New McCain Ad: "Maybe The Applause Has Gone To His Head"
The McCain campaign outdoes itself, releasing two "celeb" sneer ads in one day, the latest being this new spot that's going up in Ohio.
It offers a creative new twist on the "celeb" theme, with a narrator opining that "maybe the applause has gone to his head"...
McCain's ad is a response to the Obama campaign's criticism of the DHL merger, which FactCheck.org says is misleading.
Separately, it's sobering to think that the "celeb" sneer, with those shots of crowds chanting Obama's name as he supposedly basks in his own adulation, could conceivably appear in just about every single McCain attack ad between now and election day.
The McCain camp clearly thinks this slow-burn defining of Obama is working. Either that, or maybe all the applause for Obama has gotten to McCain's head...
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August 15, 2008 6:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why doesn't Steve Schmidt just call him an uppity nigger and be done with it?
August 15, 2008 6:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
True dat!
August 15, 2008 6:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Mark of Rove is never applied frontally.
August 15, 2008 7:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yup - you need to know your enemy before you can defeat his fat pudgy ass. McCain needs to be asked questions in regards to his campaign not only employing rovian tactics but rovian protegees.
August 15, 2008 7:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
yeah, they should just come out and say it. Though I think this ad will have no effect.
Many of McCain's ads open with the same thing, Obama in berlin. People are probably already going to think they saw the ad before and thus pay no attention to the ad.
Obama staffer has already went through this ad to debunk it.
Hundreds Show Up 2 the PUMA Conference - Pictures
August 15, 2008 9:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Note there are two major themes: the taxes bit, and the "empty suit" bit. The McCain campaign has been repeating this ALL summer to define Barack Obama their way.
I wonder why Obama's campaign dropped their repetition of "McCain : Bush Third Term" attacks in their press releases, videos, and so on this summer. That narrative has been lost for now.
August 15, 2008 6:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder why Obama's campaign dropped their repetition of "McCain : Bush Third Term" attacks...
I dunno, but I personally don't think they were having a huge effect on anyone except for already-decided Obama voters.
August 15, 2008 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
i don't get why obama doesn't push back on the taxes BULLSHIT. it's so annoying..
August 15, 2008 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
When McSame's ads talk about taxing savings, they're referring to capital gains.
Obama's people need to push back on this.
There are no capital gains taxes in retirement accounts. The money is taxed at normal rate upon withdrawl, ie after you're retired, when your income is lower.
August 16, 2008 12:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dunno ...
I think there are plenty of "McCain = Bush III" ads, press releases, etc. to go around. And a Presidential candidate also has not only to convince the voters that the current majority party (the party that controls the White House) is underserving of retaining majority status but that his/her party is capable of being the majority party, too.
"McCain = Bush III" is simply not enough -- even in a year like this one. Otherwise, Democrats would have been willing to nominate someone like Chris Dodd, John Kerry, Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, etc. -- all great Democrats.
August 16, 2008 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
"...maybe all the applause for Obama has gotten to McCain's head..."
I think you hit the nail on the head there, Greg.
August 15, 2008 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Prophylaxis for August 25 and 60,000 screaming Democrats
August 15, 2008 6:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
200,000 Germans came out to hear a stump speech and 60,000 is the best we can do for an acceptance speech? Why is that?
August 15, 2008 7:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought it was 75,000? And it's cause they don't have a place big enough for all the people who want to see Obama. I'm sure if they had a stadium that sat 200,000 people, those tickets would still be sold out on day one. ;)
August 15, 2008 7:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
15 people came out to hear McCain's green background speech in Louisiana. And he can only get 8 people to attend the convention. Why's that? What's wrong with him?
August 15, 2008 7:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
repuglitards have problems getting past the bathroom in the airport in Minneapolis
August 16, 2008 5:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
May be the germans (and other europeans) are smart to recognize a capable world leader and some americans, like our billy boy here, are too stupid and vote against their own good ?
August 16, 2008 3:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Because that's what the stadium holds, dumb a$$! And it's 75,000 -- not 60,000.
August 16, 2008 9:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
At least McCain is finally on the defensive. This is a targeted Ohio issue, so I'm sure Ohioans will know the ins and outs from local reporting. The facts, whichever way they are, will speak for themselves.
McCain running to factcheck.org for a defense after running blatantly false ads is comical.
August 15, 2008 6:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great observation!
It is very interesting that they consult factcheck.org for this claim, yet something like "...Obama will raise taxes on everyone making $42,000..." seems to not warrant the same scrutiny. Nonetheless, it's great to have the McCain camp on the ropes! Obama needs to strike again hard...Taxes would be a good avenue to travel...use fact check stats to prove that his tax plan provides much more support...A McCain couldn't care less about the middle class narrative would be a good one I think.
August 15, 2008 6:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Factchuck were nit-picking idiots in 2004, and they're nit-picking idiots now. If an ad called Obama an uppity n-word, it would demur.
August 15, 2008 6:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought I read something the other day that factcheck.org was affiliated with some wealthy Republican behind the scenes. Does anyone know?
August 15, 2008 6:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, excellent observation. Thanks for the encouraging point.
In their ad, Tax Man is the defensive response. But the ad also reinforces their celebrity and not ready to lead angles of attack. Branding by repetition.
See below for some musing some labels for McSame.
August 15, 2008 9:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seems to me Obama had one message "change" and he stopped delivering it. If he has a message now, I couldn't tell you what it is and I'm a news junkie.
I got a call from the Obama campaign yesterday and the guy tells me Obama is for compromise.
Change agents don't begin by compromising. The change message needs to be strong, simple and clear. The compromise if it comes, comes later.
August 15, 2008 6:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
You should buy a gun, write FISA on the side of it, then shoot yourself in the foot.
August 15, 2008 6:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
The guy was really from the Obama campaign? He really said Obama is for compromise? Please tell me that's not part of the official script and that caller was just being dumb in his phrasing.
August 15, 2008 6:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, in fact I said to him - listen to what you just said - can you imagine a Republican calling me on the phone and telling me he was for compromise? The mind boggles.
I guess we're caving on the right to choose today. Centrism is such a spineless way to lose.
August 15, 2008 6:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
This sounds like the cosumate McCain: The under-achiever who is obviously trying to stir resentment among people who have fallen on hard times. "How dare they cheer for HIM!"
August 15, 2008 6:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Didn't the McCain folks have a hissy when Obama said that McCain was "losing his bearings." Didn't they claim Obama was attacking McLooney's age? But they feel free to push this?
When is the slap down gonna happen? I want it. Bad.
August 15, 2008 6:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. Obama draws a little blood ... finally. Now, will they hammer McCain for thinking that Georgia is the first international crisis since the end of the Cold War?
August 15, 2008 6:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I doubt they will. To me, the issue seems to be that the Dem surrogates are not a well-oiled talking point machine.
August 15, 2008 6:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's a tough one while the conflict is still fresh and the MSM is eating up all the "Cold War" crap. McCain would twist just about anything and say Obama was trying to minimize the suffering of Georgians, sabotaging the spread of democracy, taking the side of Russia, showing his inexperience in estimating the gravity of foreign policy crises, etc. And the MSM would not weigh in any sort of reasonable fashion.
He's probably doing the best thing right now, at least while passions are high about the issue. He's avoiding stark contrast and bombast, maintaining a sober and measured demeanor and neutralizing the issue as much as possible politically. I just don't think there's any way for him to jump in front of the issue until things calm down and diplomacy accomplishes a sustainable cease-fire agreement. Then maybe he can suggest that McCain's rhetoric, if heeded, might have exacerbated the situation.
August 16, 2008 12:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama must have drawn blood for the McCain campaign to respond to that DHL ad.
August 15, 2008 6:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just keep micro-targeting and hammering away at "Country First" by pushing McCain as his own political career first... That was the McCain's original push with energy, but it did not take-- Obama as Dr. No..
August 15, 2008 6:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
The sad part, Greg, is that this probably is working.
I'm not impressed with Obama's campaign right now. Look people, negative ads work, and we can't simply dismiss there effectiveness because we think they are stupid. Four years ago, I thought no one would actually believe the swift boat ads, but sure enough . . .
The thing about McCain's campaign is that he is completely coopting Obama's message, but it isn't apparent that Obama's campaign thinks this is a serious problem. What's going on is McCain is saying he's for something--renewable energy, taking on big oil, job creation--and then Obama is saying that McCain isn't really for that thing, but Obama is!
There is absolutely no message or narrative clarity here, and that works in John McCain's favor. As long as people are able to think that McCain couldn't possibly be that bad, he's got a fighting chance.
August 15, 2008 6:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, they just seem to be tut-tutting the McCain camp for being negative, for engaging in the same old politics. That's the kind of approach you take when you're ahead by 20 points in the polls, like if you're running against Alan freakin' Keyes. Not when you're essentially tied nationally.
Yeah, I know that this will be decided state-by-state and not nationally, but I'm seeing Obama's lead here in Colorado fade before my eyes, and it never had to be like that. McCain is (or at least used to be) pretty unpopular here, but he's gaining ground and consolidating his support nonetheless. And no, I don't believe any more that the convention will magically cure this problem.
I'm not saying I expect Obama to crush McCain by 20, but really, it shouldn't be this close.
August 15, 2008 7:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Early days, my friend. The real hard work starts in September when the majority of folks actually start paying attention to the campaign. The real general election campaign will start after the convention and in the early part of September and will build from that point.
McCain is simply spending down his on-hand primary money since he'll be going to federal financing after the GOP convention.
August 15, 2008 9:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, if this fake general election is any indication of Obama's campaign strategy, color me worried.
August 16, 2008 2:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Cube, dude, the swift boat ads were running at in June, July, and August 4 years ago. The point of running ads right now is that people aren't really paying attention. Because they aren't really paying attention, you can get your message out, create a frame for the campaign, and create a narrative about your opponent without having to worry about being held accountable for what you actually say. People are going to see these ads, and they will remember the conclusion but forget how they got to that conclusion.
Why is Kerry a flipflopper? Well, the ad showed him windsurfing back and forth.
Why is Kerry a liar? Somebody on TV said he was lying about Vietnam. Who said it? I dunno, but I can't trust him.
THAT is how these things work.
August 16, 2008 12:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
But herein lies the nub: "People are going to see these ads, and they will remember the conclusion but forget how they got to that conclusion."
While I agree, I have to ask: what is the conclusion they will remember?
Labeling John Kerry as an elitist, aloof, flip-flopping Frenchman was a pretty effective smear. Labeling Barack Obama as the "biggest celebrity in the world" accomplishes...what?
August 16, 2008 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama should have never allowed the McCain camp to frame the excitement around his campaign as a negative.
McCain came out hard every time Obama tried something that they were in fear it could stick. Obama lets McCain define him and says "What me worry?
Maybe Axelrod and Co just don't believe it is particularly effective. Both must be polling different groups.
August 15, 2008 6:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wouldn't be surprised if both camps find it hasn't been particularly effective, rather only marginally effective. But as Greg points out, this could be a slow-burn tactic. If they keep pounding and pounding away at it, then it will become more and more effective.
If McCain keeps up with this line of attack a few weeks after the convention, then I think we can assume that it is working. Until then, he will keep hammering away at this since it is his only counter to the 70k people cheering for Obama at the convention.
I expect (hope) at the convention Obama will have some well timed mocking of McCain's celeb smear.
August 15, 2008 7:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Obama Campaign's message - "Barack Obama: Not George W. Bush"
August 15, 2008 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The Obama Campaign's message - "Barack Obama: Not George W. Bush""
Which is fairly modest compared to "Ace" McCain. Think of all the people he's run as not being:
"In the primaries, he campaigned on "I'm not that robotic businessman, I'm not that sanctimonious hick, I'm not that crazy libertarian, I'm not that washed-up actor, I'm not that delusional 9/11 guy." In the general election, he's emphasized that he's not that treasonous dreamer.""
August 16, 2008 11:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
This whole celebrity thing is nonsense. Celebrity is not something manufactured, it is something that is bestowed. The crowd in Berlin was not solicited by Barack Obama, it was a spontaneous outpouring of respect and of Hope that he can change the World. McCain couldn't attract a roach--unless Cindy gives out free beer.
The whole celebrity thing is ludicrous. McCain is repulsive.
August 15, 2008 6:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Albert Einstein and Mother Theresa were celebrities. The reason this strategy is not being very effective is that everyone agrees that Obama is a celebrity, the issue is whether he is a vacuous celebrity, and this issue is where McCain is failing to convince anyone beyond his own supporters.
August 15, 2008 7:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Republicans have been winning elections by selling status resentment since Dick Nixon was honing his political skills in Ike's races against Adlai Stevenson.
The McCain campaigning is counting on this sort of thing still working. The core message here is "who is Barack Obama to think he's better than you?" And, of course, in the case of this year's election, there's an added rational dimension to this decades-old message (as noted above: "Barack Obama is an uppity n*****r.")
Will this work again this year? I honestly don't know. But our politics will be infinitely healthier when this brand of GOP pseudo-populism stops selling.
August 15, 2008 6:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
WHY is the Obama campaign unable to re-frame this whole celebrity sneer? It seems to me (not being an ad person or knowing the first thing about it) like it would be fairly easy to turn this around -- e.g. with ads about McCain's inability to draw a crowd, his general lack of energy, and his sneering sour grapes attitude toward Obama's success in getting people motivated. How is it that the Obama campaign can't associate these assets precisely with leadership ability? To lead you must motivate: Obama motives. Hurrah! Now here's McCain: tepid clapping, the sound of crickets. As things are going, McCain & Co. are successfully conditioning the public to viscerally respond to Obama's crowds as somehow bad things, to the point where they're becoming real liabilities. Look at Pollster.com's national average. That's a crash and burn trajectory if I ever saw one. Obama drawing Forty-four percent in the latest Gallup tracking poll? Come on!
August 15, 2008 6:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good point. It's like the Obama campaign is afraid of capitalizing on their real strength. It would be a simple judo maneuver to turn this aspect that McCain is trying to characterize as a weakness and turn it into a big positive.
The country wants change! Obama is ready to give it to them! Why not be proud of being ahead of the curve for once?
August 15, 2008 7:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely! It has to be gotten out there, if not explicitly then subliminally, that McCain's obsession with Obama's "celebrity" is in fact nothing more than an uninspired and uninspiring man's resentment of a better man's exuberance and LEADERSHIP.
Someone explain to me -- does anyone know? -- why the Obama people are not flipping McCain's crap back into his lap. It has to be done "artfully", of course, but it has to be done -- now! Why the passivity? I just don't get it.
August 15, 2008 7:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
enough with this chicken little bullshit!!! you're giving me a headache.
he was up like 6 points two days ago...that tracking poll ebbs and flows. enough with the sky is falling crap.
does obama need to hit back on "celebrity?" sure...i think it would help. does he need to hit bakc on taxes?? yea ...but obviously they know somehting you don't and i don't. there's no solid evidence that he's doing poorly. he's winning in almost every poll.
stop eating the msm chicken shit about how obama should be ahead like 20 points!!! he's a black man in america running fro mpresident!!! did you think this was going to be easy??
August 15, 2008 7:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh right. Everything's coming up roses. The polls ebb and flow. The only poll that matters is the poll on election day. Why, Obama was ahead two days ago, a week ago, two weeks ago; so naturally he'll be ahead again tomorrow. Besides, he's ahead in EVERY poll, EVERYWHERE, EVERY day. Even when it looks like he's behind, he really ahead.
Wonderfully sage advice from an ostrich named Polly Thank you, Polly.
Did I think it was going to be easy? Of course not. That's the whole point of my post. Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, Obama's showing against a septugenerian, gaff-a-day, war-mongering CREEP in what should be an overwhelmingly Democratic year is, to say the least, SLUGGISH. In battle ground states, he is significantly trailing Democratic senatorial candidates, and is in effect hoping to ride their coattails to victory. At this point, we're talking up-ticket, not down-ticket politics.
Why is that? Well, of course, Obama's a black man. What else? He's a black man on the verge of being run over by well-oiled attack machine that hasn't even been fully reved up yet. Obama WILL lose this election if his campaign doesn't start responding in kind. Here's an example of what I mean:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oot9IbQxrI
Politics is bare-knuckles boxing, not pattycake. You can indulge in magical thinking and hope for the best, or you can fight. I say fight, damn it! Enough "John McCain is an American hero" crap. He's a conniving fraud of low intelligence and dubious morals whose asinine self-conceits would make him an unmitigated disaster in the White House. How's that for starters?
August 16, 2008 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
OMG, will McCain ever have a positive ad about issues........this is beyond nuts.
August 15, 2008 7:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just curious - do Obama ads get this much free advertising and circulation on pro-McCain sites?
August 15, 2008 7:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, because Obama hasn't hit back with anything other than a "~Oh~come~on~now~that's~not~true...~" If he and his campaign decide to wake up and start fighting, maybe he'll be relevant again.
Like MJ says, this campaign needs to be a full and detailed indictment of Republicans, Conservatives, Bush, and John McCain -- the #1 enabler of W's decimation of America.
August 15, 2008 7:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Regarding this whole stupid "Celeb" thing...
Hasn't Washington DC been dubbed "Hollywood for ugly people" for years?
August 15, 2008 7:10 PM | Reply | Permalink