Originally Posted By ecdc <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/01/new-mccain-ad-compares-ob_n_116414.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...414.html</a> This shows just how divisive and low the GOP is willing to go. They aren't just targeting Obama with these kinds of ads, they're targeting his supporters. The message is, "You don't want to be like these people, worshiping this guy, do you?" It looks like Karl Rove's tactics are alive and well - don't just go after your enemy, draw a line in the sand between Americans and make them pick a side. Are you a "real" American, or are you one of these people?
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Clearly, team McCain is frustrated by Obama's popularity. So they're fully settling into grouchy "get-off-my-lawn" mode now, mocking Obama and anyone who supports him. It's unbelievable. About 3 months until the election, and this is the way it's going to be. And it's going to be like watching older folks back in the 60's bitching about the Beatles' haircuts. And about as effective.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 What's really lame is the clip of Obama they use with him saying "A light will come down... and you'll have to vote for Obama" was him MOCKING the idea that he should be any sort of "annointed one," and he went on to say that you should vote for me because of x, y, and z. I don't think I've seen a single positive McCain ad since he won the primaries. They've all been negative "don't vote for the other guy" ads. I'm sure he'll put out a positive one eventually, but geez - this tells you where he and his campaign are really at.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>was him MOCKING the idea that he should be any sort of "annointed one,"<< Yeah, but McCain seems to be counting heavily on The Dumb Guy vote. Most anyone can see from that clip it's meant tongue in cheek, heck the guy on stage across from Obama is laughing at it. But if McCain is already out ideas about how to lead this country, I guess this is where they'll go. There are policy differences between the two of them, things worth looking at. But that isn't what we'll see. It's going to be ever more of this kind of garbage.
Originally Posted By utahjosh <This shows just how divisive and low the GOP is willing to go.> Couldn't you say the same thing about hundreds of things Democratic leaders have done?
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Yes. The old "Wull, the OTHER gus do it, too!" excuse. Two wrongs don't make a right. Say, that's catchy. I just made that up!
Originally Posted By vbdad55 < this tells you where he and his campaign are really at.< yep trying to offset the zillions of dollars of free positive media Obama gets -- it's hard when you have to pay for your own positive media because you are running against the Chosen One. I donn't like negative ads - let me state that right here -
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <There are policy differences between the two of them, things worth looking at. But that isn't what we'll see. It's going to be ever more of this kind of garbage.< I agree there are far more important topics - but lets see the people's choice explain how heis going to pay for some of the things he proposes - and do it with more detail than 'it won'thurt the middle class' which sorry, I don't believe for a second - coming from Obama or McCain. Neither one is going to tackle the important issues before the election because both are collecting millions from special interests they can;t affordto have stop.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>I don't think I've seen a single positive McCain ad since he won the primaries.<< Well, of course you haven't. Neither has anyone else, apparently. But we have certainly seen a fawning media incessantly cover every smile and step that Obama takes. I think these new McCain ads are weird and unsettling. But I think I understand the frustration that brought them about. McCain gets coverage only when it shows him to be either out-of-touch or irritated. By the way, here's some of the ads of which people seem to be unaware. I've seen some on the air, and found the rest on line. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-QYIP7o2-A&feature=user" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...ure=user</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_A53PAxeR8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...53PAxeR8</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpyOSLZw8qo&feature=user" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...ure=user</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB3BNgdfEkI&feature=user" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...ure=user</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0cNqtUtufo&feature=user" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...ure=user</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jxQEtNv5c4&feature=user" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...ure=user</a>
Originally Posted By Mr X Thanks for the links Dar. Those last three commercials are the kind I like to hear (the first three didn't really say much...we all KNOW he was a war hero, and for him to focus on it in that way I think simply reminds us of how very old he is!). Anyway, he's throwing it all away now with the attack ads. Pathetic.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>McCain gets coverage only when it shows him to be either out-of-touch or irritated.<< Then he should stop acting so out of touch and irritated. I mean, come on -- what's he thinking talking about the Internet as if it's some sort of thing from the future? That's just dumb campaign strategy. And if he's going to be firing off snippy little one liners, he can't act upset that it puts himself in a bad light. McCain has been a media darling himself. He knows how the game is played. But for some reason, it's more important to him to reach out to the Huckabee crowd. It makes no sense.
Originally Posted By ecdc I love how surly the far right is over this campaign. I really, really am getting a kick out of it. They're already pissed off that McCain is the guy that got the nomination - he doesn't even believe the earth is 6,000 years old! Now they can't shut up about how Obama is apparently the media's favorite guy on the planet. (It of course escapes them that Obama is simply *interesting* and McCain, although a decent guy, is anything but. It may not be fair that Obama is the first African American candidate with a shot and is therefore getting a lot of attention, but it's how it is. So McCain can either deal with that and talk about the issues, or he can continue to mock Obama. But I guess what else is he going to do - ask people if they're better off today than they were 7 years ago? Yeah, good luck with that.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 The coverage is not fair forces McCain's team to maybe do things they wouldn't-- but I share your enjoyment of the far right being ticked at the world -- I want them out of any kind of power as badly as you do
Originally Posted By gadzuux >> Couldn't you say the same thing about hundreds of things Democratic leaders have done? << You couldn't say it about the candidate that's running on the democratic ticket. This mudslinging has NOT been a two way street. For all of his perceived vainglory, obama has been trudging a righteous path throughout the campaign, and more importantly throughout the past several weeks that he's been the target of repeated scurrilous comments from the McCain camp. Has Obama stooped to any cheap shots in response? Not to my knowledge. That counts for a lot.
Originally Posted By hopemax > yep trying to offset the zillions of dollars of free positive media Obama gets So did anyone else see the results of the study by The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University. This is the same group that reported the "liberal media-bias," a few years ago. <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-onthemedia27-2008jul27,0,712999.story" target="_blank">http://www.latimes.com/news/po...99.story</a> "During the evening news, the majority of statements from reporters and anchors on all three networks are neutral, the center found. And when network news people ventured opinions in recent weeks, 28% of the statements were positive for Obama and 72% negative. Network reporting also tilted against McCain, but far less dramatically, with 43% of the statements positive and 57% negative, according to the Washington-based media center." Also from the article: "That was a reversal of the trend during the primaries, when the same researchers found that 64% of statements about Obama -- new to the political spotlight -- were positive, but just 43% of statements about McCain were positive." Now, there is the other study from the Tyndall Report, that showed Obama has been receiving twice the amount of air time as McCain. But it doesn't seem to be that Obama is the one benefiting from "positive press," certainly not anymore.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 << this tells you where he and his campaign are really at.< <yep trying to offset the zillions of dollars of free positive media Obama gets > Come on now. Even if you believe that (and as hopemax showed, that's largely a myth), McCain had the choice of responding with something positive, or something like he actually responded with.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <But we have certainly seen a fawning media incessantly cover every smile and step that Obama takes.> What hopemax said. I think it's pretty clear that if one leans right, one tends to think that Obama gets "fawning" coverage or is skating; if one leans left, one tends to think the same of McCain (for instance, I couldn't believe the free ride he got especially in the period between him securing the nomination and Obama doing so; gaffe after gaffe and nearly nothing in the mainstream media). I think there's a certain "hangover effect" from the primaries in which Obama WAS getting the same lovefest from the press that McCain got in 2000 - the insurgent usually does. So the right tends to think Obama's still getting the same kind of coverage - except as the study shows, he's not.
