527s Go to Work for Both Sides
By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in 2008 Election, 527s, Barack, McCainWith an election that’s shaping up to be tight all the way to the finish line, is it any surprise that the 527s are gearing up for action? While both John McCain and Barack Obama have previously vowed to take the highroad, it looks like we’re headed straight for the usual gutter. Currently, three groups have national ads in the works: BornAliveTruth.org and RightChange.com will be blasting Obama while liberal stalwart MoveOn.org will be going after McCain.
I guess those reports that Obama was going to start tolerating 527s were correct after all. While MoveOn.org is not permitted by law to coordinate with the Obama campaign, I can’t imagine a group that large and that connected would go ahead with ads without first getting the nod of approval from the powers that be.
As for McCain, his campaign hasn’t seen the highroad since early summer. I expect the Arizona Senator to happily look the other way as the 527s do their wet work.
I guess both candidates still have a chance to prove me wrong. And, since I haven’t seen any of these 527 ads yet, I realize I’m being rather cynical to assume the worst. So I won’t condemn either candidate yet. But let’s just say I’m not optimistic that these groups are going to promote civility and honest debate.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, 527s, Barack, McCain. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 16th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Alan,
I’ve seen one 527 hit piece against McCain. It was running all day yesterday on MSNBC on my cable outlet here in SF. I don’t know if it was a local or national buy. A really despicable character assassination ad. Pure “swift boat” stuff. Real Clear Politics has it here.
I have been waiting to hear anything out of Obama and his campaign regarding this ad, and really expected him to say something.He should condemn it and ask the PAC that produced it to take it down, particularly in light of his high-minded rhetoric decrying swift-boat campaigning. On the other hand if he is just another hypocritical liar (to use Justin’s favorite word) who will do or say anything to be president, he should just stay quiet.
I do expect he will say something…
after it has had a chance to run for a while.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Here is a good one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMwDq73gbm4
Obama’s symbol shouldn’t be the presidential seal…it should be a coat-hanger and a shop-vac.
September 16th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
MW,
Well, I’m not sure that quite rises the level of swift boat ads….we have a guy who is a former POW who says that simply being a POW does not make you presidential material.
Sorry if that offends you, but isn’t that true? Do you really mean to tell me that any POW should be president because he was a POW? That doesn’t exactly hold water.
The problem with this ad is that the man in the ad then goes on–based on hearsay–to say McCain has a temper and he doesn’t think a man with that temper should be president.
You call that really dispicable character assassination? Really?
I kind of think it’s low for him to be commenting on McCain’s temper without first hand experience, but that doesn’t even compare to McCain saying Obama wanted to teach kindergartners sex ed before they could read.
That is really dispicable character assassination
And Harden, you may want to actually investigate Obama’s stance before lambasting him. Obama’s stand is well known on this issue–he voted against the act because it was a backdoor method of undermining Roe v Wade, not because of the intent of this bill. He supported a nearly identical federal measure that protected Roe V. Wade.
I need a signature for comments, something like correcting GOP lies, one post at a time…..
September 16th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Funny. I feel the same way when commenting on Justin’s posts. What you actually need to do is get Justin to authorize you as a blogger here. You write well, and often offer thoughtful if wrong headed comments when you are not in partisan hack mode (BTW- I feel the same way about myself – except of course I am thinking correctly). I even quoted you on my blog.
Anyway, I think Justin needs more Obama apologists for balance now that he has signed Nick up.
September 16th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I was actually surprised to that ad go up. It was pretty weak in my opinion and would not have any effect on the election or voters. If you are going to try and make people afraid of someones temper you need a story like, “mccain once beat up a lady in a wheelchair because she asked him to help her get something off a shelf”.
So I dont agree that the ad rises to the level of swiftboating. To make it a swift boat style ad the guy would have said that he was a pow with mccain and mccain was actually helping the vietnamese torture other prisoners. that would have been a baseless character assassination and totally beyond any sense of decency. I agree that simply being a pow does not equal a job qualification although, like any event in life, it might help people understand how you operate and think.
September 16th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
The guy in the ad all but says “elect McCain and blow up the world.” It’s ineffective because the “McCain has a temper” line is baseless without an anecdote.
It ISN’T swiftboating because it lacks specifics. But it is definitely an ATEMPT at swiftboating in the way it’s meant to play on the psyche. The attack on Kerry could be summed up as: Kerry b/c of Vietnam is a Traitor. This ad could be summed up: McCain kinda b/c of Vietnam is a Dangerously Volatile Man. By purposefully juxtiposing the POW bit and the “temper” bit, it comes close to resurecting the smears Bush & Co. used in 2000 that tried to paint McCain has mentally unstable because of his POW experience.
September 16th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Er, ATTEMPT. Lost a t somewhere.
September 16th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Actually, I can’t wait until the election is over so I can stop apologizing for Obama and start criticizing him….
September 16th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
ASC,
My reading of that ad is perhaps colored by my preconception of McCain, I’ll admit, but saying the man has a temper and that temper makes him ill-suited to be commander in chief is no where near swift-boating.
The swift boat veterans essentially implied they were present during the situations where Kerry was awarded three purple hearts, a bronze star and silver star, when none of them were. They lied in an attempt to tarnish Kerry’s record.
I do not have a problem with the comments of some, who simply said that they did not think that Kerry was deserving of being president when he later protested against the war–that was an opinion and is their right. My objection is the lies that even John McCain said were “dishonest and dishonorable.”
This gentleman is not saying McCain was not a POW or that his actions while he was a POW were dishonorable–though there are some who make this claim. He simple said that McCain glorifies his POW experience as if it somehow is a qualification for the presidency.
The gentleman also says that due to his temper and impulsiveness, he is not comfortable with McCain as president. One man, one opinion. You can dismiss the opinion if you wish, but there is no lie here.
As for my preconceived notion of McCain on this, I can only restate what I have stated several times: my uncle with whom I agree with almost none of the time and who is a former navy pilot, staunch Republican and was a classmate of McCain’s at the US Naval Academy. They were not the best of pals, but they had a great deal of interaction with each other and they were close enough so that if he were to call McCain that McCain would know him instantly and pick up the phone. They have spoken many times over the years. My uncle’s opinion is not much different from the man in the advertisement and will not vote for McCain based on his knowledge of him.
September 16th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Phillip Butler (the also-ex-POW “Swiftboater” of the ad) is a hard-left Democrat who is also a “justice and peace activist” with Veterans for Peace, a charming little group that sponsored Cindy Sheehan’s “Camp Casey” vigil in Texas, has repeatedly lobbied to impeach Bush, and thinks Hugo Chavez is an honest upright man who only wants to empower the poor of Venezuala. That such would not vote for McCain is hardly surprising.
Alan, tell me: Am I the only person that finds it hilarious that a hard-left “justice and peace activist” wingnut ex-POW is implying that having been a POW makes you nuts? Is he leading by example? :-D
September 16th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
I am not sure he is implying that—he could easily be implying McCain was nuts before being a POW
September 17th, 2008 at 5:08 am
I don’t hear him implying that it was the POW experience that made McCain nuts. I think he was just noting what everyone acknowledges to be one of McCain’s worst faults, his temper and impulsiveness. If you think this ad even approaches the lies and vitriol spewed by the swift boat crowd you’ve really jumped the shark in terms of supporting McCain and his crowd no matter what.
Tully, I find it hilarious that any one doesn’t consider a 72 year old who is losing his temper on national television, who sits in front of a live audience on national TV and saying that ads containing blatant lies are really truthful and accuses his opponent of supporting sex ed for kindergartners to be nuts.
September 21st, 2008 at 7:43 pm
527s Go To Work For Both Sides…
Alan Stewart Carl, a moderate blogger, focuses on the emerging third-party ads in the United States’ presidential election: “While both John McCain and Barack Obama have previously vowed to take the highroad, it looks like we?re headed straight for …