As if 10 months of ads, debates and rallies wasn't enough, Barack Obama just bought a 30-minute prime-time slot on CBS a week before the November election.
The LA Times reports that he has also bought spots on NBC and Fox, but the Fox ad might not air if a World Series game takes place on that day.
According to the Times, this will be the first time a candidate has bought prime-time airtime since Ross Perot did it in 1992.
No word on what the program will contain (*prays for Barack and Michelle doing showtunes*), but most likely it will be a repeat of everything he's said to this point, and we will watch it.
After Tuesday's debate that seen Barack Obama declared the winner by every opinion poll i've seen, the Obama camp is going on the offensive again in new ads.
This new ad, called "Tested" builds off of statements McCain made during the debate:
McCain is responding with an internet-only ad connecting Obama to Bill Ayers:
I should have known that in a debate held at an SEC campus, the candidates would make ads based on the debate with great SPEED.
Here's the McCain campaign's ad, focusing on the number of times Barack Obama agreed with McCain in the debate. A solid ad, though the ending is a bit anticlimactic.
The Obama camp also has an ad out now, featuring a clip of the Illinois Senator talking about the importance of the middle class at the debate. It's a good point made in a rather vanilla ad.
As for the winner, most polls gave the slight edge to Obama or called it a draw. A poll conducted by CNN (that surveyed more Democrats than Republicans) showed Obama leading in every category except national defense, which he gained ground on. A CBS poll of 500 uncommited voters had similar numbers, with 39% saying Obama won, 37% calling it a draw and 24% saying McCain won.
Often, the impact of the debates aren't seen until a few days after, so it will be interesting to see who gets the biggest bounce from this.
Here's a new ad from the McCain campaign, just released today.
OMG he called her a pig. Why would you call this beautiful Alaskan snowprincess a pig? What did she ever do to you, you elitist secret Muslim commie?
Here's the Obama quote with a little more context, from an Obama campaign stop in TERRORIST STRONGHOLD Lebanon (Virginia.)
Tough to say if this will have a big impact on Obama. The last time McCain came out with "the big guns" for an ad, it was the Tony Rezko spot. Remember that? Of course not, because it was forgotten about almost instantly. But media superstar Sarah Palin changes everything.
I wonder if Obama will accuse McCain of playing the sex card from the bottom of the deck.
And courtesy of Wonkette here is proof that John McCain also hates Sarah Palin.
We here at M&P have been critical of some of the McCain campaign's recent advertisements. So to bring you the fair and balanced coverage you deserve, here's one from the Democratic National Committee that fails in so many ways. It centers on the controversial McCain "Celebrity" ad that not-so-subtly compares Barack Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Deciding that the only way to attack a not-so-subtle ad is with an ad that takes one point and bashes you over the head with it until you're unconscious, then bashes you with it some more, the DNC rolled out this beauty, featuring a clip of the Arizona senator talking about that ad in Racine, WI (Milwaukee's Rockford.)
Did you catch that? I had to watch it a few times, but I think what they're saying is McCain might have been proud of that commercial. Hard to tell, though.
Aside from the ad's Marge-Simpson-esque (a part of us all) tone, it doesn't exactly say a lot. It tells us nothing about McCain, except that he likes a commercial. Of course he does, he did the whole "I'm John McCain and I approve this message" thing at the end. It's not like he can condemn it now. Besides, he's not going to throw his own campaign staff workers under the bus. And what does his approval of a stupid and likely meaningless ad have to do with anything important?
I sure hope the DNC isn't proud of this commercial.
"Welcome home, Barack, and why do you hate our wounded soldiers?"
Fresh off the Obama World Tour 08, Barack Obama is facing criticism from John McCain over not visiting wounded American troops while he was in Germany. Obama, who did meet with wounded soldiers during his brief stay in Iraq, says the planned visit to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center was scrapped at the last minute because he didn't want the visit to be "percieved as political" since he would have been using campaign resources.
The McCain campaign doesn't think so, and on Sunday they campaign unveiled a new ad claiming it was because Obama could not bring in media cameras.
Per the New York Times, Obama's visit with wounded soldiers in Iraq was done without alerting the media.
The biggest problem I have with this ad isn't that it's a cheap shot. It is cheap, but this is a Presidential campaign, and it's likely only going to get dirtier the closer we get to November. My problem is, like McCain's "Obama caused rising gas prices" ad, is that it highlights none of McCain's qualities. All it says is "John McCain is always there for our troops." Such as when he . . . what? What did he do? In what way is he "always there for our troops?" If he's really "always there" for our soldiers, name one example. Talk about a time he visited wounded soldiers when he was in Iraq. Show him speaking at a town hall meeting with a veteran in uniform. Show him watching Generation Kill. But show him doing something.
Don't bash the other candidate on shaky allusions without having anything to promote yourself at the same time.
Finally, our first ad (from one of the official campaigns) to start hitting below the belt. Titled "Pump," the ad blames high gas prices on "some in Washington who are saying 'no' to drilling in America." And by "some in Washington" they mean the junior Senator from Illinois.
Ignoring the fact that gas prices have been rising since before Obama was even elected to the US Senate (remember the outcry when gas was $2 a gallon?) the ad doesn't really explain why McCain's plan will actually lead to lower gas prices. It makes an allusion to "more energy," but not when or by how much gas prices would actually decrease if we started drilling more in America. Even McCain himself admitted more offshore drilling would mainly have a "psychological" benefit and that he didn't know how long it would take before we would see lower prices at the pump. If you're going to take a cheap shot, at least base it on something tangible.
The ad begins airing in Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin this week.
In a new ad titled "America's Leadership," Barack Obama touts his strength in working together with a Republican senator (ZOMG FAKE CHANGE!!1!!1) in helping to "lock down loose nuclear weapons" in the former Soviet Union. Obama's trying to highlight the foreign policy experience (even if it is limited) that he does have and his willingness to work with the other side, which are both percieved strengths of John McCain.
The ad will begin running in 18 states according to the AP.
After the opening ads of the general election where Barack Obama and John McCain tried their best to be bland and vague, the guns are starting to come out. The topic is energy.
This past weekend, the Republican National Committee unveiled this ad, titled "Balance." It touts McCain's willingness to break with his party and his "balanced plan" of alternative fuels, offshore drilling, and conservation. The ad goes on to say that Obama has "no new solutions" and is just another Demmy-crat.
The Obama campaign fired back with an ad titled "New Energy." In it, Obama insists that McCain is actually the one toeing the party line, stating that he "voted with Bush 95% of the time" and wants to give tax breaks to oil companies, whereas Obama is the one who will give tax breaks to working families (presumably not ones who work for oil companies) and make "energy independence an urgent priority."
I'm just glad we're seeing some ads with teeth as opposed to the standard "photos of me when I was younger/helping people/holding flags" ads we've been seeing from the official campaigns so far.
Hey, look. It's an actual kinda celebrity in a political ad. Vincent Curatola, aka Johnny Sack from The Sopranos, is in the new ad sponsored by the Minnesota chapter of Coaltion for a Democratic Workplace (CDW.) The ad centers around the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill currently stalled in the US Senate that would allow for employees to unionize if a majority of workers sign their support for a union, without having to go through a formal election. Supporters (like Al Franken and apparently those shifty Eyetalians) say it allows employees easier access to the benefits of being in a union, while opponents (like CDW and Norm Coleman) say that allowing employees to unionize without voting in a secret ballot election robs them of their privacy.
Stay tuned to see if any other supporting actors from off-the-air HBO shows make any more appearances in political ads. Bonus points go to whoever can get him to appear in an ad.
Barack Obama unveiled a new ad, his second of the general election campaign. The ad, titled "Dignity," highlights Obama's accomplishments in the Illinois State Legislature (while not mentioning that they're state accomplishments and not federal ones) and emphasizes Obama's belief in "the dignity that comes from work."
Also, he gives a big hug/chokehold to an old white lady at the end. Other than that, fairly tame, generic stuff. The ad will run in 18 states.
Titled "Country I Love," this is one of what will likely be many attempts at refuting rumors that Obama is an anti-American Muslim who hates whitey without actually dignifying them with a response.
The ad includes pictures of Obama with his white mother, white grandparents, white soldiers, white people on the campaign trail and references his family's "Kansas heartland" roots. All that was missing were dogs and yoga.
Like McCain's first general election ad, it's very vague regarding any specific plans for an Obama presidency, and focuses more on introducing the candidate as a person.
The ad will begin airing in 18 states this weekend.
Moveon.org, no stranger to controversy, has partnered with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees on a new ad criticizing John McCain's "stay in Iraq for 100 years" remark. Like LBJ's famous "Daisy Girl" ad, this spot, titled "Not Alex," goes for emotion by putting a small child in your face among the talk of war.
Personally, I don't think this is anywhere close to as bad as the "Daisy Girl" spot, but I do get uneasy whenever kids who obviously have no idea what they are doing are used to make a political statement. But if I were to rip every political ad that uses kids to try and make it's point, I'd run out room on blogspot.
The ad begins airing nationally on CNN and MSNBC (not Fox News?) and local markets in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Obama's banner in the game Burnout Paradise.
