« Seats For Obama's Convention Speech At Stadium Snapped Up In One Day | Home | Why McCain's "Abdullah" Contributions Aren't Deemed Controversial »
Obama Radio Ad: McCain And His Lobbyist Buddies Caused Ohio To Bleed Jobs
The Obama campaign has launched a direct attack right at John McCain and his lobbyist connections, blaming those connections for job losses in a new radio ad blitzing the big industrial swing state of Ohio.
"But there's something John McCain's not telling you: It was McCain who used his influence in the Senate to help foreign-owned DHL buy a U.S. company and gain control over the jobs that are now on the chopping block in Ohio," the announcer says.
"And that's not all: McCain's campaign manager was the top lobbyist for the DHL deal...helped push it through. His firm was paid $185,000 to lobby McCain and other Senators."
Check out the ad here.
Advertisement
This should be a TV ad.
August 8, 2008 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Also, there's a new Rasmussen poll you haven't added to the poll tracker.
Michigan
Obama - 49
McCain - 45
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/michigan/election_2008_michigan_presidential_election
August 8, 2008 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe, maybe not. It seems to me that this is the sort of ad that you want to hit people with again and again, so that it sinks in by force of repetition. Radio is cheaper than t.v., so one can afford more re-iterations of the ad on radio with a given sum of money. I would not pretend to know that radio is the smarter medium, but it is not obvious to me that making this into a t.v. is the best use of scarce resources.
August 8, 2008 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
I disagree. Anyone with a TV will be watching the Olympics tonight and for the next two weeks. Obama has got the $$$ to do at least a 30 sec spot and would reach a huge number of eyes. My guess is that a TV push now would reach far more people than radio would.
August 8, 2008 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Could be. I would not pretend to know enough to say one way or the other with any real conviction.
August 8, 2008 1:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's got his $5M Olympic ad out already called "Hands".
I'm interested in seeing McCain's ad, I assume it will be much like the bio version highlighting his POW days that we saw in March.
August 8, 2008 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nobody wants to watch Negative ads during the Olympics, for fuck's sake.
This is the same pattern that played out during the primary. Clinton attacked, Obama defended. Clinton attacked, Obama defended. Clinton owned the Media narrative, Obama lead in the polls and pledged delegates.
In the end Clinton got her ass handed to her. Obama is trying to win the presidency, not this weeks news cycle. Have a little more confidence, his team obviously knows what it's doing. In fact, the fact that he's not over reacting and panicking is a good thing.
Frankly it's a good thing the TPM comment boards are not running his campaign. Ya'll can't take an insult without flipping out. Calm down and relax, Obama knows what he's doing. And foisting negativity down the throats of people watching the international love in that is the Olympics don't want to watch negative ads.
August 8, 2008 2:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Brilliant post. Obama most certainly knows what he is doing. His campaign should onlyy be doing aswell as the candidate himself.
August 8, 2008 5:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can someone direct me to a place where I can post and idea for an ad for the democratic party that isn't open to the public? I think I have a good one. It absolutely has to be developed soon or otherwise it doesn't work. I don't want to post something public, because I'm sure there are certain people who scan these forums.
August 9, 2008 12:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.democrats.org/contact.html
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/contact/
You may have to jump through some hoops and prove both that you're serious and that you have a good idea, but that's probably as good as anyone here can do.
August 11, 2008 1:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not everybody. I will not be tuning in to the olympics.
August 8, 2008 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm with you on this. Negative spots are better suited for radio, for a variety of reasons. They are more likely to slip below the conscious mind that way, and there is actually less likelihood that the candidate running the ads will suffer much - if any - backlash for going negative. People don't tend to associate negative radio ads with the candidates who create and run them, for some reason.
August 8, 2008 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I disagree A lot more people listen to radio than we think, catching ads there that they might've fast-forwarded through on their TiVo.
August 8, 2008 1:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ouch. So, for all the folks who have been screaming that he needs to hit back harder - how about that? Nothing the least bit soft or restrained about that one.
August 8, 2008 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
About fucking time, say I.
August 11, 2008 1:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's the "response" to celebrity..you don't answer McCain's ads...that's not the Chicago Way!
August 8, 2008 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. He wants to talk about "celebrity" we want to talk about jobs. We will see which conversation strikes more voters as interesting.
August 8, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Awesome. So glad they did this ad. I heard about this very recently--on Rachel Maddow, maybe?
August 8, 2008 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
O ho!
I thought that was the coming McLame attack. Did our guys actually launch a pre-emptive strike?
I have such a big grin on my face!
August 8, 2008 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bad title on the TPM homepage, though. The ad does not claim that McCain Caused Ohio Job Loss. It's too smart for that.
August 8, 2008 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
The ad sounds pretty much OK to me. Shorter sentences might help. Overall, I'd grade it B or B+.
August 8, 2008 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think radio might be much a smarter medium because it is cheaper and most folks have the radio on at workplaces during the day and such a commercial, over and over again, even if just in the background could really stick.
I mean unemployment is >10% that means 90% of your audience is working during the day and more of a captive audience.
August 8, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, hit them and hit them hard over this!
Lobbyists are McCain's Achilles heel.
August 8, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, radio is not the samarter way of going. TV, the press will repeat the ad for the Democrat partyu since it would have been the first real show of guts. It is free advertising which McCain understands while Obama provides weak press releases and roles over. Some Chicago rules.
August 8, 2008 1:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's a targeted local ad, and the story wouldn't register on the national Richter scale. Ohio is a key swing state, and Obama needs to win it and has hurdles to over come given the Goolsbee/Canada situation from the primaries.
August 8, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is not Obama who is having problems in OH. You need to check the trends every once in a while and not just buy the "Obama has a problem" lie.
August 8, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent radio ad. Its tough but substantive. It will have a tremendous effect on the struggling working-class voters of Ohio.
I would also suggest that Obama convert this radio into a TV ad.
August 8, 2008 1:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
This should keep the McCain folks "busy" next week explaining the difference between McCain's actions and his words yesterday. A TV negative ad would just detract from the positive Olympic ads. Obama can slam McCain on this some more after the convention.
August 8, 2008 1:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very good point.
Let's be realistic - people don't really like political ads in the first place and despite the "polls" that say they work, I really believe that most people see one once, and the next time it comes on they change the channel or leave the room.
And when people sit down to watch the Olympics, they get allllll patriotic and all that jazz and an attack ad is just too much of a downer, I think, anyway.
August 8, 2008 1:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do we know what McCain's Olympic ad is yet? I hope he was stupid enough to attack in it. The Olympics could really buzzkill the McCain camp's attack on the "worldly" Obama.
August 8, 2008 1:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama should run this ad, or some version of it, on every sports radio station in American. If he makes serious inroads with that demographic he's golden.
August 8, 2008 1:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
The ad's OK, but I'm with the camp wanting Obama to turn the "elitist" mirror back on McCain. Those in glass houses and all that.
August 8, 2008 1:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
How about
Too wordy?
August 8, 2008 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Probably a good idea to leave the bowel movement part out....
August 11, 2008 1:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
OhioDems in action on television:
http://edgeofthewest.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/straight-talk-my-friends/
August 8, 2008 2:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
The ad at that link is GREAT!!!!!
OhioDEMS rock!
Thanks for sharing the URL.
August 8, 2008 2:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow. I believe that town hall just happened yesterday as well. Quick work and it really hammers McCain. Douchebag points for McCain throwing in a catchphrase "Straight Talk" when you could hear the pain in that woman's voice.
August 8, 2008 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
This should be a TV ad in Ohio.
I wish that Obama will just stop being all about "hope and change" and just kick McCain in the teeth with a hard hitting TV ad just like this one.
August 8, 2008 2:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
This radio spot is good. One or two TV ads dealing with the same subject - townspeople who are losing their jobs when the air freight company leaves, city officials worried for their town, etc. - should also be used to flank the radio ad.
A series of these spots on the DHL/Airborne Express sale will keep McCain and his trained monkey on the ropes during the Olympics which will dominate the news cycle.
Of course, Obama's "Hands" ad will be running in regular rotation while McCain does the usual dissembling.
August 8, 2008 2:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is that OhioDems ad going to be on television? Now THAT is a devastating ad.
August 8, 2008 2:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not from Ohio, I hope it is. The OhioDems kept Obama out of it -- for now. It is entirely about McCain's policies. Maybe the strategy is to revert to the state by state Dems producing ads, ie. the PEOPLE against McCain launched in all the states.
August 8, 2008 2:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's the OhioDems ad again for others' convenience:
http://edgeofthewest.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/straight-talk-my-friends/
August 8, 2008 2:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't mind donating a few bucks if they have plans to put it on television. Do you know anything about it? This single ad can sink McLame in Ohio. It needs to get on TV stations across OH, especially in the areas where people are directly affected.
August 8, 2008 2:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Direct to OhioDems:
http://www.ohiodems.org/site/c.mhLRKZPCLmF/b.3630699/
August 8, 2008 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's a real cumbersome website with a lot of old info- geez.
August 8, 2008 2:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Come one kash79, you can't say you wouldn't enjoy contributing a few bucks to roast McSames nuts over a really hot fire... There's more in this campaign than getting Obama into the White House... there is the equally important goal of destroying the GOP and their hateful agenda in the process... McSame is white, rich, and straight... if you don't fit into that dynamic, you're gonna be skewered by McSame without any lube at all... when you are married to a slut, you don't have to worry about lubrication... best regards...
August 8, 2008 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
BAM! I'm glad he is hitting McCain on this. Later he should put clips of McCain talking about job loss in Ohio and juxtapose it with this.
August 8, 2008 2:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's a Time article on the situation in Ohio - http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1830157,00.html
August 8, 2008 2:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
And now McCain's intended next tactic, ie. to portray Obama as a job-killing machine (see the link below), is not only out of the picture, but it's McCain who is the "US Job Killer:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/07/leaked-mccain-memo-paint_n_117484.html
August 8, 2008 2:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Greg/Eric: Can you guys do a thread on McLame/Davis role in DHL, OH? I'm sure if you make it a front page story Huffpo and a couple of other sites will pick it up, if it's already not making major news.
August 8, 2008 2:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is going to go -- no, it's already gone -- absolutely viral all over the web, and it'll be out in MSM before Monday. McCain is going to spend Obama's entire vacation in damage control mode.
August 8, 2008 2:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Definitely radio. I'm thinking the biggest Clear Channel buy they can afford. That ought to get the wingnuts' heads exploding.
August 8, 2008 2:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now every time an Ohioan hears McCain blabber about "straight talk" he will think about McCain helping send jobs overseas.
Good.
August 8, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Ohio ad is great. I think if it does run in the Ohio media, and Ohio radio stations, that would help Senator Obama. It would hurt McBushSame pretty hard...
August 8, 2008 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
The "Chicago Way"
How McCain Shame Threw Ohio Workers Under His Bus - Los Angeles Times
http://www.truthout.org/article/dhl-deal-gone-sour-haunts-mccain-ohio
August 8, 2008 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now that's some nice snark!
Mitch
August 8, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
He oughta know.
August 8, 2008 5:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can someone direct me to a place where I can post and idea for an ad for the democratic party that isn't open to the public? I think I have a good one. It absolutely has to be developed soon or otherwise it doesn't work. I don't want to post something public, because I'm sure there are certain people who scan these forums.
August 8, 2008 11:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great ad...and radio is probably fine. The campaign has been pretty smart for the most part; so why would a whole bunch of us suddenly think TV should work better.
A couple of commenters hit on this. radio allows for more repetition to hit the message home. Better ability to blanket locally. Most Radio is spot...while TV still is predominantly National.
Spot TV on cable networks has spotty coverage, and doesn't give that many opportunities for repetition.
Additionally, you want people to hear the ad. TV ads do get muted a lot...and with Tivo, fast forwarded through.
BTW, I did see the McCain ad on the olympics broadcast last night; It was a negative ad (the one about "The chosen one" "high taxes" "cuts jobs" and how the mccain magic wand will create jobs and budget surplus and clean energy...though it was more about obama than about McCain...and hopefully was an enormous waste of money.
August 9, 2008 7:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't believe that Amy Silverman's profile of McMajorShit published in the Phoenix New Times News on August 7th has sunk beneath the waves so quickly. It reads as being balanced and presents him in a DEVASTATING light. She has a longtime perspective on his career centering in Arizona and has covered his activities for nearly three decades from Phoenix. After reading it, one understands why the Nancy Reagan endorsement last month was such an ICY affair. Apparently, the lady in red loathes him. It was all political expediency.
Here's the link for anyone interested:
http://phoenixnewtimes.com/content/printVersion/848709
Please distribute widely!
August 9, 2008 11:42 PM | Reply | Permalink