This ad makes no sense:
Ostensibly this is a pro-McCain commercial, but I have no idea why they would pay to have a national audience hear Obama calling Republicans liars multiple times.
Am I wrong? Is this effective for McCain?
This post is in: Election 2008, Did You Know John McCain Was A POW?
This ad makes no sense:
Ostensibly this is a pro-McCain commercial, but I have no idea why they would pay to have a national audience hear Obama calling Republicans liars multiple times.
Am I wrong? Is this effective for McCain?
Comments are closed.
[…] (John Cole) […]
SamFromUtah
Maybe they think they can get Obama busted on campaign financing if they use their money to help Obama.
Colonel Danite
John,
All things and events are good for John McCain.
Delia
You know, I take it as a given that McCain has problems with early stage dementia, but I didn’t know that Steve Schmidt was similarly afflicted.
JD
It looks like, this time, Republicans are failing the "Don’t Think About An Elephant" test by trying to defend against opposition remarks by repeating Obama’s frame. I’m so glad to see the show is finally on the other foot and glad to see that we’ve learned from the past.
I hope the desperation of the Skeletor/Evil-Lyn 08 campaign is finally undeniable to all but the most deluded among us.
Comrade Peter J
Maybe they want to paint him as a non-bipartisan politician?
Maybe they want to lose?
Maybe they huff glue?
PS
Good catch. These guys are clueless. There is no indication what lies Obama is referring to, so his complaint becomes generic, as well as thoroughly believable. Gee, I hope they don’t read your post.
gocart mozart
I think this ad could be considered an in kind contribution to the Obama campaign.
Maybe next, the McCain campaign could point out all the lies of Sarah Palin. A couple of 30 minute infomercials should do it.
Comrade Dreggas
Well McCain is now referring to people attending his rallies as My Fellow Prisoners.
Ben A
I just seriously think they’ve lost it (their minds and the election). The republican adds this cycle have been horribly bad.
Comrade Ed Drone
You see, if you think your "image" is of a straight-shooter, you would think that your opponent’s calling you a liar would be discounted, disbelieved, by the voters, so pointing out where Obama has called McCain a liar would appeal to you as a campaign ad.
.
However, if you are a voter who’s paid any attention at all, you’d know that some call him "Fibber McCain" because of the plethora of out-and-out whoppers he’s told, and you’d know that the image of a ‘straight-shooter’ is pure bunk. And with the media finally beginning to see how they’ve been conned all this time by Fibber, and fact-checking getting big play these days, it simply won’t fly.
.
Essentially, Fibber McCain has been reading his own press releases and believing them. I think his own mental image of himself blinds him to the fact that many, many people are seeing through him, and that the old stand-by of "he’s so desperate that he’s reduced to calling me names" not only won’t work, but in fact describes McCain more accurately than it does Obama.
.
So we now see the anatomy of an epic fail. Sad, but predictable.
.
.
Ed
slaney black
I’m in advertising.
I do print, not TV; and I sell products, not knock other products down. But I’m pretty sure this doesn’t work.
What it does do is play a subtle race card: "Uppity nigra calls elderly white gentleman names!" "WE KNOW [that he’s black]"
Thing is, subliminal buttons like that only work when they connect to a direct benefit for the viewer: if you accept this negative information about Candidate X, you’ll be better off in the following way…
Jesse Helms "gave the job to a minority" ad: If you accept this negative information about Harvey Gantt, you will be more secure in your job.
Willie Horton: If you accept this negative information about Mike Dukakis, you will be safer from crime.
Etc. They both worked because job losses and crime were big issues in those elections.
All this ad connects to is some kind of weak-ass claim about taxes that isn’t working anyway this year.
FAIL
SGEW
They’re trying to immunize the public to charges of lying. So when the McCain campaign bursts out with a new lie-of-the-day, and Obama calls him on it, they can try and say "See? There he goes again, calling us ‘liars.’" Inure us to allegations of dishonesty.
Not gonna happen, but I suspect it’s their idea for this one.
Nylund
I fully support the idea of every McCain ad featuring a video of Obama pointing out that McCain is lying.
Grand Moff Texan
John McCain is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.
.
Wayne
If negative ads make a candidate look bad, perhaps they expect the viewer to think it is an Obama ad.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
It seeming more and more clear all the time that this is in fact the case.
Tom
They had another ad like this about a month ago. I don’t recall what it was about, but it made two points that were seemingly unconnected and left the viewer with the impression of "uh, OK… what am I supposed to be outraged at?"
So, Obama was ranked the most liberal senator by so group… fine (though the "how extreme" line sounds like it was lifted from the SNL campaign ad parody from a few weeks ago).
But clipping together Obama calling the Republicans liars doesn’t work because:
A) Everyone — even Republicans — acknowledge that McCain’s ads have contained outright falsehoods and major distortions. To John’s point, why remind voters of this.
B) What does Obama calling McCain a liar have to do with his "liberal" voting record? It’s incredible, but the Republicans have seemed to create a 30-second spot that lacks focus.
The ad just doesn’t make sense.
Brian J
The point of the ad is fairly clear: Obama’s not telling the truth about his liberal voting record. (It’s nonsense, of course, but go with it.) The problem is, we’re supposed to stop there, as if this is some huge problem for him. Nobody doubts he’s a liberal, although the degree of his liberal leanings is unclear. But then, almost nobody has a problem with that, and the people who do are already voting for McCain. This is a half-assed ad for 1988 or 2004, but in 2008, it’s just a stupid, senseless waste of time and money.
It’s also possible that it will make Obama look good, as John suggests. He does indeed call them liars several times, where he looks fairly convincing doing it.
Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)
That’s why you’re a sidekick and not a Maverick……
Or something like that.
D. Mason
Jesus Christ, now showing Obama speaking is playing the race card?? This reads as stupid as any of the shit McCain has been peddling the past few days.
Redleg
I don’t know how that one will work- unless there is some subliminal message in the video about Obama liking to club nuns and fuck baby seals.
Chris
Oh! Oh! Call on me! I think I have the answer!
See how that frame focuses on how liberal Obama is?
It’s a minor theme in conservative circles, especially during the earlier Bush years. The more you disagree, the more liberal you must be.
Eric U.
It may be one of those things that they think people will be enraged about because they are enraged about it. Not sure it’s an attempt to use the racial tensions in this election against Obama, or a reflection of the campaigns’ actual racism.
They will occasionally come up with something that nobody understands and make a fuss over it like it’s important. Such as the try for making people believe that Obama said the government invented the computer last night
ksmiami
Clue to John McCane- the scary liberal thing just isn’t working this year when the scary conservatives have sold our country out with credit swaps and bbb paper that is about as valuable as public restroom toilet paper. No matter what they say, Republicans have no ability to govern and that is why their liberal fearmongering isn’t working this year. Also, they haven’t really figured out that Obama is not Dukakis nor Kerry, nor even Clinton, he really is a thoughtful Democratic Reagan and hopefully they won’t realize this until they wake up Nov 5th in a puddle of their own vomit and Wild Turkey and the realization that the Chris Rock look alike is President. I would feel sorry for them if they weren’t such a-holes, but such is life…
Scott H
McCain’s campaign must be playing get out the vote with his confirmed base. Only thing that makes sense to me.
Eric U.
You’d think some crazy journalist type would research how many times the republicans have labeled our candidate the most liberal Democrat. I seem to recall they did that to Kerry too.
LarryB
You all are missing the point. IMO, this ad speaks to the Democrats-are-dirty-f**king-hippies-with-foul-mouths meme. The aim of the ad is to make people clutch their peals and say "ooh, he’s so uncivil!".
Cruel Jest
Yeah, I don’t buy the race angle at all. Obviously, the message is meant to be, "When asked about his voting record all Obama can say is that John McCain lies." But it’s convoluted and all you end up with is, "John McCain lies."
I seem to remember an Obama ad a few months ago that made the same mistake. The upshot was a bunch of visuals of McCain in good photo ops and the message got lost in the shuffle. This one is much worse. He’s making Obama’s case for him. Obama should offer to pay for it to run in battleground states.
georgia pig
They’re pretty much confined to the echo chamber now, a full-on base strategy. The wingers were disheartened by the debate, and the latest Hail Mary for independents, the mortgage gambit McCain revealed last night, seems to be DOA and risks pissing off the base even further. Maybe McCain is just trying to keep from being blown out by losing the base to apathy.
Jen R
I’m waiting for this to backfire. "Huh," thinks the public. "I really like that Obama guy. If he’s such a liberal, maybe liberals really aren’t commie baby-eaters after all."
smiley
I know it’s been said a million times but is it just a coincidence that John Kerry was rated the #1 most liberal senator in 2004?
Eric U beat me to it.
Richardson
This is exactly the kind of ad that happens when you’re all prisoners.
johhny rotten
Obama doesn’t even come off as particularly mean spirited, because they left in the part about him saying "I hesitate to say that people are lying" – didn’t want to do it, but that batshit crazy skank from Alaska is making me do it.
Punchy
Leave Palin alone. The only lying she’s been doing lately, apparently, is on her back.
Delia
Maybe that’s the concept, but you’re right, it’s an idea whose time has gone. If you still think McCain is a Straight-Shooter, it might work, but the pool of the electorate who will buy that one is steadily shrinking or has followed Gov. Palin across the Bridge to Nowhere. I guess that was why he unveiled his cunning plan to buy up everybody’s mortgage last night. Now there’s a Straight Talk idea. I wonder how long before that one ends up in the Dust Bin of History.
Well, I’ve got way too many metaphors in here, and I really must go lie down.
jake 4 that 1
I don’t think senility is a STD.
Comrade Incertus
And his running mate, John Edwards, was number 4 that year. Amazing how that works, ain’t it?
Any measure that puts Barack Obama ahead of Bernie Sanders for "most liberal" passed rigoddamndiculous a long time ago.
BP
Symptomatic of life in a bubble.
All the Rovian twits running the McCain campaign have lived their entire lives believing that all you have to do is call a Democrat "the most liberal ______," and the electorate will leap into the waiting arms of any nearby Republican candidate. The "lying" part of the ad, I believe, is designed to show that Obama is so ashamed of being called "the most liberal _____" that he would call it a lie. Even though it’s right there in dat dere paper, by gum!
I’m sure they believe this sort of thing will work for them. Wrapped in a bubble of self-delusion, those running the McCain campaign will never admit that their beliefs are shared by no more than 30-35% of the American population.
Stevenovitch
So in the last four years Barack Obama hasn’t done anything at all but still managed to surpass Kerry as the most liberal senator? How does that work exactly?
Comrade Ed Drone
That "fellow prisoners" thing — I wonder if he’s trying to tell us something about the Patriot Act and W’s plans for post-January 2009.
.
It’s all too possible, you know?
.
Ed
A Different Matt
Maybe you haven’t been paying attention:
M-A-V-E-R-I-C-K!
Maverickness is like reverse-osmosis where one excretes said quality into the people.
Kirk
A possibility is that some staffer noticed that the live reaction last night showed flat-lining when EITHER side attacked the other. So this could be an attempt to paint Obama as "the attacker".
Scrutinizer
The Democratic candidate is always the most liberal Democrat. Had Clinton won the nomination, she would be the most liberal Democrat. Had Heath Shuler won the nomination, he would be the most liberal Democrat.
It’s a rule.
Also.
LarryB
@LarryB: OT: Just discovered the "reply to this post" button (the little curly arrow at upper right). Testing, testing….Hmm, The good news is you get a link. The bad news is there isn’t much context, just the author of the replied-to message. Oh well, baby steps.
Dennis - SGMM
Hmm, a few million Americans are scared shitless that they’ll be reliving The Waltons. Many more are finding out that their safe and sane 401K’s are set back years’ worth of value. I’m certain that they’ll be galvanized by the McCain campaign’s revelations that Obama has tenuous connections to a 60’s radical and that he asserts that some Republicans are liars.
Comrade Jake
It doesn’t work because Obama doesn’t come across as a radical lefty peacenik. He comes across, certainly in the debates, as a pretty reasonable, left-of-center type candidate.
So, basically, there’s not enough to back up the claims. But this is par for the course for McCain. He seems to think people will just believe what he says, and that’s it. Thus the "I know how to win wars" and "I know how to fix social security" statements, that don’t do jack shit for him. Just because you say it John, doesn’t make it so.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
This ad reeks of flopsweat and panic.
I guess that is all they have left after McCain looked into Obama’s eyes and saw 5 letters:
P O T U S
Ken
Frankly, I was expecting McCain to appear at the end with a monkey puppet
"Here, look at the monkey. Look at the silly monkey! "
Scrutinizer
Which was enough in a certain European country almost 70 years ago to sweep change they could believe in into power.
(ZOMG! Godwin! Godwin!)
Delia
@LarryB:
So that’s how people do that. I’ve been wondering.
BP
@Scrutinizer: True. However, I don’t think we’re doomed to repeat Germany’s history. We’re merely doomed to repeat our own. Happy 1929.
TheFountainHead
Sully is asking a good question I’m trying to Google up the answer to, when was the last time a Democratic candidate for President campaigned in Indiana in October?
So far the great and mighty Googlez is failin’ me..
Joshua
Right now, people don’t like Republicans and are correctly putting a lot of blame on them for this situation.
Does McCain really want to go on the attack by calling Obama the most liberal – in other words, the least Republican?
zbw
Amazing. This is like the 20th time in this election that I’ve seen McCain’s people do something and thought to myself "what the hell are they doing?".
Maybe it’s me, but nothing they seem to be doing, except calling Obama a "terrorist", even makes sense on the most basic politics 101 level (and that one’s really lame). From Palin, to the suspension, to some of these ads, to their tin ear on almost every issue, bad message discipline, throwing out silly mortgage bailout plans at a debate, etc. Can they really be this incompetent? Is someone (bless their hearts) trying to throw this for McCain?
I feel like a Red Sox fan watching the Yankees dribble into fourth place. It’s awesome, but a little disconcerting.
Scott H
BTW Why do anchors on CNN keep referring to a large touch-screen monitor as "The Magic Wall" – I mean, really?
zbw
@Scrutinizer:
The man’s dead! Leave him alone!
Oh. I thought you said Heath LEDGER.
Dennis - SGMM
So Palin is firing up all of those rednecks to burn the Reichstag and then blame it on the Democrats? : )
dbrown
The ad makes perfect sense. First they point out that Obama is a liberal (and EVERONE KNOWNS THIS) but then Obama says McCain is a liar by calling him (Obama) a liberal. Results: this is a two-for-one ad. Not only is Obama now proven to be a liar, that is, Obama can’t even own up to his own beliefs of being a liberal when these are exposed but Obama is a coward and is running away from his own party/philosophy. This is actually a fairly good ad if your goal is to undermind a person and show them to be of poor character.
As for dumb, I have noticed that Mccain has been running ads here in Maryland where he has zero chance – What Fucking Waste of money!
Товарищ НеинтереснаяСобака
When did youtube add "audio preview" to their comments box? That’s the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.
Comrade Jake
They’re idiots? CNN is largely unwatchable these days. Aside from the occasional Cafferty/Toobin clip that gets posted, I avoid it like the plague.
Comrade Dreggas
You know, back in 1980, Ronald Reagan asked the electorate whether you were better off than you were four years ago. At the pace things are going right now, you’re going to have to ask whether you’re better off than you were four weeks ago.
– Barack Obama today in Indiana
zbw
@Comrade Jake:
I think CNN is awesome. Why waste your time watching multiple shows, when you can have all 42 political pundits on stage at once? One stop shopping.
Comrade Dreggas
@Comrade Jake:
I watched the debate there last night because of the crowd reaction doo-dad they had. I watched the wrap-up briefly as well and was stunned that the Repugs they had on admitted, flat out, that Obama won.
Napoleon
I would guess never
It may not be as dumb as it sounds. He took public financing and I seem to recall that there were certain limitations on how much you could spend in a market, or something like that, and in the past people would spend in another market that happened to bleed over onto the intended market. So if the ads are on broadcast stations that reach Va. maybe that is why he is doing it.
Or maybe his campaign is run by idiots.
Cain
Compliments the magic mushrooms they eat between commercial breaks.
cain
SpotWeld
It motivates your core.
McCain can’t outright lie or intimmidate.
He can scare those voters who will support him no matter what. Those voters will then be motivated to "do whatever it takes" (nudge nudge wink wink) to get people to vote for McCain.
McCain can’t forward an email saying Obama will free death row inmates, but an anonymous McCain supporter who is convinced the ends justify the means can… and will!
Comrade Tudor
Pardon my French, but that is the stupidest fucking piece of shit ad I think I have ever seen. Ever.
Cruel Jest
@dbrown: the only problem being you have to take McCain’s word for it, but Obama just proved he was a liar. So where does that leave you?
Also, you might be picking up ads meant for VA.
Also.
Stevenovitch
@Товарищ НеинтереснаяСобака:
Wait they actually did that? … That’s awesome.
XKCD might just be the most powerful force on the internet.
Dennis - SGMM
Fuckin’ A! The McCain campaign will respond with Palin saying "Let me slip into something more comfortable."
oh really
In the full interview with the Des Moines Register editorial board, McCain told the board that he has always been 100% honest in everything he has said. He didn’t place a time frame on that statement, but it sounded to me like he meant always and forever.
Of course, there is little problem with that — the South Carolina Confederate flag. In 2000, as most people already know, McCain supported the flying of the symbol of slavery over the SC statehouse during the campaign. Then, after he’d lost, he delivered a melodramatic mea culpa and apologized for having lied about his feelings concerning the flag. (Note: after this campaign there are countless problems with his contention.)
Fast forward to Des Moines in 2008. How can he say he’s always been 100% honest when he’s already admitted to lying?
I think McCain believes his own myths — that he’s this incredibly honorable guy who always puts his country first and is pure "Straight Talk." That doesn’t excuse his behavior, but it does mean he’s delusional. His admission about the flag probably erased his lie in his mind. As everyone could see in the Register interview, he was really insulted that anyone would even imply he had come out with an ad that wasn’t 100% true. Naturally, the editorial board knew the truth, but McCain seemed clueless.
So, looking at the ad in question from McCain’s perspective, it works. Everyone knows he would never tell a lie, so when a scary, black man calls him and other Republicans liars, it should be an affront to all patriotic Americans who accept John McCain as the most honorable man in the history of the universe. Stupid? Sure. But probably not inconsistent.
McCain is desperate and crazy. He’s getting beaten by a first term senator who never served in the military. That’s got to be really hard for a delusional old man who is watching his dream slip away. You’ve got to feel sorry for the guy…just kidding.
jake 4 that 1
Given the mindset of Das Base, the "silly monkey" was in the ad.
Not My Fault
Yeah, well. I’m noticeably worse off than I was when the market opened this morning. Let’s start with keeping even for a day and THEN talk about 4 weeks.
TomK
@slaney black:
"What it does do is play a subtle race card: "Uppity nigra calls elderly white gentleman names!" "WE KNOW [that he’s black]"
Thing is, subliminal buttons like that only work when they connect to a direct benefit for the viewer: if you accept this negative information about Candidate X, you’ll be better off in the following way"
When it said "Not Presidential" the static on the screen caused his face to fade from brown to white right over the phrase "not presidential". It’s not even that subliminal. It’s just obvious what they are trying to say. More dog whistle racism.
Comrade Jake
McCain/Palin 08: underminding citizens across this great land of ours, that is the US of A. Also. Reagan.
Jorge
It is magic – you touch it and then the magical light faeries move and show you different things on the screen.
You folks need to spend some time with some news anchors/actors. Most are trained monkeys. You think Anchorman was funny? Try watching it after you’ve worked with those folks for years. Friggin priceless
JL
@oh really:
Lieberman was on MSNBC trying to explain McCain’s
comment and I ALMOST felt sorry for him. He started out as a leader on civil rights and he will be left without a friend or a party.
TheFountainHead
@dbrown: Those are likely ads purchased in a Virginia market that are spilling over, or in a Maryland market designed to spill over into Virginia.
Comrade Jake
The doo-dad is indeed pretty neat. BTW, has anyone seen the video of the Fox focus group Luntz ran post-debate last night? Apparently it was high comedy.
Jorge
I notice they’ve started bringing on Glenn Beck as sort of a balance to Cafferty. I think they need to put them on together and close to 7 PM hour eastern when Cafferty is good and drunk. Youtube Gold.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Perhaps not, but I understand syphilis can affect the brain.
ThymeZone
We are now at the point where the McCain ads look for all the world like they are going to work better for his opponent than they work for him.
Right now I am expecting either a concession or a full meltdown in the next debate. Obama rope-a-doped Clinton into giving up, he can do it to McCain too.
tripletee (formerly tBone)
@Dennis – SGMM:
If Rich Lowry is found dead later today, electrocuted by a cascade of starbursts that exploded from his monitor, it’s going to be your fault.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Fixt!
Comrade Jake
Cole, it looks like Sully’s tracked down video of your neighbors in dat dere Wes Virginyah, spoutin off on Barrrack Hussein Obahmah.
slaney black
Yeah, I don’t buy the race angle at all.
You liberals never do. That’s part of why it works so well.
Although in this case, it doesn’t…
Soylent Green
I’m schizophrenic, and so am I.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
He is desperate to win, he will say whatever he thinks can get him elected, it doesn’t matter if it’s the truth, even if he’s talking about his ability to tell or not tell the truth.
jake 4 that 1
"Brain stem haz a flavr! Nom, nom, nom!"
Zuzu Hussein's Petals
Whoever said upthread that it was an attempt to neutralize criticism of their future lies … yeah, I agree with that.
If they can succeed in making every response to their outrageous lies just seem like background noise, the more likely the voters will tune it out.
JL
@Comrade Jake: Actually that was pretty funny. At least one fine young man tried to hide his face.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Because Wolf Blitzer is a fairy?
Cruel Jest
@slaney black: Huh? I said I don’t see a race angle in this ad. One of the annoying things about my liberal brethren is their propensity to see race attacks where none exist. To say, "You liberals never do," is just weird.
Liz
@LarryB: "Hmm, The good news is you get a link. The bad news is there isn’t much context, just the author of the replied-to message. "
Kick it old school. Use a quote in, y’know, quotes. Copy/paste FTW. :)
As for the ad, I think it’s wonderful that McCain would want to support Obama in his bid for the presidency. Maybe he’s just forgotten that he’s running too. Oldtimer’s Disease or something.
The Moar You Know
I’m still incredulous that anyone finds her sexy. Five kids. It would be like throwing a hot dog down a hallway.
Sorry. It had to be said and I’ll never mention it again.
I have an anecdote. I got my kerploded appendix removed Monday. It’s as much fun as you’ve heard. Anyway, I was walking around the hospital last night with my IV tree, and every room on my floor save one had the debate on.
I’m sure it has something to do with the meltdown; people are scared. But I can’t remember any other time in my life when this many people were paying attention to a presidential election. And, all snark aside, that is really bad news for John Sidney McCain.
b. hussein canuckistani (comrade)
@Scrutinizer: Maybe we can get Godwin’s law revoked for the next month. The world will *need* that standard of comparison.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Barack Obama does NOT look like Chris Rock (unless someone thinks all black people look alike, I mean).
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Sorry about your appendix Moar, but, that IS wonderful news. ;)
Margarita
The "How extreme," line echoes the "How disrespectful," line from the McCain/Palin ad a week or so ago. And the "Not presidential," line plays into the "presumptuous" trope from pretty much throughout. Yeah, it’s Uppity stuff for the duration.
That said, I would guess that Obama’s strategery has written off whatever segment this is supposed to resonate with. What’s left is McCain’s paying for an ad in which Obama calmly, and regretfully, and with all due respect, calls McCain a liar. Repeatedly, a la Joe "Let-me-say-that-again" Biden.
D. Mason
Maybe all those "dates" with strippers are having an effect on ye’ olde Maverick.
ksmiami
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
I know that about C. Rock, I was just trying to portray the Wing nut mentality – although Chris and Barack I think are pretty well matched in the smarts department
Martin
@Comrade Jake:
That video is awesome. Seriously, you couldn’t spoof that. Nobody would buy it.
(I like how the ‘reply to’ code breaks preview. So much for positive reinforcement.)
Socraticsilence
Does anyone really think Obama is the "most liberal" Senator, I mean really Bernie Sanders is a freaking Socialist and Obama is the "most liberal" wtf? Seriously, who buys this crap– especially after 2004 when John Kerry was the "most liberal".
Sister Machine Gun of Mild Harmony
ZOMG! That uppity young pup called McCain a LYAR! Doesn’t he knows McCain is a POW!!!!!!111?
/wingnut
SamFromUtah
@ The Moar You Know:
Sorry. It had to be said and I’ll never mention it again.
I was thinking of saying it, so thanks for letting me not do so.
bwaage
Has anyone else pointed out how ridiculously infantile and direct the the voiceovers on McCain ads are? They make obvious accusations, then feel the need to follow it up with "How _________." and "So __________." It’s like their target audience is incapable of connecting the dots or understanding sentences with more than two words in them.
Comrade Nikolita
"folks are lying" is an attempt to make Obama sound like he’s accusing the American people of being liars, whereas the rest of us with a brain know that he’s in fact referring to McCain and/or the Republican party.
But I do agree with you that it’s a dumb and pointless add. There’s nothing of substance in there.
Conservatively Liberal
I never connected the two before, but it is well known that troops stationed overseas during war (and to a lesser degree in peacetime overseas deployments) have serious problems with contracting STDs. I wonder how many troops were infected with something like syphilis and captured by the enemy before discovering the infection, never receiving proper treatment until after they were released (if at all).
Something to think about regarding medical records.
slaney black
@slaney black: Huh? I said I don’t see a race angle in this ad. One of the annoying things about my liberal brethren is their propensity to see race attacks where none exist. To say, "You liberals never do," is just weird.
FWIW I’m an Obamacan and former Gingrich-era campaign staffer. Believe me, it’s in there. Nevertheless the ad’s still f*&%ing useless – so no point in sweating it.
John
That percentage is damn scary by itself.
fulldawg
it is just stupid….
John
"How Extreme" is terrible. As is "not presidential." This is a really, really awful campaign we’re seeing fail here.
Mark
Steve Schmidt is your new Mark Penn.
nicethugbert
What was that research article that was spotted around here a few weeks ago? The one where people believe a lie the more it’s refuted?
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Actually, I learned that watching Braveheart, but, Google agrees.
Dhalgren
The argument here is that Obama calling his opponents ‘liars’ is ‘not presidential’ behavior.
This is similar to the right-wing talking point that the Left is ‘angry.’ The Angry Left.
It doesn’t stick.
Phoebe
Stanley Black must be right, because this ad is so moronic that it makes no sense except as a giant dogwhistle.
I saw this as a former trial lawyer, that is, someone who has viewed witnesses, clients, etc. through the lens of "credibility" – i.e. which of these jokers will the jury believe, because the evidence is often all just testimony, and it all comes down to which one the jury thinks is lying. So a huge part of that is body language and all that crap, but also how the evidence is being presented. Lots of jurors are quick to believe that something is being hidden from them [often true], and they resent it, and it goes to the credibility issue.
So this thing:
Immediately weird is the implication by juxtaposition that Obama is calling the National Journal a liar, which makes no sense. If he disagreed with the "liberal" rating, then he would have put it differently. And you see no context in this clip, it’s unnaturally short – a sentence fragment, and instead of showing us the whole sentence they just repeat the fragment, a tactic which tells us no information and is obviously designed to just bludgeon us. So something is being hidden.
Then, after hearing Obama repeatedly, straighforwardly, defend himself against who-knows-what, I hear the creepy creepy voice of John McCain, which sounds like some child molester offering candy from a car window, and the contrast is jolting.
It’s a pure "he-said-he-said", and the only thing in front of you is the sheer manner of their speaking, and Obama seems like such a nice man. It would have been nice to hear all of what he was trying to say. The other guy… [shudder].