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McCain's campagn has come out with this new ad in order to highlight Obama's alleged arrogance, and sarcastically jab at his popularity and bombast as the root of a potential Messiah complex.
For McCain to do this would take advantage of early data that suggests that Obama's displaying presidential qualities this early on in the game causes some to percieve him as elitist/arrogant and would therefore energize them to support McCain, despite the fact that they might otherwise stay home. I'll post that data when I have time to find it.
But I'm not sure it's effective. John McCain's name appears at the end of it, but since it is not televised, McCain does not have to endorse this wholly sarcastic web ad himself. Still, take a look at each of the claims:
"A nation healed, a world repaired."
"We are the ones we've been waiting for."
"I have become a symbol of America returning to its finest traditions."
Obama has no doubts.
"A light will shine down from somewhere...you will recieve an epiphany...I have to vote for Barack!"
Something about the planet healing.
Then a clip from The 10 Commandments urging to "behold His mighty hand..."
And then it asks if this person "is ready to lead?"
Well, why the hell not? It's sarcastic, but what about it suggests that Obama isn't ready to lead, even if he is jumping the gun? Looking at the list, and then asking if Obama is ready to lead, makes me consider the converse of these things. So McCain stands for "a nation wounded, a world in disrepair?" Top-down politics? America not returning to its finest traditions?
Maybe that's why McCain doesn't allow his face in there. While this may help the short game, it is probably not a good idea for a Republican challenger who is trying to urge change in a different direction to confound proactive politics with arrogance. That will paint McCain into a sharp contrast with Obama, which would put him in league with an unpopular status quo.
The GOP has been quick to paint Obama as a vapid celebrity, with no genuine merits beyond his celebrity. Republican pundits have compared Obama's drawing huge crowds in Germany to Hitler speeches.
It seems that the same dynamic that is governing Obama's popularity-liberal ideas; a new, young look; and a "movement" rather than just content-sounds more like the Beatles and Beatlemania than any of these other comparisons. Thousands of people energized over a person, their ideas, and their celebrity?
But hey, that was the Beatles-and they were just a passing fad, no longer remembered for their actual music, right?
I've been watching the McCain "Celeb" attack ad a few times now, trying to parse out the subtler meanings of the imagery behind it. Here's the ad:
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First, a word on content:
"He's the biggest celebrity in the world. But is he ready to lead?"
Attacking Obama's comparative experience will probably be McCain's bread and butter for this campaign. Fair enough. Just four years ago, we were introduced to the aspiring junior Senator at the Democratic National Convention. Compared to McCain, Obama doesn't have enough years of national politics behind him to impeach him on.
The energy stuff is ludicrous. Besides the erroneous analysis of the oil claim, discussed in another post, the McCain ad flat-out makes up the claim that Obama would tax dirty energy. According to FactCheck.org:
McCain relies on a single quote from Obama who once - and only once so far as we can find - suggested taxing "dirty energy," including coal and natural gas. That was in response to a reporter's suggestion that a tax on wind power could fund education. Obama isn't proposing any new tax on electricity or "dirty energy" as part of his platform, and he never has.
It's true that a coal/gas tax would raise electric rates, but so would a cap-and-trade program to restrict carbon emissions. Cap-and-trade is an idea that both McCain and Obama support, in different forms. Neither candidate characterizes cap-and-trade as a "tax."
So, in summary...McCain is attacking Obama on a policy they both claim to support? It wreaks of desperation.
I don't think the verbal content of this ad is what stands out, however. Read this considering older voters.
"Celeb" is meant to disorient. It's meant to confuse and scare. Screaming crowds, brightly flashing lights and quick, zoomed-in cuts (what gives the illusion of) rioting German fans by the Brandenburg gate simultaneously give the sensation of a paralyzing dizzyness that would come with an Obama presidency, while suggesting that Obama would be dizzied and drunk with his fame. We were, after all, primed with images of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, two attractive white women (hey--I wouldn't put this old stereotype past certain advertisers) who have been famously destroyed by attention.
The World War II/Hitler overtones would also scare older voters. They were a pretty tame crowd, really, but as mentioned editing would make it like they're rallying around a new Fuhrer.
Although I think the content is incredibly misleading, I must appreciate the artistry behind it. There's a lot of subtle psychology under the hood, and McCain's last two ads have been cinematically done. Compare this to Obama's latest defensive ad:
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Snore. Any thoughts about the sound and imagery in each of these campaign ads? Send your thoughts and ideas in the comments and vlogs, once we get that working.
