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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2008 / Ads

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by Tim F|  August 31, 20087:34 am| 21 Comments

This post is in: Election 2008

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Last week I decided to watch Obama day on CNN in order to get a sense of what most people are watching. Lucky for him, John was watching CSPAN and missed the dishonest Obama/9-11/Ayers ad that I enjoyed practically every time CNN cut to a commercial break. As a strategy the ad was a great idea – at 15 minute intervals it helped break the mood that speaker X or Y had just built up. It doesn’t matter that voters who do what the ad says and look further into the DARK SINISTER Obama-Ayers nexus will find nothing remotely objectionable (unless you want to condemn the prominent Republicans who also sat on that board), because everyone knows that they won’t do that. They also did a nice job of knocking McCain back off the moral high ground that he tried to claim with his little jujitsu ad.

This week the GOP will throw itself a party. It will be the third anniversary of Bush’s failure to save New Orleans, and yet another monster hurricane is about to slam into Louisiana’s Gulf coast. If independent Dem groups have any brains they would return the favor and carpet the airwaves with ads featuring nothing but Republicans during and after the Katrina disaster. It doesn’t need any embellishing or commentary. In my opinion anyway, the Republican reaction to Katrina was the most craven display of political perversity in modern history. This stuff speaks for itself. It will be fascinating see if the GOP gins up its usual fainting spell over an ad campaign made up of their own words.

***Update***

Reconsidering after waking up a little, it would be best to leave well enough alone. Even though we probably are more ready this time this hurricane could still be a tragedy. Best not to insert politics when the parallels are already obvious enough.

That brings up another point: if you’re on the Louisiana coast and reading this, turn off your computer and GTFO. The forecast is still bad.

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Previous Post: « Gustav
Next Post: The Crazification Factor »

Reader Interactions

21Comments

  1. 1.

    demkat620

    August 31, 2008 at 7:44 am

    CNN just said Bush has decided to stay home and look busy instead of attending the convention and McCain may give his acceptance speech from Haley Barbour’s back porch.

    As political gimmickry goes, it will be successful and sending a dog whistle from Mississippi will really make the base happy. And the added benefit of a Bushless convention can not be underestimated.

    Tomorrow’s installment of its always good news for the GOP, today.

  2. 2.

    S

    August 31, 2008 at 7:47 am

    They are much more prepared this time. The levees are not back up, but the response will be better. Running Katrina ads will make whoever does it look like an asshole to those who lost their homes three years ago and are about to relive some of that experience.

  3. 3.

    KT

    August 31, 2008 at 7:48 am

    Reconsidering after waking up a little more, it would probably be best to leave well enough alone. Even though we probably are more ready this time this hurricane could still be a tragedy. God knows the parallels are obvious enough already.

    Via Huffington Post, it looks like John McCain is considering giving his acceptance speech from the Gustav disater zone. If he does that, his campaign is essentially over. as stupid as we Americans can be sometimes, I think using a potentially deadly storm as a political prop will show just how cynical and immoral McCain really is.

  4. 4.

    Some Guy

    August 31, 2008 at 7:54 am

    I am terrified for New O. This is going to highlight the massive failure of Republican governance. Agreed, no ads on Katrina. It is beyond tasteless.

    As for McCain speaking via satellite: that is a terrible gimmick. One, it prevents any real connection with the audience. It will also rob McCain of the energy from the crowd’s cheers. If we watch a stadium watch a giant TV while cheering, it will look awful because he will have to react via sallelite with a delay. That means no cadence, no engagement. Two, McCain will come off as capitalizing on a disaster, which after Katrina, I don’t think many people will tolerate.

    All McCain has is gimmicks and it is really showing.

    Risky move #2 this week. Both of them bad risks.

  5. 5.

    Zifnab

    August 31, 2008 at 7:58 am

    If McCain gives his speech from the disaster zone, 28% of America will declare him a beacon of responsibility and experience, 28% of America will vomit into its mouth a little and renew their pledges to vote for Obama, and the remaining 44% either won’t know or won’t care, because all political stunts look the same when you’re not in the thick of things.

    At the end of the day, I’m more interested in what Governor Palin will do in reaction to the first major hurricane of her political career.

    That said, if the Obama campaign is smart, they’ll turn every campaign office in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas into a relief center. National Disasters have been political events since ’05, so there’s no point in pretending otherwise. It’s just a matter of how you leverage the event. Southerners love self-starter outreach and charity initiatives. A pro-active response to Gustav at the campaign level will win Obama a great deal of support among swing voters in those states.

  6. 6.

    PeterJ

    August 31, 2008 at 8:01 am

    Via Huffington Post, it looks like John McCain is considering giving his acceptance speech from the Gustav disater zone.

    Then the democrats can use that footage to cut an ad about how the United States would look after McBush’s third term.

  7. 7.

    dr. bloor

    August 31, 2008 at 8:16 am

    Unless McInsane is paddling from house to house and handing out MRE’s, he has no fucking business in a disaster zone, and that will become obvious the second the Klieg lights snap on for him to make his speech. If Barbour’s quickly-rebuilt-and-presumably-untouched-home is the backdrop, it will be all the more poignant for the countless citizens of NO that never got a home to go back to.

    Bring it on, John. Almost as inspired as picking a running mate who’s passport consists of blank pages.

  8. 8.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    August 31, 2008 at 8:18 am

    Best not to insert politics when the parallels are already obvious enough.

    With all due respect, this seems to me to be part of the typical Democrat strategy for losing. If we wait until a disaster is over before discussing how to end it, the disaster never ends. Even as pictures flooded in of Bush eating birthday cake and playin’ guitar while the Gulf Coast drowned, there were people who -still- had to have the truth pounded into their skulls. That will likely be the case this time, too.

  9. 9.

    4tehlulz

    August 31, 2008 at 8:22 am

    it looks like John McCain is considering giving his acceptance speech from the Gustav disater zone.

    Apparently. Mark Penn found himself a new gig.

  10. 10.

    Brian

    August 31, 2008 at 8:27 am

    You know, I’d like to agree with you, I really would. I’d like to say that the politics speak for themselves and that we can take the high ground here and still reap some benefits. But when has that been the case? There’s a nice intellectual case for taking the high ground, but there’s also a nice electoral case for letting the facts, however ugly, speak for themselves, even if you shove them in someone’s face.

    Let us not forget that these people held their last convention in the same city that suffered the greatest terrorist attack in the nation’s history and used their alleged great leadership as a back drop to run for reelection. Their keynote speaker, Rudy Giuliani, seemed to mention 9/11 an average of once a minute in his speech. And he’s their keynote speaker once again.

    Think about, for instance, what it’d be like if Tim Pawlenty was a Democrat and was picked by Obama to be his running mate after the bridge collapse. Do you think the Republicans would hesitate for more than fifteen seconds, if that, before putting it in an attack ad?

    You don’t have to lie, but sometimes, you have to get your hands dirty to make your point.

  11. 11.

    liberatemeiexinfernis

    August 31, 2008 at 8:29 am

    Now this is funny…

    BBC is reporting that Bush wont attend the convention because he wants to deal with Gustav.

    Ah yes that was the GOP plan all along…taking revenge….they screwed FEMA all along, and now what is Bush gonna do? stand in the middle of Louisiana and curse at Gustav? I have yet to see concrete steps this administration has taken to deal with a situation like this, short of calling in the National Guard as the default backup

  12. 12.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    August 31, 2008 at 8:31 am

    If McCain gives his speech from the disaster zone, 28% of America will declare him a beacon of responsibility and experience, 28% of America will vomit into its mouth a little and renew their pledges to vote for Obama, and the remaining 44% either won’t know or won’t care, because all political stunts look the same when you’re not in the thick of things.

    So true. Stupid people appreciate stupidity, not rationality.

  13. 13.

    KT

    August 31, 2008 at 8:47 am

    Let us not forget that these people held their last convention in the same city that suffered the greatest terrorist attack in the nation’s history and used their alleged great leadership as a back drop to run for reelection.

    Maybe I’m giving people too much credit, but whenever I see politicians pretending to be useful in disaster areas, I just roll my eyes. If McCain does go through with it, Obama could neutralize the issue with something as simple as:

    “I’m still just a Presidential candidate, not the President and feel that my presence would be both presumptuous and distracting, diverting critical personnel and resources from the important job of helping those in need. Etc, etc…”

    That would be enough to paint McCain’s meddling as a cynical political ploy.

  14. 14.

    Davis X. Machina

    August 31, 2008 at 9:17 am

    Obama has a massive small-donor machine. Throw it open for a day or two, and send the proceeds to a spectrum of relief agencies. A new kind of tithing…

  15. 15.

    mantooth

    August 31, 2008 at 9:22 am

    Threadjack –

    This may have been posted elsewhere:

    Via Deadspin, Sarah Palin Sportscast:

    http://deadspin.com/5043889/sweet-lincolns-mullet-the-sarah-palin-sportscast-video-is-here

  16. 16.

    Rosali

    August 31, 2008 at 9:33 am

    Watch for some major grandstanding from Bobby Jindal.

  17. 17.

    Incertus

    August 31, 2008 at 9:47 am

    Maybe I’m giving people too much credit, but whenever I see politicians pretending to be useful in disaster areas, I just roll my eyes. If McCain does go through with it, Obama could neutralize the issue with something as simple as:

    “I’m still just a Presidential candidate, not the President and feel that my presence would be both presumptuous and distracting, diverting critical personnel and resources from the important job of helping those in need. Etc, etc…”

    In other words, Obama could just do what he did back in June when Illinois and other midwest states were dealing with flooding–yeah, he filled some sandbags as a photo-op, but he also mobilized a lot of supporters to volunteer as well. And I suspect he’ll do just that this time, perhaps without the personal appearance. He’s already concerned about the impact an appearance by him would cause.

  18. 18.

    Darkness

    August 31, 2008 at 9:52 am

    The democratic ad should be: “Notice how only in a close election year does the GOP get off their asses and pretend like they give a crap.”

    “Obama/9-11/Ayers ad” Where is the BushFamily/Saudis/9-11 ad? That’s a MUCH easier connection, then fade into McSame. There isn’t any footage of Obama leading Ayers by the hand around his ranch is there?

  19. 19.

    D0n Camillo

    August 31, 2008 at 10:28 am

    “Notice how only in a close election year does the GOP get off their asses and pretend like they give a crap.”

    Get the feeling that, if Katrina had happened a year earlier, W would have been there filling sandbags and showing his concern instead of staying on vacation and baking McCain a nice birthday cake like he did in 2005? When Republicans run the show, you have to make sure you schedule your natural disasters for even numbered years or else you are fucked.

  20. 20.

    KT

    August 31, 2008 at 10:35 am

    He’s already concerned about the impact an appearance by him would cause.

    He’s a damn smart guy, so I’m sure this has been thought of, but if he made a statement like that, particularly if he included the word “presumptuous” it would really put McCain on the spot.

  21. 21.

    KRK

    August 31, 2008 at 2:17 pm

    National Disasters have been political events since ‘05, so there’s no point in pretending otherwise.

    Get the feeling that, if Katrina had happened a year earlier, W would have been there filling sandbags and showing his concern instead of staying on vacation and baking McCain a nice birthday cake like he did in 2005? When Republicans run the show, you have to make sure you schedule your natural disasters for even numbered years or else you are fucked.

    Folks here need to educate themselves about hurricane season ’04. Bush essentially bought his victory in Florida with an unprecedented dump of hurricane relief payments in October 2004. People in all other states affected by the particularly bad hurricane season that year had to wait until long after the election before seeing any initiative, and it never matched what Florida got.

    Assuming Bush wants to do it, he already knows how to buy votes with hurricane money. Though his reaction to Gustav will more likely be aimed at securing his “legacy”; it will be Hanna (currently aimed at Florida) that will test Bush’s interest in buying votes on McCain’s behalf.

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