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GOP Launches New Attack Site To Soften Obama For General Election
The GOP is now shifting gears going into the general election, launching a new attack Web site against Barack Obama called CanWeAsk.com.
The site invites readers to submit rhetorical questions to Obama, centered around the idea that underneath the inspiration he's really just a left-wing empty suit.
Here's their introductory Web video:
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I guess this their version of The Real McCain?
Not.
LOL.
May 9, 2008 10:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
I suppose that they think that using failed Clinton tactics (outside of the Iraq war criticism) is a sound strategy against Obama, after all, it is working so well for Hillary.
May 9, 2008 11:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey Greg,
FYI: IN final total: Hillary won by less than 1%%
May 9, 2008 10:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oops, sorry. It's Eric.
May 9, 2008 10:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Left wing empty suit?
No way. He has passed an ethics bill and had one hearing on his comittee.
So there gop.
May 9, 2008 10:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
So at what point does a person like you start fighting FOR the Democratic nominee instead of AGAINST them?
Seriously.
May 9, 2008 10:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
He is a Republican, and a whiny ass titty baby insufferable little twit.
If possible ignore him.
Eric, Greg, can you ban this troll?
May 9, 2008 10:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
That IS a good question.
He says he wants to win in November, that he supports the ACLU...
...but he can't wrap his mind around the fact that the candidate he hitched his pony to is unlikely to win the nomination...and thus must continue in attack-dog mode.
In the immortal words of George Bush and Hillary Clinton:
Gotalife, you're either with us or against us.
May 9, 2008 10:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Dead on GL - Obama needs more substance - just like our posts!
May 9, 2008 12:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
If this is the best they've got, I'm not worried. Looks pretty desperate and juvenile to me, and all are issues that I think Obama will be able to address easily in a debate.
May 9, 2008 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
I sure hope that's not the best they can do. That's frickin' pathetic.
May 9, 2008 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, it was the same old Republican attacks, guns, gays, abortion.
May 9, 2008 10:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary did far better than that.
Now that the nomination is a lock Obama can go on the offense against McSame, which should prove far easier than Hillary was. Obama didn't have that many big policy differences with Hillary, he does with McSame. Obama couldn't go after Hillary as fiercely as he can McSame because, as many pundits put it, he is a black man and she is a white woman.
McSame will be a much easier opponent than Hillary.
May 9, 2008 10:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely.
The Clintons have beaten the GOP multiple times. For anyone to think that McCain and the GOP were going to be tougher than them is hilarious.
The Clintons are among the VERY best campaigners in political history.
If Obama beat them, McCain should be substantially easier. Especially if he brings the Clintons into the fold.
May 9, 2008 10:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Add to that the fact that Obama himself stated that he has forced himself to be "restrained" during the Democratic primary process, out of a desire not to unnecessarily damage fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton or the party overall. In the general election, Obama has said he will not show restraint.
May 9, 2008 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Um, why did they crop the video to make it look like Obama is giving the finger?
May 9, 2008 10:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Lame.
Wait'll they see the web sites ready to roll out for McSame.
May 9, 2008 10:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
And then he bashed the gas holiday with the same paid off economists that say mcwar has the best economic policies.
What a leader.
May 9, 2008 10:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
Rush,
You're gonna have to do better than that.
May 9, 2008 10:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
The same paid off economists = every single economist?
May 9, 2008 10:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
He is a troll, try to ignore him.
May 9, 2008 10:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, I know. And usually I do. But sometimes I have fun engaging him.
May 9, 2008 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Game set match - Gotalife!
I think GL is totally with me when I say that John McCain's economic policies are the soundest around - harkening back to the underrated Hoover period - what a bum rap!
Keep it up Gotalife - I am your total rightwingman from now on!
May 9, 2008 12:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Soaring rhetoric easy questions to answer. Try again GOP.
May 9, 2008 10:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
Can we ask? Yes you can. And he'll answer you.
May 9, 2008 10:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
You're missing the opportunity here. We can submit some phenomenal questions on there as well?
"Will he confuse Sunni and Shi'ites and anger our Middle Eastern Allies?"
"Will he pander as basely as McCain?"
"Will he propose economically damaging gas-tax holidays?"
May 9, 2008 10:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
I got really excited about question marks? I used them after every sentence? I didn't mean to?
May 9, 2008 10:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
I am so tempted to submit one of those. I came close, but then it asked me for my e-mail address, and I'm just not ready to be on the RNC mailing list.
Maybe if workerbee bought me a round first.
May 9, 2008 11:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Don't bother. Several people over at Salon said they had submitted various questions, including "Why do Republicans hate America?" which never posted.
No surprise - they're screening.
May 9, 2008 1:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
The "empty rhetoric" would really only be valid if they were saying showing real disconnects between his words and his realities which they did not do.
Also they should be careful about asking Obama questions because eventually there will be debates and he is going to really outshine McCain when the time comes.
May 9, 2008 10:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
I cannot wait for the debates with McCain. He's flop-flopped on so many issues, he'll never be able to keep his positions straight.
May 9, 2008 10:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm just thinking next to this one run an ad: Never ending war, economy, foreclosures, etc., Repbublicans cannot win this election on issues, for sure. Only on empty rhetoric.
May 9, 2008 10:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
All right, time for hard ball.
Show quotes from MCain's book, where he reveals state secrets to the Viet Cong.
Is this man mentally stable enough to be President?
May 9, 2008 10:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oilbama voted for Dick Cheney's 2005 Energy Bill. It was written in secret by Big Oil lobbyists, it had obscene enormous giveaways to the oil and gas industries.
Both McCain and Clinton voted against Cheney and this horrible Energy Bill. A vote for either one is a vote against Big Oil.
Down with Big Oil, Dick Cheney, and Oilbama.
May 9, 2008 10:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, Gotalife, fuck off you insufferable little troll twit.
May 9, 2008 10:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
mcwar voted no.
I did not know that because I do not research him.
Wow, a Dem is the candidate that voted yes?
Scary.
May 9, 2008 10:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
What are you afraid of?
May 9, 2008 10:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Authorization to use military force in Iraq
John Sidney McCain: Yes
(While he wasn't a member of the Senate at the time, this pretty much indicates Obama's stance on the issue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhpKmQCCwB8&feature=related)
Biggest Foreign Policy blunder EVER.
Biggest Economic Policy blunder EVER.
Biggest Military blunder EVER.
McCain voted for it and continues to support it.
Nuff said.
May 9, 2008 11:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Dead on GL - honestly, whenever I read your posts - it really hits me how terrifying it all is.
May 9, 2008 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
You could look at their entire voting history (league of conservation voters gave Obama a 96 lifetime voting score and McCain a 26), or you could pick out a single bill. I think it speaks volumes that you chose to go with a single bill.
May 9, 2008 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Here is a link to the league of conservation voters' guide for those that are interested.
May 9, 2008 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hm, I believe Obama has been quite clear that he would actually lower taxes for the non-rich.
But thanks for asking.
This will be fun =)
May 9, 2008 10:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
The problem is that he actually thinks that people who make $250,000 a year are rich! The audacity! ;)
May 9, 2008 11:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's a start. Wait until the GOP ads start to ask more poignant questions.
May 9, 2008 10:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Gee I wonder why they didn't put this up?
"Once Obama is President of the United States will he move to eliminate the Electoral College so the GOP will not be able to steal another election?"
or
"Senator Obama...do you think this site is to troll for race baiting questions that the GOP can't think up on their own?"
May 9, 2008 10:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Weak, just weak. I have three words that we all should adopt when speaking about McCain: "Lame Duck Candidate".. Also, a great response ad when detailing his flip flops on the Confederate flag, the religious right, the time table for success in Iraq, gay marriage, etc - at the end of the commercial the announcer says, "Does even John McCain know where John McCain stands?"
May 9, 2008 10:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes. I am imagining McCain seeing the first 527 ad on Hagee & Co. (to balance whatever 527 ad on Wright is out there at the time), calling up his good Senate colleague Barack, and saying "Can we call a truce?"...
I think they will be surprised when Obama does not show the party courtesy and restraint that he showed to Clinton.
May 9, 2008 11:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
Can we ask if he's a secret muslim, Manchurian candidate? Is it irresponsible to speculate?
It is irresponsible not to.
May 9, 2008 11:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
To echo those above, I really, really hope that this is the republican strategy in the fall. If this is the best they can do, we are going to kick their @$$. Bring it on; we are more than capable of beating this tripe.
May 9, 2008 11:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
One really has to wonder why they are wasting scarce resources on this sort of nonsense. None of these lines of attack did a thing for Clinton. Why do they imagine that they are going to get any more traction from them than she did? For a candidate who supposedly prides himself on fiscal discipline, this seems like a really transparent waste of valuable dollars.
May 9, 2008 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe attacks on Obama din't work in the primary because Obamabots were oblivious to them. But one small detail to keep in mind is that there will be a lot more non-Obamabots who are allowed to vote in the general. Also, FLA and MI will be allowed to vote this time. You won't be able to disenfranchise any states you don't like.
May 9, 2008 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
You won't be able to disenfranchise any states you don't like.
Sure you can. In fact the entire Clinton campaign was premised on that idea. Only big states matter, remember? Luckily for us, Obama has embraced a 50 state strategy to ensure that Democrats in Republican strongholds aren't going to be disenfranchised, as they have been for the past 3 decades.
May 9, 2008 11:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
50 states? You mean Obama has admitted FLA and MI to the Union? Well, break out the fireworks.
May 9, 2008 11:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Really? You know this how?
May 9, 2008 11:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, I think it's always been true that a lot more Republicans vote in the general election than the Democratic primaries, hasn't it? I really don't think I'm breaking new ground with that, am I?
May 9, 2008 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
A lot more Democrats also vote in the general election than in the primaries. So what?
May 9, 2008 12:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
A lot of republicans really like him. As such, your assertion that he will have a smaller following (percentage wise) in the GE than in the democratic primary is not a foregone conclusion.
May 9, 2008 12:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama has a zealous core block of supporters, who wouldn't have been the least bit phased if videos had surfaced showing him drowning puppies. Ok, maybe that's a small exaggeration, but the point is that this core base was enough to get him the nomination, but there will be millions of additional voters in the general who will NOT be zealous supporters. And these voters, though they may be open-minded or even favorable to Obama, will be much more receptive to negative attacks on Obama than were the zealous core.
It's like if scientologists all got together in enough numbers to get one of their own nominated, despite the harsh ads attacking their candidate. But in the general election, they will face much greater numbers of non-scientologists.
Basically I'm talking about the big-fish in a litle-pond having to move to a much bigger-pond in the general election.
You might dream yourself to sleep at night with fantasies that Republican voters will be also swept up in Obama-mania, but that's really not a very likely scenario.
May 9, 2008 1:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
The GOP site is about rallying their base so it's not a landslide in the fall and they might hold onto some contested seats in the House.
May 9, 2008 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sorry:
Why is TPM distributing a McCain attack (Obama)video??
What is the public interest served in TPM doing this??
So: Will TPM be on the morning wake-up calls from the McCain camp now that the Clinton people are folding their tent?? (soon).
Just asking...
May 9, 2008 11:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Gosh, I am glad to see the ad posted here. I watch very little television, so the only way that I know about most of these ads is if I see them on blogs, and this the blog that I read most frequently. If you are not interested, you are free to scroll past it, but speaking for myself I am obliged to Mr Kleefeld for posting it.
May 9, 2008 11:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Seconded.
May 9, 2008 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thirded.
May 9, 2008 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know what? The ad is, overall, a typical election ad, presenting half truths and decontextualized statements, but at least most of it is about issues and policy. (Not all of it, just most of it.)
Obama can easily deal with this. It's the vile, viral email smears that will be a greater challenge.
May 9, 2008 11:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
How long are you folks going to continue to step in Goatshite droppings instead of just stepping around them. All you are doing is stirring up the stench of Goatshite.
May 9, 2008 11:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
He should be banned.
It is obvious that he is a GOP troll. Why Eric and/or Greg don't ban him is beyond me.
May 9, 2008 11:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
C'mon.
His arguments are transparent, feeble and funny.
Why ban the comedy?
May 9, 2008 11:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
I am trying to plan my Summer Expenses. Has John McCain suffered a Senior Moment, and forget about the Gas Tax Holiday that he promised to get for me?
May 9, 2008 11:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sorry:
Why is TPM distributing a McCain attack (Obama)video??
What is the public interest served in TPM doing this??
So: Will TPM be on the morning wake-up calls from the McCain camp now that the Clinton people are folding their tent?? (soon).
Just asking...
Oh: by the way: The Republican Party would be very happy to have a candidate like Obama (read P. Noonan today). AND he could be Black too. I think their Party would see that as a bonus. It would be a way to rid the Party of its mid-20th century fringe, AND they would be excited about having a charismatic, bright, eloquent, brilliant campaign-designer, young-people attracting 21st-century winner in November.
But: The Democrats and supposedly "progressive" websites are still processing Clinton's language and "doubts," wringing their hands in fear of the "unknown" and worrying about the folk who left the Democratic Party in the 70s.
Too bad.
May 9, 2008 11:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think it's important to know what the RNC is up to.
May 9, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love the middle finger subconscious image they use there in the beginning. This is such a crap ad. If this is all they have, they are in big trouble. (weren't these all of Hillary's talking points, anyways?)
May 9, 2008 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
We have to say this for Clinton's campaign...the long primary made Obama the most famous person in the world right now. He doesn't have a blank slate that the Republicans can paint any way they want. Everybody knows Obama and Republican voters are going to respect him a lot for beating the Clintons. He is a star.
May 9, 2008 12:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Those are powerful arguments. I do hope Obama supporters will wake up and realize what we Democrats are up against.
May 9, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
See, I think the subtext here is that this is a platform for voicing some of the most disgusting, untrue things about Obama but gives them cover to say "Hey, can't we ask? We're just puttin' it out there - this guy's an unknown quantity. What, now we're RACIST - we thought we were just wondering! This is REVERSE RACISM! You can't even ask if Obama is the love child of Osama and Eva Braun anymore without being called a KKK member!"
May 9, 2008 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I actually like this attack ad, it makes Obama look like an uphill battle to defeat.
May 9, 2008 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know if anyone else picked up on this, but it struck me immediately. I don't know whether the "yes we can" audio has been manipulated or especially made, but its cadence and tone is very unusual. When people chant that at rallies it is a bit drawn out; people tend to pause slightly between each word. But in that audio it's all sped up and the pitch is very deep and grating. In fact, it sounds like it was recorded with old, somewhat scratchy audio equipment. The audible effect is that the sound of the chant is made to seem very reminiscent of old recordings of chants at Third Reich rallies. My suggestion is obviously that this was intentional.
Anyway, did anyone else notice this?
May 9, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, neglected to say one thing.
The opening picture of Obama -- look at the lines on his forehead. It's clearly supposed to make him look like a devil with horns.
So, yeah, the ad equates Obama with Satan.
May 9, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Smart choice of fear inflicting music! You end up shaking if he gets elected!
May 9, 2008 5:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bastards!
May 13, 2008 9:59 AM | Reply | Permalink