McCain’s New “The One” Ad Is Humorous, Confused, Dangerous
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Bad Decisions, Barack, McCain, MediaWell, the 2008 version of the “Windsurfing” ad has finally emerged. I think many of us who have admired McCain in the past didn’t think he’d actually go here, and yet here we are.
Enjoy…
I think the purpose is pretty clear: Obama thinks he’s God and you should hate him for it.
However, did you note the very last thing the announcer said?
“Barack Obama may be the one, but is he ready to lead?”
Isn’t that kind of confusing? As if the McCain camp should leave even a slight crack in the door that this guy could actually change things? Putting it in those terms makes it seem like they’re hedging their bets, which just comes off sounding almost as if even they have some small amount of hope that Obama could be the real deal.
All the McCain camp had to do is say, “Barack Obama thinks he’s the one, but is he ready to lead?” Big time opportunity missed there.
Understandably, the Obama camp responds by pushing his new energy tax/relief policy…
“It’s downright sad that on a day when we learned that 51,000 Americans lost their jobs, a candidate for the presidency is spending all of his time and the powerful platform he has on these sorts of juvenile antics,” said spokesman Hari Sevugan. “Senator McCain can keep telling everyone how ‘proud’ he is of these political stunts which even his Republican friends and advisors have called ‘childish’, but Barack Obama will continue talking about his plan to jumpstart our economy by giving working families $1,000 of immediate relief.”
Let’s face it, the McCain camp thinks the “messiah” meme is sticking to Obama, otherwise they never would have made this ad. And you know they’ll respond with the same old tired, transparent Republican response of, “Hey, don’t you have a sense of humor?” But can McCain honestly claim that he’s proud of stuff like this? And isn’t he worried that it will make him look petty and undercut his credibility as somebody who wants to move this country in a positive direction? Because even if this ad is supposed to be humorous, it’s certainly not positive.
More than anything I think this ad serves as a pretty clear signal that Republicans are extremely worried that Obama is walking away with this election. Otherwise, there’s no way McCain would be taking this route to the Presidency.
In any event, dangerous territory here John.
UPDATE:
Libertarian Megan McArdle’s two cents…
I’m frankly disappointed in the negative campaigning from the McCain side. It’s nowhere near as bad as the ads that ran from both sides in 2004, but still . . . here in DC, McCain is now running anti-Obama ads with a voice over in the same tones that the ninth grade bully-princess used to inform everyone that her newest enemy had, like, totally slept with a tenth grader behind the bleachers. This does not make me more likely to vote for Senator from Arizona.
I’m not sure if it makes her more likely to vote for Obama either, but Megan represents a group of voters who have yet to be convinced by either side. This is the danger for McCain.
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August 1st, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Another day, another pathetic display by McCain. How anyone can even consider him qualified to be president is beyond me. The thought of this old coot with his ugly, creepy sneer trying to represent us sends a chill down my spine.
Frankly, I think McCain is going to snap at some point. He just doesn’t appear stable to me.
August 1st, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Weren’t we just talking about McCain’s pathetic “Obama is a Celebrity, Not a Leader” ad two minutes ago? Here is another fine example of how the McCain campaign is grasping at straws.
Seems pretty desperate that they couldn’t even wait for the first ad to “sink in” before throwing another jab.
August 1st, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Justin wrote:
“And you know they’ll respond with the same old tired, transparent Republican response of, ‘Hey, don’t you have a sense of humor?’”
Already done:
“We were having some fun with our supporters who we sent it out to,” McCain explains later in the day. “We are going to display a sense of humor in this campaign.”
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:32 am
they’re not that far off producing an ad FOR Obama with that one.
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:25 am
These ads are working!
The celeb ad hit Obama for supporting foreign oil, next thing you know Obama is supporting off-shore drilling.
August 2nd, 2008 at 9:32 am
I think it’s legitimate to point out that Obama may have an unrealistic view of his own potential, but this ad sucks. As Justin points out, ending with “Barack Obama may be the one” is just stupid. Terrible writing. If you’re going to hit the guy for being arrogant, hit him hard. Don’t wuss out at the end.
Still, those clips of Obama making over-the-top statements about himself will haunt him this election — count on it.
August 2nd, 2008 at 9:36 am
“Frankly, I think McCain is going to snap at some point. He just doesn’t appear stable to me.”
BTW, Ed, thanks for providing the liberal equivilant to the above McCain ad. The “McCain is unstable” meme is as prevelant on the left as the “Obama thinks he’s the messiah” meme is on the right.
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:02 am
Yes, but John McCain is the one making ads on said ridiculous meme.
Big difference there.
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:35 am
Captain: that’s a very good point.
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:49 pm
This ad isn’t stupid, it’s a direct appeal to the end-times theology. He’s calling Obama the anti-christ. This ad has “dog-whistle” written all over it.
August 4th, 2008 at 6:55 am
mdgeorge has it exactly correct. Does anyone remember the rapture prank that Justin posted a while ago? This ad was perfect — it mocked Obama to one demographic and it called him the anti-Christ to the Evangelicals.
August 5th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Any Christian who calls him or herself a Democrat (or vise versa) should check out this link. It’s a great analysis of this ad and near the bottom is a break-down of all the crazy illusions to the rapture, the Left Behind series, Obama being the anti-Christ, Revelation, and a plethora of other religious icons and imagery. This ad isn’t a joke and it was not made light-heartedly, as the McCain camp has said. Every word and scene was deliberate and potentially damaging to the Obama campaign because it feeds on people’s misguided fears. Worth a look: http://faithfuldemocrats.com/content/view/778/92/
August 25th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
I don’t think it is just Obama that McCain is mocking with these ads. My opinion is that he is also pointing out and mocking this propensity of the religious right to be worked up in to a frenzy and driven by their fears of anything related to the end times and the anti-christ.
If McCain is just having a little fun, as he says he is, then it seems like frat-boy humor to me. I think I’m ready to stop watching “Frat-Boy Goes to the White House.”