Originally Posted By Mr X It just occurred to me that these "stepped up" attacks are nothing of the kind. Sure, the tone is getting more and more vicious, but the message is nothing more than old news. Ayers? Really? That was dredged up by Clinton way back in the primaries so many years ago (seems like that, don't it? ). I find it hard to believe they are going to find too many undecideds who SUDDENLY think to themselves "wow, this issue is much more significant than I thought, I'd better vote McCain". Maybe a few, but not so many. Most everyone has ALREADY heard all this stuff, and those who considered it important have long since abandoned Obama for the dark side. These "new" ads aren't going to influence very many more voters, I do believe. So, is this all they've got? I think it's all over but the cryin, that being the case. Thoughts?
Originally Posted By andyll Don't under estimate the gullability of the people. Obama has to answer the attacks. On the plus side... during the Bronco game I saw a ton of Obama ads and no McCain ads. CO is an important state. Is he running out of money?
Originally Posted By Mr X If he answers the same way he did in the debate against Clinton he'll be fine, I think. I wonder if he should start going tit for tat on this stuff too though (or someone should..Bill Clinton would be very effective I think). Bring up the Keating 5 scandal, dredge up all his negative reports from the academy and his famous bad behavior in the Senate, remind everyone that Palin is under investigation RIGHT now, and clarify the difference between doing something bad YOURSELF and just happening to be associated with someone who does. If those two aren't the pot calling the kettle "terrorist", I don't know what is.
Originally Posted By Mr X I dunno, Maw. Thing is, it's getting close now and you'd think they would be coming out with NEW stuff if they had any. I don't think they do. I really don't. We'll see, I guess.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Thing is, it's getting close now and you'd think they would be coming out with NEW stuff if they had any.<< As on eBay, the only bid that counts is the one that's too late for your opponent to do anything about. The last week or so, that's where the real action is going to be.
Originally Posted By chickendumpling <<I wonder if he should start going tit for tat on this stuff too though>> Wonder no more. Game on: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/3erale" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/3erale</a> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/53s2f4" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/53s2f4</a> I don't like it personally but there you have it.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Game on<< Oh no. The October surprise is the Dems losing their friggin' minds. Either they've gotten wind of something a lot nastier coming down the pike from the GOP, or they just decided they didn't care for being so far ahead in the polls. The high road was a good place to be under the current circumstances. But nope, we're going to try to out-GOP the GOP. Again. It's like rooting for the Cubs. Anyway, video of Obama with Rev. Wright (and possibly Hitler, Pol Pot and Vlad the Impaler) in an official McCain ad by the end of the week.
Originally Posted By ecdc That's a risky little move for Obama. Unfair as it is, there's a double-standard when of comes to attack ads. Obama can't be seem as the angry black man. If Obama had done half the things McCain or Palin had done this election would be over. Obama's the black guy, McCain's the war hero. He can play that card and people more interested in outrage than truth will swallow it hook, line, and sinker.
Originally Posted By andyll I think it is a mistake for Obama to go negative such as bringing up the Keating 5. Let the 521s do that. I do think he needs to keep hammering McCain on the economy. All he has to do is keep bringing up the 100s of times McCain stated he was for deregulation and then point out where we are today.
Originally Posted By ecdc I'll add, I think Obama learned the hard way that taking the high road doesn't work. He watched as the nastier the Clintons got, the tighter the race became.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>He watched as the nastier the Clintons got, the tighter the race became.<< That was then. Now we're in a serious financial crisis. The last thing voters want to hear is round-the-clock bickering over whose associates from 20 years ago are the suckiest. I really don't get this at all. Obama's been staying (mostly) positive while McCain and Winky sling the feces, and his poll numbers keep improving. So why take a swan dive into the mud when the high road is working so well? I've got to assume that the Obama campaign knows something we don't. Either they have poll results that look different from what we're seeing, or McCain's got something new and very damaging on him and is about to unleash it. Cause they can't be this dumb. Can they?
Originally Posted By ecdc Like I said, I'm not all that comfortable with it. But again, Obama has to walk a fine line. He can't sit around and do nothing. He has to hit back. But hit back too hard or too negative and, well... But then, I also thought that no one would actually be stupid enough to buy what the Swiftboaters were saying. I truly thought Americans would share my outrage at questioning a war veterans record. (Can you even fathom the total meltdown McCain supporters would have if something like that happened to him?) But, I was wrong. It worked. So perhaps Obama is taking the right approach. Here's the preview to the video that'll be released tomorrow: <a href="http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/keatingvideo" target="_blank">http://my.barackobama.com/page...ingvideo</a>
Originally Posted By hopemax I am uncomfortable too. But on another board I read, the central theme for them is judgment. The feel they can not trust Obama's judgment because of his associations. They do not talk about McCain's associations or if we can trust his judgment. The reasons for distrusting Obama's judgment is the usual Ayers, crazy preacher, wife isn't proud of America. A reason for distrusting McCain's judgment would be because the Senate Ethics Committee criticized him for having poor judgment. There is a question of is the Keating 5 investigation relevant today? Well, the preview video looks like they intend to draw parallels with the S&L crisis and what we are dealing with today. And ask the question, "Did McCain learn from that experience?" I think that is a fair question to ask, so, I think I would have to say that it is relevant.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder Given today's financial developments, I think Obama can combine the best of both worlds. On one hand, he can revive the phrase "It's the economy, stupid", and then segue into how McCain obviously thinks the voting public is stupid by ignoring this crisis, using "politics as usual" when we are NOT in "usual" times. If McCain has no answers for what's going on right now he should just say so, and dispense with the negativity because all he's doing is further tarnishing a once proud reputation. Would this stop McCain? Probably not, but I'd love to see Obama try it. Go on the offensive simply by saying "yeah, yeah, whatever John, but what do you have for us NOW? Tell us what YOU'RE going to do about the economy instead of telling lies about me. Don't you have a plan? Why is this so indicative of the Republicans the last few years? Don't they ever plan anything out?"
Originally Posted By mawnck My friend at work who is really into politics analyzes it this way: There are a lot of voters who see Obama as a bleeding heart liberal wimp. Coming on harder and faster than McCain is designed to show that their guy will stand up to bullies and other miscreants, thus bringing the more hawkish elements of the electorate on board. I dunno .......
Originally Posted By DyGDisney Did you notice some of the responses? Here's one that I found, well, entertaining I guess... " The obamabots are getting deperate. Anything to draw attention away from dear leaders radical associates and questionable past."
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Here's the preview to the video that'll be released tomorrow:<< Supposedly at noon eastern. They're late.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Going negative is a big mistake when you have a fairly formidable lead. Here in Minnesota Senator Coleman (R) went into the summer with almost a 20% lead. Since that time he has run the dirtiest campaign ads that I've ever seen. Result? The latest poll showed Franken (a guy with no credibility or experience) with a 5% lead over Coleman. Coleman gave away the election to a guy with worse credentials than Palin. The Obama camp better be careful. Recently one of the local stations had an in-depth interview with a Political Science professor. He said that analysis he had done shows that negative advertising hurt BOTH candidates, but it hurts the leading candidate more. Why? The 'core' is still going to vote for their guy no matter what. The negative ads tend to reduce turnout. The independents/undecideds decide they would rather sit home than vote for either of the guys. Since the candidate in the lead almost always has the most independent and undecideds leaning his way; he suffers the most by those people dropping out.
