Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly.
He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
When the only thing your campaign has to offer is the “hope” that dog whistle racism will magically give you 15 points on Election Day, you tend to run these type of ads.
I mean really, just give us the old blackface minstrelsy already Grandpa! Go for the gusto!
Weaver remains in contact with senior McCain strategists and, for a while early this year, regularly talked to McCain.
The strategy of driving up Obama’s negatives “reduces McCain on the stage,” Weaver said.
“For McCain to win in such troubled times, he needs to begin telling the American people how he intends to lead us. That McCain exists. He can inspire the country to greatness.”
He added: “There is legitimate mockery of a political campaign now, and it isn’t at Obama’s. For McCain’s sake, this tomfoolery needs to stop.”
I’m puzzled. Does the GOP take their standard bearer seriously in this campaign?
The alleged man of honor, John McCain, is proving he has no honor. The candidate of ethics is showing how unethical he really is. The foreign policy expert lack expertise is this vital field. A man of intelligence and skill he seems without skill and sadly deficient in his grasp of basic facts.
What we are witnessing once again is a campaign of mirrors and distorted reality. Like when GWB promised that he would be a compassionate conservative who would unite the nation.
Once again, the Republicans are dressing up a pig and telling us that it is a prince. Will the Muggles buy it or will they finally see through the camouflage? Upon such a judgment hangs the fate of the republic.
heh…even mcstains “purported” allies are disgusted. from marc ambinder at the atlantic:
McCain’s Former Strategist, Calls “Celeb” Ad “Childish”
John Weaver, for years one of John McCain’s closest friends and confidants, has been in exile since his resignation from McCain’s presidential campaign last year. With the exception of an occasional interview, he has, by his own account, bit his tongue as McCain’s campaign has adopted a strategy that Weaver believes “diminishes John McCain.”
With the release today of a McCain television ad blasting Obama for celebrity preening while gas prices rise, and a memo that accuses Obama of putting his own aggrandizement before the country, Weaver said he’s had “enough.”
The ad’s premise, he said, is “childish.”
:::
He added: “There is legitimate mockery of a political campaign now, and it isn’t at Obama’s. For McCain’s sake, this tomfoolery needs to stop.”
life sucks when your friends turn on you…poor panderbear.
This ad was a clumsy Republican attempt at making a “Harold Ford buster” type anti-Obama video ad; only using visuals of Britney and Paris spliced together with Barack instead of the playboy bunny video used in the ad that killed Harold Ford’s bid for the Senate.
The celeb promotion in the ad was a smoke screen obscuring the real purpose which was to try creating a situation wherein Obama would be somehow connected with these two young blond stars. However, the premise was so far afield that even its target yahoo racists were left bewildered and confused. McCain should clean house and try to hire some real sophomoric talent from someplace like MAD magazine or MAD TV.
Obama brought this into his opening stump speech at the town hall today in Rolla, “they’re trying to scare you….McCain’s not telling you what he’s going to do, he spends all his time talking about me….” This was especially well received, the crowd liking the way he pushed back hard on this with a smile. He really should feel free to do more of these, he was at ease in this format, got a couple of tough questions (and a couple of goofy ones) and was able to answer in a way that brought it back to a few central themes.
This man has just had about the worst month I think I’ve ever seen a candidate have. We can change the ‘McSame’ to McLame’. They really are grasping at straws, flailing at windmills.
Rick Perlstein has the screen shots and he compares the Berlin scenes to that of Leni Riefenstahl shots and he also says that :
Recall that John McCain’s new adviser Karl Rove has said he creates campaigns for people who watch TV with the sound off. I watched John McCain’s new TV commercial with the sound off, the one, it’s already been well-explicated, with the Barack Obama will rape yo daughta overtones[.]
The Plain Dealer, in cooperation with The Canton Repository, The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Columbus Dispatch and Dayton Daily News, is rating political advertisements this election season.
Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Howard Wilkinson
RATES THIS AD 0
ANALYSIS:
While the ad tries to make points that the McCain campaign has raised before about Obama and his energy policies, the energy issue is almost an afterthought to the central point – the implication that Obama is more interested in the high-profile events and adoring crowds that give him celebrity status than in being the kind of leader the nation can put its trust in.
But lumping Obama with Spears and Hilton – two celebrities who have not exactly comported themselves in public in a Mother Teresa-like manner – seems like a dubious comparison.
McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday that he hadn’t done any polling on the public perception of Spears and Hilton, but said he is convinced that among “the top three international celebrities of the world, Britney and Paris come in second and third” to Obama.
By emphasizing Obama’s “celebrity status,” the McCain campaign is clearly trying to cash in on some national news media coverage in recent days that has suggested the Democratic candidate and his campaign operation have been presumptuous, arrogant and acting as if the election is already over.
On the issue of energy, the ad hits Obama again for his opposition to lifting the moratorium on oil drilling off U.S. coastlines, which Obama has said, accurately, “won’t produce a drop of oil for seven years.” Even McCain, who supports offshore drilling, has said that it would produce no immediate relief from high gas prices.
The McCain ad’s claim that Obama says “he’ll raise taxes on electricity” is based on an interview Obama gave to a San Antonio newspaper in February in which he said “what we ought to tax is a dirty energy like coal, and, to a lesser extent, natural gas.”
According to the Obama campaign, what Obama was referring to in the interview was his proposal for a cap-and-trade mechanism that would set a limit on greenhouse gas emissions, allowing entities to buy and sell rights to emit. If that is the case, McCain is criticizing Obama for a proposal that he, too, supports.
Obama’s campaign web site says the candidate supports a “market-based cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions by the amount scientists say is necessary – 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. McCain’s plan, according to his campaign Web site, would reduce carbon emissions to 60 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
I am sure. As BArak said himself, McComplain cannot talk about himself or his worn out McBush policies so he has to go negative in anyway he can.
These ads make it so obvious to me the Rove is deeply involved now. There was a time I actually liked McComplain. He is a disgusting Republican tool and will say or do anything to be president. They must have given him the same KoolAide they gave W.
McCain–the spoiled brat hot-head who turned his wife in for a younger, non-disabled model, is saying that he’s both married to an ABW and covets blonde white women.
Lord. Have. Mercy.
But we knew this was coming. I think the ad was sloppy, but we can expect to see more of this.
desperation tactics from Team McBush.
When the only thing your campaign has to offer is the “hope” that dog whistle racism will magically give you 15 points on Election Day, you tend to run these type of ads.
I mean really, just give us the old blackface minstrelsy already Grandpa! Go for the gusto!
No Country for Old Angry John McCain.
Ambinder catches up with John Weaver, McCain’s Former Strategist, Calls “Celeb” Ad “Childish”
I’m puzzled. Does the GOP take their standard bearer seriously in this campaign?
The alleged man of honor, John McCain, is proving he has no honor. The candidate of ethics is showing how unethical he really is. The foreign policy expert lack expertise is this vital field. A man of intelligence and skill he seems without skill and sadly deficient in his grasp of basic facts.
What we are witnessing once again is a campaign of mirrors and distorted reality. Like when GWB promised that he would be a compassionate conservative who would unite the nation.
Once again, the Republicans are dressing up a pig and telling us that it is a prince. Will the Muggles buy it or will they finally see through the camouflage? Upon such a judgment hangs the fate of the republic.
Republicans suck.
I just hope Obama continues to play these mistakes correctly and effectively.
I had to chuckle since immediately after reading this post I happened to visit MSNBC.com where this headline awaited me:
Newsweek: John McCain’s clever ad strategy
heh…even mcstains “purported” allies are disgusted. from marc ambinder at the atlantic:
life sucks when your friends turn on you…poor panderbear.
This ad was a clumsy Republican attempt at making a “Harold Ford buster” type anti-Obama video ad; only using visuals of Britney and Paris spliced together with Barack instead of the playboy bunny video used in the ad that killed Harold Ford’s bid for the Senate.
The celeb promotion in the ad was a smoke screen obscuring the real purpose which was to try creating a situation wherein Obama would be somehow connected with these two young blond stars. However, the premise was so far afield that even its target yahoo racists were left bewildered and confused. McCain should clean house and try to hire some real sophomoric talent from someplace like MAD magazine or MAD TV.
Obama brought this into his opening stump speech at the town hall today in Rolla, “they’re trying to scare you….McCain’s not telling you what he’s going to do, he spends all his time talking about me….” This was especially well received, the crowd liking the way he pushed back hard on this with a smile. He really should feel free to do more of these, he was at ease in this format, got a couple of tough questions (and a couple of goofy ones) and was able to answer in a way that brought it back to a few central themes.
I encourage you to write a brief diary about Obama’s visit to Rolla! 🙂
I’ll second that.
Done, I have pictures but am a newbie and haven’t figured out how to post.
as for posting pix….see this fotofair 2006 diary…l think all the links are still good.
if that doesn’t help…post a query in the cafe and l’m sure someone will come along and help you out.
go for it, and good luck!
This man has just had about the worst month I think I’ve ever seen a candidate have. We can change the ‘McSame’ to McLame’. They really are grasping at straws, flailing at windmills.
Rick Perlstein has the screen shots and he compares the Berlin scenes to that of Leni Riefenstahl shots and he also says that :
Recall that John McCain’s new adviser Karl Rove has said he creates campaigns for people who watch TV with the sound off. I watched John McCain’s new TV commercial with the sound off, the one, it’s already been well-explicated, with the Barack Obama will rape yo daughta overtones[.]
I am too lazy to embed the link here it is
http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/liberal-fascism
McCain ad attacking Obama’s celebrity is a ‘zero’
The McCain camp right now is like…………
I am sure. As BArak said himself, McComplain cannot talk about himself or his worn out McBush policies so he has to go negative in anyway he can.
These ads make it so obvious to me the Rove is deeply involved now. There was a time I actually liked McComplain. He is a disgusting Republican tool and will say or do anything to be president. They must have given him the same KoolAide they gave W.
McCain–the spoiled brat hot-head who turned his wife in for a younger, non-disabled model, is saying that he’s both married to an ABW and covets blonde white women.
Lord. Have. Mercy.
But we knew this was coming. I think the ad was sloppy, but we can expect to see more of this.
John McSame got nothing…but this.