Barry Hussein IS God!!! How can McCain say those true things?

Alright Hilary, you have the spotlight now, what is your response to McCain's ad?

Life is grand...

When you can get into college because of your father, even though you're an idiot...

When you can ditch the wife that waited for you while you were a POW for a heiress who's worth $100M+...

When you've got six houses scattered across the country, complete with "staff" to maintain them...

When you can carry $100K+ credit card balances...

When you wear $520 shoes...

Yup, life is grand.

"It's yet another effort to sharpen the theme that Obama' is an empty pop culture phenom and to get people to ask whether their own temptation to support him is rooted in his celeb appeal and not in a genuine appreciation of his positions on the issues or of the sort of president he might make."

At least you identified the true intent of the ad series...not to link a black man to young white girls, or to say he's the antichrist (remember it was Obama who said he was going to cause the ocean to receed).

Deja vu all over again.

Why do I suddenly feel like I'm back in the primary and Hillary is tossing back shots of Old Grandpa with the boys after a day out in the fields with their guns?

Let's hope Obama won't take Josh's advice, which runs like this:

McCain: Obama is a fool because he can't speak Armenian.

Marshall: Yes, but McCain's Armenian has such terrible undignified accent!!!! And he doesn't know ALL the words!!!!

"Armenian" - solved.
"Fool" - remains.

And that, my friends, is essentially how the progressives have so far responded to the "Celeb".

Apologies to my numerous Armenian fans.

I think we have yet to see a "pivotal" moment in the campaign, but I feel like it is coming. In the debates, It is going to be very hard for McCain to keep balance on this weird line he has been walking. Also, all these dumb ads and lack of substance I think are leaving McCain open for a major smackdown/meltdown. I'm talking a juror #3 moment where the metaphorical curtain is completely pulled back from in front of this real life interpretation of Gollum. It's going to be a sad moment for the country, because there was a time when McCain was an inspiration to many people, and to see him having fallen so far will be one of the last nails in the coffin of the vietnam war. It is neccessary, however, for the country, and for the republican party to clean itself up. A hitting bottom moment for a party that is important in providing balance to the democratic party. I think it's all going to be very poetic and an important event in the history of our politics.

Also, angry confused old people say the darndest things.

Does she actually say "painful taxes" or "paying full taxes?" For McCain's base paying "full" taxes like the rest of us is heresy. The tax code every 20 years or so has to be cleaned up. High priced tax lawyers chip away everytime there's reform, and since the Repubs gutted the IRS's ability to audit in 1997 things have really gotten out of hand. Obama and Dems in congress can reset the bar. My local Dem candidate Scott Harper (IL-13) with an MBA from U. of Chicago, and formerly a successful small businessman has some particularly good ideas.

Check him out

McCain getting upset over magazine covers arhh -- come on National Enquirer help him out.

If the ads work it's because people are serious, they do want change, and Obama has not been able to deliver on his message: "Change we can believe in". McCain's campaign has figured out that Americans are not scared of Obama so that campaign didn't work, but he's not convincing them that he can deliver the goods.

The problem is larger than Obama. The party is not convincing people it can deliver either. Any victory this year is going to be a "throw the bums out" victory and not a party realignment.

I think the "change" and "postpartisan" messages are fundamentally at odds. If you are postpartisan you've conceded the philosophical argument to Republicans right at the time Americans are open to a new message. If we had one.

I think it might be time to destroy McCain with facts.

If you make less than 18,981 Obama's plan will increase your after tax income by up to $567

If you make less than $37,595 Obama's plan will increase your after tax income by up to $892

If you make less than $66,354 Obama's plan will increase your after tax income by up to $1,041.

If you make less than 18,981 McCain's plan will increase your after tax income by up to $21

If you make less than $37,595 McCain's plan will increase your after tax income by up to $118

If you make less than $66,354 McCain's plan will increase your after tax income by up to $325

However if you are a multi-millionare like John Mcain Mcain's plan will increase your after tax income by $290,709

Obama needs to travel back in time and find reports about McCain being the media's "Darling and "straight talk express" during the GOP's primary in 2000.

Then show how McCain's flip flopped

Obama needs to put an ad out explaining exactly who he is going to take tax cuts away from, who is getting tax cuts and money for college and energy problems.

This is a tough ad. We're sitting here debating the veracity of it (of course it's crap), but it's an effective, tough ad. We can't underestimate this.

http://strategy08.wordpress.com

I don't think that ad's all that effective at all - the only thing that is said there is - Obama is a celebrity.

Big deal.

Then they go right to the oldest goddamn smear on Democrats that exists: we raise taxes.

Tax and spend.

Well - that's easily countered, given the state of the economy.

The more of these ads emerge, the more evident it becomes that McCain has nothing to sell. And the less urgent it becomes for Obama to respond...

...on this particular meme. He needs to spend the time some would have him defending himself on defining McCain in return - but using his record and proposals, and thereby not insulting the intelligence of the American voter.

That's interesting.

I would have thought that having a biopic made about your life and appearing in Wedding Crashers would make McCain more in the spotlight.

Seriously. Hit back at this celebrity crap NOW. All anyone has to do is put together 30 seconds of McCain in movies, SNL, etc. If the McCain camp truly believes this is the best way to attack Obama, it's time to attack their perceived strength.

Enough is enough. Americans are too stupid to research this crap on their own.

And goddamn - Cindy McLame had an entire layout in Vogue, just for her - show some of those pictures, too.

The most effective ad by Obama would be to simply contrast McCain's sneering bitterness to Obama's positive and concrete agenda for change and renewal. He can do so in a forceful way, by showing images of McCain confused and angry, next to Obama's youth and vitality. At the same time, though, he needs to borrow a page from Bill Clinton's campaign - to hit that combination of youthfulness and easily understandable but specific proposals for change that can directly address voter's concerns.

Obama should not sink into McCain's geriatric morass.

It's all just a joke to John McCain. The country is in the midst of two wars, a failing economy, rising costs, people losing their homes, young Americans can't afford college, the infrastructure of the country is falling apart, and Americans are convinced that the country is heading in the wrong direction.

And what is John McCain's response? He offers us ads about Paris Hilton and tire gauges, and his campaign refers to Americans as whiners. The only whiner I see is John McCain whining that he's the less popular candidate. Gee, I wonder why?

I think that another motivation of this ad is to provoke Obama and his camp into losing their tempers and saying something stupid (which, of course, the McCain camp will exploit).

Looking at the reactions here, the ad has certainly infuriated a few commentors. I know that I am fighting through the expletives running through my mind as I try to find a calm way to deal with this.

Paul Krugman has a good op-ed in the NYT dealing with Stupidity. The article is worth reading.

Obama's response? Here's my bet:

I'M not AN ELITIST.

I'M not A CELEBRITY.

I'M not GOING TO RAISE YOUR TAXES.

I don't HAVE A MESSIAH COMPLEX.

JOHN McCAIN IS not A MAVERICK.

HAS ANYONE IN OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN EVER STUDIED BASIC MARKETING?

ANYONE?!?!?

While McCain is sticking to the Rove playbook, looks like Obama is taking the Reagan' 84 way.

"Hands" is related to "Morning in America", the famous ad created by the late Hal Riney, who is considered one of the most effective ads because of its positive message. You watch that ad and you know it still works today.

If "Hands" is like "Morning...", I want to see their take on "Bear in the Woods".

Those two ads are in YouTube.

Obama's latest ad that will be run during the Olympics is a REALLY great ad.

I wish that TPM would put that up so we can talk about it instead of always showing McCain's NEGATIVE ads.

Doesn't McCain have to spend all his primary money by September 1st because he opted out of campaign finance reform?

I wonder what Obama's numbers were for July? Any guesses? I think >$60 million. I am hoping with August convention that Obama raises >$100 million in August from donors.

We can certainly see why Obama wouldn't "make much of this" – especially since it's not true.

What Obama voted for was a budget resolution that would have allowed most of the provisions of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to expire. In particular, the resolution would allow the 25 percent tax bracket to return to its pre-2001 level of 28 percent. That bracket kicks in at $32,550 for an individual or $65,100 for a married couple. (The McCain campaign relies on an AP article which puts the cutoff at $31,850, but that figure is from 2007, not this year.) So the McCain campaign claims that anyone making "as little as $32,000" would be affected by the rate increase.

Forbes refers to Obama's March 2008 vote for a non-binding budget resolution that would have set general revenue and spending targets for congressional tax-writing and appropriations committees. The resolution does not contain a specific provision to raise tax rates, but rather assumes that most of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire as scheduled in 2011. It also bears no relation to Obama's proposed economic plan. In fact, Obama has stated repeatedly that his plan would increase taxes only for those making more than $250,000 per year:

Obama (June 12, 2008): If you are a family making less than $250,000 a year, my plan will not raise your taxes. Period. Not income tax, not payroll tax, not capital gains tax, not any of your taxes. And chances are you will get a tax cut.

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/the_32000_question.html

These People are a bunch of LIERS...And if they LIE now they will Lie when they get into the White House...4 MORE YEARS OF THE SAME THING..I THINK NOT!

They should be ashame of themselves, with all the Lies surfacing to inclued Bush, Cheney, Rove, and other repulicans in this administration you would think they would want to stay true to the facts...But Nooooo, let's give the people 4 more years of the same...Lie to go to a war, and lie to get elected,forgery, special intrest/treatment for favors or gifts, just lie no matter what...I am really ashame of McCain, he is throwning his and our military veterans dignity under a Tank! He was respected for his service of this country now, that service means nothing and neither do we (the country), because he think we are ingnorant to the facts...But what is more shameful, is that he is targeting our elders, who only have the prime time news to rely on...MSM, needs to do something, some way our elders deserve better and the TRUTH! they are the ture Maveriks of Truth that gave our country it's foundation.

The more I watch Obama's slow-motion repeat of John Kerry and Al Gore's STUPID campaign mistakes, the more I think David Axelrod has been bought off by the RNC.

Karl Rove's playbook is being taught in Junior High School at this point, BUT THE DEMS STILL DON'T GET THE WAY IT WORKS.

The electorate is being manipulated at the MOST BASIC psychological and emotional levels, and the Dems just play along.

AGAIN!!!

OBAMA DESERVES TO LOSE IF HE CAN'T UNDERSTAND THE OBVIOUS STUFF.

"But it's not true that I'M AN ELITIST."

The Democrats are the morons here!

When will they ever wake up?

WAKE UP!!!

Again, nothing about what McCain will do. However I suspect "The Real Obama" will be the GOP attack meme going forward.

As with the big energy speech Obama gave that this site didn't really cover, the "Hands" ad should have equal footing with the McCain attack ad. I mean sure we'd all just ge gushing about it, but it's better than everybody bitching about McCain's ad.

What would McMoldy know about tough times? He and his have more money than Obama will ever have!

everybody can see the mccain ad

for what it is

childish, whining, jealousy

I'm not as popular as Obama

boo f'ing hoo

heh...

Let's not forget that this jet is paid for by the Alcohol industry. And McCain didn't pay property taxes for years on his California mansion, which is staffed by servants.

It's time for the Obama campaign to take the gloves off.

Obama also needs to start saying that McCain's service to his country was honorable, but his recent changes in position and support GW Bush policies, and particularly his misbehavior in this campaign is both despicable and dishonorable.

They also need to start shown ads of McCain that strangle him with his own words and confusion. And when they get accused of attacking him because of his age; just respond that even if McCain was GW Bush's age or younger, they would still question his capability to be commander and chief based solely on these episodes.

Geez, do I even bother leaving comment #167?

Firstly, if the earlier ads improved McCain's
poll numbers of course he'll run more. Once
you dive into the mud you don't get dirtier by
rolling around in it.

Secondly, I'll bet 90% of voters (in general) make
their decision based on vague feelings related to
things they've heard -- not reasoned analysis. It
has required an inordinate amount of energy every
time I have tried to enlighten a friend/voter who
is political for about 30 minutes every 4 years.

Thirdly, I'm dumbfounded that Republicans buy into
this sort of ad after electing Arnold and Ronnie
as Governor (I'll accept that Ronnie eventually
got experienced), and electing Sonny Bono to the
house and even Clint Eastwood as the mayor of
Carmel. All Republicans. Granted these were all
in California.

What, don't all of "us" own 10 houses, have an admiral for a daddy, have hundreds of millions in the bank, and wear $520 shoes?

Who cares about the fact that all his policies are aimed at helping millionaires, he's one of us.

The funniest thing I heard all day was a comment by one of the rightwingers infesting this site -- by way of justifying McCain's shoes versus Edwards' haircut: "Well, you know shoes last longer."

Have you ever heard anything so pathetic?

McCain is lying about Barack Obama. Surprised?

McCain is lying to us about the war that Bush lied us into.

McCain is lying to us about energy, the economy, the lobbyists who are funding and running his campaign.

We've had enough of the same old lies from Washington. It's time for a change.

We just posted audio from the clip over at Entertonement.

McCAin is a LIAR!!

Obama is giving anyone making under $150,000 a tax break!

WHo's ass did McCain pull out the 42000 number??

I guess this means that now we can say McCain is an old dying turd made out of Soilent Green whose energy policy is to eat people!!

Regarding rope-a-dope boxing strategy as a good analogy for the Obama campaign strategy of dealing with McCain's attacks. The analogy I like more is Gandhi's approach to winning independence from Britain. Gandhi took "the long view" and resisted responding to short-sighted violent attacks by the British with similar measures. By taking the long-view, the rightness of his cause became clear to the world and his cause prevailed.

Through time, McCain will expose himself as shallow and small and unwise - and public opinion will turn strongly to Obama.

Finally as the great DemBillc has pointed out all along since the beginning of this campiagn, in his astonishly horrible vote in 2005, Barack Obama chose to side with his lobbyist benefactors over the American people, when he voted FOR the Bush-Cheney Energy bill. Of course Hillary Clinton or John McCain voted against the bill. DemBillC has said repeatedly that he would never vote for Oilbama since he proved he is in the pocket of Big Oil by voting for the worst Energy Bill in History crafted by Dick Cheney and Oil Lobbyists. That alone is reason enough to not nominate Barack Obama. When push comes to shove, Oilbama always sides with same old money men. If every American voter knew that Barack Oilbama voted with Dick Cheney and George Bush on energy and profiteering for big energy companies, they would dump this pretender of Change and Hope. Oilbama is more full of shit than GW Bush. Of course they are both ex Alchoholic Coke heads.

His life IS charmed. Prep school, private college, Columbia then Harvard.. all while never having had to work while in school. A couple of years in the senate and then POTUS. What isn't charmed about all that? people want to act like Obama was eating government cheese. Sorry. He never did and never will.

I think a better response is:
The Fabulous Life of John McCain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7PfSEtiXPw