself as a “Senator” rather than as a “candidate.”
Since he doesn’t know how to be a Senator (having spent all his time in office running for President) he went to the gym instead.
The Precious is shaping up to be worse than Bush.
nightjar
LOL, You got yerself a Hat Trick throwing out three straight wingnut talking points. Now go and read Tapper’s column from the link Phoenix Woman provided here and here before running yer mouth.
THIS IS GREAT NEWS FOR HILLARY!
dslak
We need to get Hillary back into the race. She’d never do anything that would draw negative attention from the media.
gbear
You and Jim Jones, buddy. It’s all yours.
KRK
Well, nightjar, you have to admit that cutting and pasting from campaign-provided talking points cuts down on misspellings and creative punctuation. So it’s got that going for it.
PeterJ
He does give some good advice about trolls.
TR
Christ, that’s pathetic even for you.
PeterJ
Obama is up 9 in Gallup’s Daily Tracking poll.
Expect McCain to go even more negative.
4tehlulz
If we start paying attention to myiq1/0, would the quality of his trolling improve?
I just hate seeing talent go to waste.
dslak
Really? I thought it was rather restrained for him.
TR
Since NoIQ lacks the ability to read, here’s Andrea Mitchell — who has been no friend of Obama’s in this race, to say the least — explaining it on the teevee.
Rough transcript: “The Obama campaign thought they could leave the press corps on the tarmac, and then take off with military escorts and make this one last visit. As he did by the way in Iraq, he visited a casualty unit in the Green Zone without photographers as part of the congressional delegation. The military said the rules are that he could go only as part of a previously arranged congressional delegation to Rammstein. Clearly people in the campaign are really angry, they had wanted this to be the final stop of the trip here in Germany, to do it without the press corps, on his own. But the objections of the military are that he’s now being staffed by campaign aides, not by his Senate staff, who of course were the people who were with him when he went with Hagel and Jack Reed in Iraq.”
He visited the wounded troops in Iraq without the press or photographers. He wanted to do the same in Rammstein, but was told because the trip was not a pre-approved congressional visit, that wouldn’t work.
Is that so fucking hard to understand?
lurker
A question about the ad — Why did they put those bright spots on Obama’s right hand (the hand on the left side of the shot) and why can’t you see a wedding ring on his other hand?
It seems like they tried to manipulate the image for some reason.
dslak
Do you want an honest answer? Because I don’t think you’re going to like it.
PeterJ
For myiq0.8xu? Yes.
For McCain. No.
dslak
Via Sullivan’s blog, it seems that McCain has jumped the shark and is too plainly showing that “family values” means “get the gays.” See the end of his response on gay adoption:
TR
Slightly off topic, but amusing. From the Jerusalem Post:
Remind me, again — who’s the expert on foreign affairs?
TenguPhule
Freedom means having to put up with assholes like Iq.
Tyranny means shooting assholes like Iq.
4tehlulz
Fixed
Conservatively Liberal
Geez,
myiq2xuGoatBoy is not even trying any more. He must be worn out from chasing goats all over the intertubes.But he sure does have the McGoo talking points down, I will give him that much. Maybe they are promising him a free goat.
We already know he doesn’t like ponies, especially the MUP kind. ;)
zuzu's petals
Not only that, they think they’re now depriving Obama of the chance to use the tape in his own ads.
Of course all he need do is run the clip uncropped, showing all the troops he was visiting at the time. And who were THRILLED to see him.
TR
If anything, their whining makes it even more likely that Obama would use those clips prominently.
Yet again they set themselves up for a smackdown. They taunt Obama into making a trip abroad, and he aces it. They taunt him with lies about how the troops felt about him, and he’ll shove it in their face, all with a smile.
People had conspiracy theories about the Hillary campaign playing this year in anticipation of running again in 2012, but I’m starting to think the McCain folks might be doing that too.
Clutch414
Here’s the clip of Hagel and Reed on Face the Nation this morning.
Beej
Too damned bad Chuck Hagel won’t be in the Senate after January. Of course, he couldn’t get elected again here in Nebraska. He’s been too honest about the Bush administration and the horrendous mess the Repugs have made. Former Ag Secretary Mike Johanns, a Republican, is running for the Senate. His opponent is a young college professor named Scott Kleeb. I like what I’ve seen of him. Too bad he doesn’t have much of a chance. Johanns is a former Governor and a very popular figure.
"Fair and Balanced" Dave
If it was about Bush, wouldn’t it be titled, “The Dim Knight”?