[blockquote]Discuss.[/blockquote]
Someone is bound and determined to keep race front and center as an election issue?

And there are people in the press that consistently show that they are more than happy to eat that up.

Greg: How about calling out Howard Wolfson for his stupid comment:

"Edwards voters' second choice"

Total bullocks. I was for Edwards and switched over to Obama. And in all fairness, this was only due to Edwards having the best proposal for health care of the three top candidates.

Let the press push this issue (it there is one). Obama needs to completely distance himself from any race issue.

I think Tapper's eyes were opened by Gergen a couple of weeks ago on one of the Sunday talkies.

Four doesn't seem like a lot, however compare it to the amount of black women, Hispanic women, old women, men etc and then it could become an issue.

Tapper is simply trying to stir the pot for McCain. He is a hack.

Discuss? How 'bout we not. Any discussion about race-baiting will only backfire on Obama's campaign (since the worst thing in America isn't to be the victim of racism, but rather to be accused--however rightly--of being a racist).

What about sexism? For the love of GOOD can we call them sexist?

Can someone please get Kathleen Sebelius, or better yet HILLARY CLINTON on the talkshows???

Why, some of my best friends ... But would you want your sister to date one?

The Obama campaign better not respond to this.

here we go again. we are loosing, so lets place not one, but four white women in a ad with a 1/2 black man. nswer me this: why do repubs not put black women in their ads when the man is white?
they are race baiting, but it will not work this time. mccain is not winning this year, he is bush all over.

The Obama campaign won't even bother responding to this web ad.

Next week will be all about Obama's VP choice and his biography and the week after that will be all about the Dem convention.

Wow,,,,,,,,, four *young*, *white*, *women*,,,,, ageist, racist, sexist,,,,, not to mention polygamy all rolled into one,,,, talk about campaign bundling!,,,,, note to Amish folks,no double entant on bundling.

This is clearly targeted to the over 65 white Pennsylvania Elks's Club demographic, with whom, as we know from today's brilliant, incisive, analysis in today's WaPo, Obama has a terrible, likely disasterious, problem that probably means that Obama's consistent, rock-solid polling lead in the Keystone State is some sort of mirage--though its best not to get a lot of data involved in such brilliant, incisive pieces.

Based upon the WaPo's careful scientific sampling of four or five old people in rural Pennsyalvania, as well as their vague, implicit allustion to polls they apparently forgot to actually, cite, this important demographic wants all these gyrating young punks and sluts who are disrespectful to their elders and have had everything given to them on a silver platter their whole lives, unlike themselves who grew up tough economic environment of the 1950s, to GET OFF THEIR DAMN LAWNS!

And this important commercial is carefully targeted to motivate and empower that movement. Except for the fact that McCain only released it on that newfangled Internet thing which these people don't know how to use.

Where is Obama's ad about McCain following in the footsteps of Bush? Hugging Bush, supporting Bush's anti-vet legislation on the GI Bill? When is Obama going to put McC on the defensive?

So, little Jake, how did you spend your summer vacation?

Counting white women in McCain's "Hot Chicks" ad.

http://strategy08.wordpress.com

I don't want to respond to this kind of post. It is too silly? Please take it off

Regardless of the content of the ad, this all becomes an endless discussion over a McCain Internet ad that gets no TV play except that which is freely provided ad infinitum within the echo chamber.

Obama should counter this with an ad just showing a group of his 65-and up year old supporters talking about why they support him and why they think McCain is a crappy candidate who insultingly suggests that only young star-struck people support Obama. In fact, a series of such ads.

And he could leaven it with humor; they could refer to themselves as "hot chicks."

"Hi, I'm John Smith, I'm 82 years old. I've never heard of Bono, but I support Barack Obama because he has a real plan for alternative energy and he will restore America's position in the world."

"Hi, I'm Mary Evans, I'm 76 years old. My husband still calls me a hot chick, but I support Barack Obama because he's honest about the problems we face, and he's going to provide health care for all Americans."

This may, or may not be an issue. But Tapper is the last one who has the credibility to be pushing it, since he completely shot it down, the first time it was suggested. Between Jake Tapper, Cokie Roberts, Sam Donaldson, fill in the blank, ABC has the worst political pundits on TV. Fareed Zakaria was the only competent member of the network and had since enough to leave and start his own show, which is great!

Whatever, if it were a bunch of black women saying he's hot that would be called racist too. I don't really see how it's so racist honestly - maybe I'm just part of that post racial constituency. I don't really see race in this ad. If you do, maybe you have a problem too. Fact is, young women from all backgrounds think he's hot - the problem to me isn't picking clips of white women saying it (there are probably a lot more clips of white women saying it as there are a lot more white women in this country than black, just a fact).

The problem is cheapening his appeal by making it seem purely sexual and whim. Painting peoples' attraction to him as empty, silly, and based on looks. Which is much more of an insult to us than it is to Obama. The truth is a lot of people are deeply attracted to Obama, but it is because he speaks to a crucial part of our being, regardless of whether we think he's hot or not. He's someone who many of us do feel can represent us, speak our language, and we like his plan for the future, and it's insulting of John McCain to imply we're driven by such frivolty.

Take that, sucka.

I actually find these ads reassuring and as much an ad for Obama as anything. I mean, after spending a lifetime watching MTV, the youth vote (under 50) is definitely going to want to vote for a popular phenomenon, dug by hot chicks, preferably, like, 30 of them bitches in short shorts and skimpy tops.

In all seriousness, the effectiveness of these adds is very questionable and the fact that they are around now means:

1) These ads is all McCain has to run on. (Along with other forms of surges - an iraq surge, an afghan surge, an economic surge, a surge in McCain's pants when he pops a little blue pill and thinks of Obama and all the hot chicks.)

2) Whatever effect these types of ads have will be dulled to the point of irrelevance come Nov. Some independent observer may actually get around to pointing out a pattern of racial undertones by then. I would be more worried if the McCain camp were holding their own in the polls and holding back these kinds of negative ads to drop late October. Then they might be damaging, now they are an innoculation. That they're floating around in August means they are extremely desperate.

That wasn't an accident.

We don't need to react to McCain. We need to take on ABC. They went batty over Jesse Jackson, Bernie Mac, Toby Keith, and of course launched the theme that Obama was first accusing McCain of the race card. As long as ABC remains unscatherd they will play the race card for McCain.

Billy Glad's count of ordinary looking human beings in the ad: Zero. Text. There is no good reason to support Obama. Subtext. All Obama supporters are young or wierd or both.

The best thing from McCain's point of view is the ad supports the McCain brand. It's funny and disrespectful.

One of the best things that has happened to politics is the rule that candidates have to associate themselves with their negative ads. Since everything in the ad gets hung around the candidate's neck, i.e., associated with the candidate, that one rule has done a lot to rein in the attack ads. Normally, no one wants to look at pictures of ugly nerds. By using humor, McCain gets it through without getting himself associated with images of ugly nerds. He ends up associated with beautiful blonds. There are some smart people doing those McCain ads. And please. No charges of sexism. I'm just reporting from the scene.

Audio from the spot is up here.

Did you guys see the George Will comment in that same episode of This Week where Gergen had to school Tapper about the subtleties of polite conversation about race?

(I transcribed this exactly including the Stepahnopolous interjection at the end):

George Will: "The crowning, crashing irony of this year is that the first African American president to be nominated by a major party has the wekness of being too upper crust. That is, he is Columbia University, Harvard Law School. He is just not..." Stepahanopolous: "Arugala arugala"

here's the video (starts around 1:48)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cMQzPd70fU

Really fucking tired of the phrase "race card". Really really tired of it. It's not a damn card and this is not a game.

Hot chicks dig Obama.

The One.

Two new phrases for our lexicon.

All of the people in the ad are white.

That's because McCain is making fun of YOU.

He's saying white liberals are totally clueless.

This post and thread pretty much demonstrate he's right.

does obama fuck the white chicks on the video? i haven't seen it yet. he should apologise if he did.

Lame!
Ignorant!
Barack Obama is better than this.
Somehow, I'm afraid this kind of ad works.
America isn't above this fearmongering...yet.
Reality is, many people fear this kind of edgy, "jump on the bandwagon" aura he exudes.
For the rest of us, we need to just wait.
America is still getting to know Obama.
GOP'ers will not get the last laugh this time
See you in November!

I think Formerly NCSteve gave us a preview of McCain's next attack meme:

Hot chicks want to hold Obama rallies on your lawn !!!