In New Radio Ad, Gun Rights Guy Vouches For Obama On Guns
Obama's Colorado campaign sends over audio of a new radio ad running in the state and in other battlegrounds pushing back on claims that an Obama presidency would be a disaster for gun owners.
The new spot features Ray Schoeneke -- a former Washington Redskins player and current gun rights advocate who's president of the American Hunters and Shooters Association -- promising that Obama will "make sure we can keep our guns."
"But what about our jobs?" the ad asks, shifting the discussion away from hot-button culture-war issues and on to the economy.
Listen to the ad here.
The spot also puts the "McSame" attack in football lingo: "Look, when the coach loses eight years in a row, you don't bring him back for a ninth season!"
According to Politico readers, it's also up in Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio. Full script after the jump.
Barack Obama: I'm Barack Obama, candidate for president, and I approved this message.Ray Schoenke: This is Ray Schoenke. I played football with the Washington Redskins. Now I'm president of the American Hunters and Shooters Association. It's important to me that our next President protects our Second Amendment rights to own guns and defend ourselves.
Barack Obama and John McCain will both make sure we can keep our guns.
But what about keeping our jobs?
Barack's got a real plan that invests in creating jobs here at home and cuts taxes a thousand bucks for working families.
John McCain?
I saw a lot of cheap shots in my day...
But McCain's false attacks on Obama are just a fake to hide the ball. His plan sells out American workers.
McCain will keep giving tax breaks to companies that ship our jobs overseas.
And he'll look the other way while China breaks our trade deals.
It's the same old Bush playbook.
Look, when the coach loses eight years in a row, you don't bring him back for a ninth season!
We just can't afford more of the same.
I like this! Give a little, take a lot, and most importantly keep it focused. Let's see if this works.
September 15, 2008 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
What?? Are you joking? Using football metaphors plays right into John McCain's hand!!
September 15, 2008 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe. But it beats "morally unfit" anytime.
September 15, 2008 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain didn't have football for five years!
September 15, 2008 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
How so Supa? How do football metaphors play into McCain's hands?
http://thepajamapundit.com/
September 15, 2008 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lalo is pretending to be normal for this thread, so I was pretending to be Lalo.
September 15, 2008 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's a load of crap.
I always say it when I like Obama's ads. He wasn't playing a good game since the Palin announcement until this morning and I said so.
I also think "morally unfit" is a bunch of crap, because while he's trying to take down McCain he's wasting time not pushing his own message.
So if Obama can keep this line of attack going strong I will have no reason to complain, will I?
September 15, 2008 4:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Never fear Lalo. I am positive you will find something to complain about.
September 15, 2008 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
God, your avatar is just awful, dear.
:-)
September 15, 2008 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Haha see!
September 15, 2008 5:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree, I like this ad a lot. It appeals to the 'normal guy'.
September 15, 2008 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I like it too. Can never have enough football puns.
September 15, 2008 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hate to say ditto to Lalo, but I agree. This is the kind of ad that needs to be run in the redder areas of swing states.
Overall I like how the Obama campaign has righted itself lately (though I don't think it was that off course before, just 10 degrees off from the best direction).
September 15, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, when Lalo is right, he's right. It's a good ad.
September 15, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm such an Obamabot - I completely understand his stance on guns. If you grow up in a non-hunting urban environment, you are going to view guns completely differently than if you grow up shooting deer out in the country. This country needs politicians that understands both viewpoints (which McCain did but McSame does not).
September 15, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
While I agree with you on the rest of your statement, this part is stereotypical nonsense that plays right in to the Repugs hands. I believe that commonsense dictates that handguns and assault rifles play no part in hunting. In other words, one needn't grow-up in the "country" to understand the basics of hunting and fair-chase.
September 15, 2008 4:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, assuming that there is a common sense consensus to bar handguns and "assault weapons" plays right into the Republicans culture war.
September 15, 2008 5:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
The 2nd amendment is not about hunting. It is about preventing tyranny, and handguns and assault rifles work quite well for that.
September 15, 2008 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually it is not clear in the intent, although you could infer it. What we do know is that it is simply there and that it has a traditional application in our common culture. However the "right" is not necessarily infringed when clear headed measured are applied to protect the common good.
September 15, 2008 5:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry to burst everyone's bubble, but the American Hunters and Shooters Association is considered a trojan horse gun control group. Kind of like when "caring" pregnancy centers claim to offer advice to women when what they really intend, once they get you in the door, is to threaten you into not having an abortion.
Anyone in the NRA, and anyone who owns a gun in the west, knows this group is not a gun rights advocacy group. They are so reviled, in fact, I wish they would just stay out of this.
Let me be clear: I am pro-gun control. I married, however, into an NRA family. Obama is on very thin ice with my father-in-law, who has only agreed to even consider voting for Obama because I have argued to him, repeatedly, that gun legislation is not on the agenda of the Democrats. I have argued to him that it shouldn't matter whether Obama is or isn't pro-gun because he is not in a position to come and take your guns now that the Supreme Court has weighed in, nor does he want to. There are more important things on his agenda. I have been making headway with my in-laws, but it makes it harder when things like this crop up. The Biden pick didn't help either (it should have been Webb).
September 15, 2008 5:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama mentioned AK47's in his acceptance speech. Banning guns is clearly still on his agenda, he has voted for every gun control/gun ban bill he could since taking elected office. The NRA will make this very clear to voters in key states in coming weeks.
September 15, 2008 5:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good ad - more like this, please!
OT, but I thought up this line and for some reason I'm enamoured of it (though of course YMMV):
He's not your grandfather's John McCain anymore.
September 15, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here is "some one like me" as endorser, this will resonate on several levels. I think we would prefer to see "some one like me" as a football star, rather than as our next VP.
September 15, 2008 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
"...'some one like me' as a football star..." except no one's ever heard of this guy...
September 15, 2008 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's important is that he is president of the American Hunters and Shooters Association
September 15, 2008 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sure. No one has ever heard of him. Except every Redskins fan over 30; especially when he was named to the Redskin's top 50 team of all time. And also when he served on REPUBLICAN Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich's transition team and when he sold his company to Clark Consulting in 1998 for a massive windfall.
Sour grapes, SFC.
September 15, 2008 5:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nope...just been watching football for 40 years, a Republican for 27 and never heard of him...sorry.
September 16, 2008 8:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
This may work on the "casual" gun owners but to many of the hard core gun nuts the AHSA is just a front for people who want more gun control.
September 15, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, what are the chances that the hard-core gun nuts would vote for Obama anyway?
September 15, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. This is for the non-hardcore and leaners. It's meant to take the issue off the table.
That's a big part of why ASHA was created -- b/c the NRA is too hardcore and uncompromising on these issues, to the point of dishonesty.
My question is: why is this just a radio ad and not a TV ad???
I hope it runs constantly on AM talk radio in Ohio!
September 15, 2008 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is a gun control front group. No real 2nd amendment supporter will fall for this obvious lie. It just shows the levels Obama is willing to sink to. He even brought up gun banning in his big acceptance speech, and has voted for every gun ban bill he has ever been able to.
September 15, 2008 5:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I like it. The "losing eight years in a row" might actually resonate with the LIVs out there. It makes sense on a level you can understand without being political geeks like us.
September 15, 2008 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ayeron,
There's not a chance in hell Obama was going to get any "hardcore gun nut" votes anyway. If O can scrape a few pts off independent minded hunters in ring counties in OH, MI, VA, PA and CO, he will be far ahead in the game.
September 15, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hate to say it but this is something he needs - "regular" white guys and women talking about him like he's the most regular guy around. Sports, guns, kids, etc.
"See? I'm just like you and I'm not scared of him."
Sad to think anyone needs the reassurance - but they do.
September 15, 2008 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now, if only we could get Dale Earnhardt Jr. to sign on for a few Obama radio ads.
September 15, 2008 4:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe he could Lalo's avitar on the hood of his car in his next race. . .
September 15, 2008 4:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Heard it on sports talk radio here in So. Maine. Not really a swing state, but the market laps over into NH.
September 15, 2008 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was always distressed when people wrote off criticism of the Iraq quagmire as being "Monday morning quarterbacking." It ignores the fact that the people who lose on Sunday often get canned.
September 15, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is an excellent ad, and it's folksy, sports metaphor laden argumentation should be carried over to TV spots with "regular guy" type spokespeople like Schoenke.
September 15, 2008 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Cool. I hope it is up in Arizona, Alaska, and Montana too.
I am really curious about how many registered democrats are in each state compared to republicans and wondering where things really stand. I think we are in a better position that the polls reflect.
However the thought crosses many of our minds that they are trying to keep the polls close so that 'cheating' is easier to get away with. If the pollsters are really not allowing the polling to reflect the real ratio of democrats to republicans registered in each state then maybe we should start putting some pressure on them about that to get the polls more in sync.
Of course the best thing is just to keep registering voters until the clock stops
September 15, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I like this ad. One reason is that it doesn't have the same old boring political ad voice.
If people like Palin because she seems like a "real person" (a real kook, but anyway...), then why wouldn't they prefer ads spoken by people who sound like neighbors and those dreaded people you want to have a beer with.
I was thinking some of those negative ads about McCain should be voiced by Gilbert Gottfried (the AFLAC guy) or Andy Rooney. Somebody you might actually listen to.
September 15, 2008 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's called borrowed interest in the advertising world. A gun-nut former football player commenting on the economy.
Bwahahahaha.
September 15, 2008 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah. And a gun-nut former beauty queen running for Vice President.
Bwahahahaha.
-- ARG
September 16, 2008 10:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
But America's passtimes are mothers, baseball and apple pie . . .
Why did the Obama choose such elitist pursuits like football and guns . . .
Now, if the ad had a hockey/soccer mom or a NASCAR fan . . .
September 15, 2008 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
why can't they use such a straightforward sports metaphor on a more regular basis? it's great as a radio ad, but it would be better as a general talking point, it nicely supplements the "more of the same" meme.
September 15, 2008 6:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
RE: running the ad in MD
MD is very safely in the Obama column, I expect the ad is running in some smaller MD markets (like Frederick, Hagerstown, Cumberland, etc.) where the signal is picked up in parts PA, WV, and perhaps VA.
On the topic of MD radio tho, one interesting development. The DC progressive talk station, WWRC 1260 has begun referring to itself as "OBAMA 1260" and plays clips of Obama speeches about every other station ID break. I'm not sure how works with election laws, but maybe if isn't claiming tax exempt status and never explicitly says "Vote For Obama" it can get away with it. Also, the station just welcomed back Progressive Comedienne talker Stephanie Miller, but may have lost Thom Hartmann in the process by bumping AAR Lionel show, to the 3-6pm they had been playing Thom in.
September 16, 2008 8:34 AM | Reply | Permalink