Sorry, John, I found myself smiling through all those images — and it was always pretty easy to pick up the humor and the missing context of all the various things Obama was saying.
And as for that "10 Commandments" punchline... Althouse did it first. I feel like you owe me a link.
But the important question is: Will ads like this and "the biggest celebrity" one work? As I said on the radio show yesterday — listen to the first few minutes — it's risky to show ads like this, but I think they work because of the way that they acknowledge that a lot of us love and enjoy Barack Obama, but urge us to separate that love from the serious question whether he is ready to be President. That is how the ads work for me. Now, I do think the ads works differently for different people.
Those who already don't like Obama can have a laugh. Aren't the people who worship the man ridiculous? This is the way Rush Limbaugh took it:
I'll tell you, if the Obama people got mad and fed up over the Britney Spears celebutard ad, this is going to frost 'em. This is fabulous. This is Barack Obama's words right back at him. This is what Obama has said. And it's fun! It's having fun, yes, but it's his own words thrown right back at him.Obama devotees can also enjoy a laugh: Our candidate is so fantastic that the only thing McCain can come up with is that he's just too fantastic. We can't promote him with lavish worship — isn't it hilarious that McCain is doing the worship mode for us?
But the key is how the ads affect independent, undecided voters. (Like me!) And I think they may be succeeding in encouraging us to separate our thinking about Obama into 2 parts:
1. He's really cool and great and this whole campaign is a lot of fun.
2. Being President is a deadly serious and immensely difficult and important business and we've got to pick the man who is better prepared to take it on.
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61 comments:
Except the "is he ready to lead?" part of the commercial was unpleasant and rather stupid.
"Except the "is he ready to lead?" part of the commercial was unpleasant and rather stupid."
Yes, but that is probably intentional. It's the wake up to reality part: Oh, so this isn't all fun and games. There's a job to be done.
Being President is a deadly serious and immensely difficult and important business and we've got to pick the man who is better prepared to take it on.
True. One of the candidates will turn 73 in his first year in office if elected, has a history of erratic political behavior and policy pronouncements, has serious long-term health problems that call into question his physical and mental capability to carry out that job to the end of his one term, has no broad support within his own political party save for the fact that he happens to be one of them, and will be a lame-duck the moment he takes the oath of office, thus having little, if any, political capital to spend during his single term. Not a recipe for success, I think.
"He's really cool and great and this whole campaign is a lot of fun."
The Obama campaign itself, and especially the attack yorkies on the interweb, undercut this interpretation with their dour, humorless, and generally off-putting reaction to ads like this one and the Celeb one.
Rather than being part of the joke and laughing along with it, they make it clear that there is no joke. They really believe the crap that McCain's camp is mocking.
One of the candidates will turn 73 in his first year in office if elected, has a history of erratic political behavior and policy pronouncements, has serious long-term health problems that call into question his physical and mental capability to carry out that job to the end of his one term, has no broad support within his own political party save for the fact that he happens to be one of them, and will be a lame-duck the moment he takes the oath of office, thus having little, if any, political capital to spend during his single term.
And, with all that, this is the candidate who is now leading in the polls, or is at a dead-heat at the worst. Says a lot about how his poorly opponent is regarded.
"2. Being President is a deadly serious and immensely difficult and important business and we've got to pick the man who is better prepared to take it on."
Presumably, folks that believe this would be turned off by a campaign that is repeatedly caught putting untruths in their ads and the candidate's stump speech (please no hype/moral equivalence about the ridiculous reverse racism stuff, mortimer covered that elsewhere.) Of course McCain may be counting on getting away with lying, it worked against Romney.
It would also follow that folks concerned about seriousness would vote on issues (fiscal reality/health care/energy/poor multi-year economic results/foriegn destruction-construction adventures), and therefore low road issue-less ads with documented untruths wouldn't persuade them to go with the candidate who is less serious regarding policies.
Ironically, the short term gains of McCain's dishonesty push could be become a net negative in the long run. His whole legitimacy is being based on his unquestionable (or, more accurately, unquestioned) wonderfulness, rather than policies. So if he becomes known as a liar, the wonderfulness goes away, then what?
And, as I noted in another post, I find this particular ad a to be an insult to God. I'm sure its unintentional, but God isn't fodder for political mocking. What bothers me most is that this is directly from the campaign, it's different if outside folks are joking, but this is the official message of the campaign.
And it doesn't say he is innately unfit to lead, or that he'll NEVER be ready to lead.
What it does is push, front and center, the one thing Obama can not change in this election, his inexperience.
The only counter Obama can make is to try to claim that despite his lack of experience, he still has superior judgment.
But then that argument plays right back into the overall narritive that Obama thinks he is somehow uniquely special and gifted. Judgment is usually seen as being born of experience.
Americans, on the other hand, can tolerate old guys that have a lot of scars from a lot of hard-knocks. Heck, the old-guy Indiana Jones did $313M at the US box office alone.
McCain's problem is that he isn't exactly as nimble as Indie.
As Obama has already lied about McCain's statements, it seems to me that one campaign criticizing the other for lying is ineffective. Everyone knows all campaigns do it. Pretending this is something new, or that your candidate is not doing it is just more of the same: spreading lies.
The McCain ad is a pompous attempt to skewer Obama's pomposity. For McCain the less exposure this ad gets, the better.
In terms of traditional campaign activity, Obama is beating McCain like a drum.
So why isn't Obama doing better in the polls? They have to be worried about that.
Problem is, I can't see McCain doing better as a candidate. Obama will probably get better as the contest intensifies.
Strange election, though.
I think it will wake some people up--mockery tends to do that. Like when I was a kid and loved the Billy Jack movie, and then saw it again with my boyfriend and his friends, and they laughed all the way through it.
When you sober up from the intoxication of Barack's coolness, what do you have left?
Judgment is usually seen as being born of experience.
And John McCain's experience as one of the Keating 5 bore us McCain-Feingold.
The only counter Obama can make is to try to claim that despite his lack of experience, he still has superior judgment.
That's the only one he's seriously made thus far, but there are others.
McCain's problem is that he isn't exactly as nimble as Indie.
True. He's a human being not a movie character.
His whole legitimacy is being based on his unquestionable (or, more accurately, unquestioned) wonderfulness
You are talking about McCain? Really? McCain has wonderfulness> McCain? That must be why all the conservatives and libertarians and Republicans love him so much and throng to his speeches.
I find this particular ad a to be an insult to God
This is hilarious. All of a sudden, since it might provide a fleeting argument for Obama, people's religious sensibilities matter now.
Face it, lefties; Hillary Clinton was right. Your candidate brings some serious baggage. It will get exploited. Of course, when people like 1jpb accuse McCain of lying (or being old and unhealthy, or being dumb, or whatever), why, that's just good people trying to persuade others.
It would also follow that folks concerned about seriousness would vote on issues (fiscal reality/health care/energy/poor multi-year economic results/foriegn destruction-construction adventures), and therefore low road issue-less ads with documented untruths wouldn't persuade them to go with the candidate who is less serious regarding policies.
ijpb, it seems to me that the key weakness of Obama and his supporters talking about voting on issues is that Obama has almost no track record or long-held position on any substantive achievement or on any issue.
It strikes me as I type that Obama has risked by having such an imbalanced scorecard. His pizzazz and cult-like popularity has started to overshadow his substantive policy persona.
And, yes, I do think that people believe, perhaps unwittingly, that substantive doesn't come with popular, just like they separate their broccoli from their banana cream pie.
Many people that think Obama is way cool may still vote for McCain, for the very reason that people understand that you don't want that hot, sexy catch at the bar doing your heart surgery.
please no hype/moral equivalence about the ridiculous reverse racism stuff, mortimer covered that elsewhere
Mortimer's regurgitation of the partisan talking points of the day covered that subject to your personal satisfaction, I'm sure.
Of course McCain may be counting on getting away with lying, it worked against Romney.
It worked for Obama against Clinton, too.
His whole legitimacy is being based on his unquestionable (or, more accurately, unquestioned) wonderfulness, rather than policies.
You think so? I've yet to meet anyone who believes that, including people who are voting for him.
people understand that you don't want that hot, sexy catch at the bar doing your heart surgery.
Alternatively, few indeed are those who want a 73-year-old heart surgeon whose range of motion is seriously impaired and has a long history of embracing the fad of the moment in his field.
You think so? I've yet to meet anyone who believes that, including people who are voting for him.
Randy, you’re meeting some of them right here.
And please tone down the internet-speak. It’s still early on a Saturday. I haven't even brushed my teeth yet.
Quayle, By all means, brush your teeth! As my dentist says, "You don't have to floss all of them, just the ones you plan to keep" ;-). I'll leave off with the observation that I'm not meeting anyone here. We're writing comments on Anns' blog. I think you will agree that the dynamic is quite different than actually meeting face-to-face. As I said, I've yet to meet anyone who believes in John McCain's "unquestionable wonderfulness" although I know many who are voting for him. That said, I agree that John McCain does have his admirable qualities.
The ad is a disaster for McCain. Ann identified reactions of three categories of viewers: (1) McCain partisans; (2) Obama partisans; and (3) thoughtful independents.
Category 4 is the killer: the disengaged and not particularly thoughtful uncommitted. They far outnumber thoughtful swing voters and for them the ad is a set of images and background noise. A picture is worth a thousand words, and the images say Obama IS "The One."
Think of Reagan and those gigantic flag and patriotic backdrops for speeches in '84. Commentators ridiculed the emphasis on image over substance. Meanwhile Reagan aides laughed that even the negative news stories on that point were actually positive, because they kept showing Reagan with those big flags behind him.
Rod,
Yes, Reagan was showing American Exceptionalism that the MSM despises as does Obama. The vast majority of Americans love America. These ads have nothing to do with America, but Obama's arrogance. Hillary waited too long to expose this empty suit.
Rod, history has shown that whenever a candidate becomes the issue in a campaign, he or she usually loses. It would be a mistake to confuse the visual images for the reality that Ronald Reagan was never the issue in 1984.
McCain... The Keating Five.
Obama... Ludacris, Rezko, Wright, Ayers/Dohrn, and other creepy folks yet to be exposed when their rocks are overturned.
The Obama campaign will have more and more trouble with his "associates" and "associates of associates" as the election approaches.
Remember, he's from Chicago!
1. He's really cool and great and this whole campaign is a lot of fun.
2. Being President is a deadly serious and immensely difficult and important business and we've got to pick the man who is better prepared to take it on.
This could almost read like a litany of liberal and conservative takes on this campaign.
And being cool and great and having fun with foreign crowds is THE LAST THING I want in a candidate.
Case in point:
If President Obama had addressed milling, delirious throngs in Berlin, I would've thought that was only right and proper. He's the US President, after all.
But to have a not-even-official nominee for President do so as a campaign stop in Berlin, was something out of the Political Twilight Zone. I mean, the hubris. It's mindboggling.
McCain is playing a crafty veteran game. The more he puts the spotlight on Obama, the more it is working.
Obama snarkily replied that McCain should say something positive about HIMSELF, rather than posting celebritney videos about Obama.
But that's the point. McCain's campaign got him to sound snarky and arrogant.
+1 for the Old Guy.
Cheers,
Victoria
This is the best political ad I have seen in a long time. I could not stop laughing when Charlton Heston parted the Red Sea and the Obama seal came flying out. LOL!
The anger you hear from the Obama folks is the sound of a perfect bullseye.
The McCain team is putting out these great ads one after the other, even the nimble Obama is having trouble keeping up.
These ads are working! The celeb ad hit Obama for supporting foreign oil, whaddaya know, all of a sudden The One is now supporting off-shore drilling.
Love it.
"McCain's campaign got him to sound snarky and arrogant."
More like the McCain campaign merely gave him a microphone. Or, more accurately, just played back what he's been saying for quite some time. They didn't have to get him to sound that way. It's the way he sounds all the time.
I think Barack Obama is just like Harry Truman.
One thing I admire about McCain is how he dumped his wife when she became disabled, and traded her for a better looking babe.
That's cool. The old wife shouldn't have become so frumpy, so its her fault that she got dumped. Good for McCain for realizing that a wife is for one thing and one thing only - as a sperm deposit.
I'm very excited hat 50,000 American bigots lost their jobs last month.
Hillary waited too long to expose this empty suit.
Hillary really couldn't, lest she be tarred as racist, a tarring a Dem cannot withstand. Repubs meanwhile are fully used to being called racists by the Dems, and it has little effect on their viability except in those very rare instances where it happens to be true.
You see he is a scruple free nonentity who was elected as a Senator by a corrupt big city machine.
And I think his daughter plays the piano.
I said all throughout the primaries that America would never elect a black President.
The fact that two overtly racist ads are even convincing Ann to vote for McCain pretty much proves my point.
And if anyone's counting Ann's so called "neutrality", she has yet to write one negative post about McCain.
DTL is worried about the morality of our president and about lost jobs (in an economy that grew by almost 2%, so please give us a link).
Let's elect a moral Democrat, like Bill Clinton.
Let's elect a Democrat economic whiz like Jimmy Carter--Obama wants to resurrect his policies.
I'm off to inflate my tires now.
Patca thinks that an economy that has lost jobs for 7 months in a row is boomtime - something we should be proud of.
Patca thinks a stock market that grows 1% a year is boomtime.
Patca thinkst that the highest inflation in 20 years is boomtime.
So easily brainwashed by Fox News or the Drudge Report. How lame.
Drudge had a banner headline in February about how the economy was still growing in Q4 of 2007 (0.6% - woohoo!). Of course we now know that the economy shrank then, but we'll never see that correction in the Drudge Report or Fox News.
And I'll take a Bill Clinton economy over a Bush economy anytime.
And silly Patca is so blind that he doesn't even realize that Bush is the one who has resurrected Carter's economic policies. Stagflation anyone? Record gas prices? Failed foreign policy? Sound familiar.
You're lucky the Republicans are running against a black guy though - I'll give you that.
Now Mc Cain alwasys reminded me of George Armstrong Custer.
I have to agree: McCain's wife dumping was pretty bad.
I once kinda hung around McCain at National Airport when we were both waiting for a 6:05 flight to ... somewhere, I can't remember. There were about 10 of us there.
In person, he seems fairly hard and harsh. You know how sometimes you see golfers on TV, then when you meet them in person, some turn out to feel like country club preppies, and other turn out to feel like hard drinking, gambling, misogynist womanizers.
I'm not saying McCain was the latter, but he gave of an air of being a tough-guy pug-nose.
It's a funny ad, but I think it may end up being less effective than the Britney ad. The Britney ad tied into perceptions some voters have of a lack of substance/experience on the part of Obama, and also was able to key into certain resentments about celebrities and celebrity culture.
I don't think this ad will be as successful. It has more of a sneering from the peanut gallery feel to it, and it insults people who are inspired by Obama as much as (if not more than) it insults Obama. Like it or not, there are a lot of independent voters who are inspired by the guy, and a lot of them are people who otherwise would vote Republican or who would be drawn to McCain on issues of experience or his views on certain key issues. This sort of ad may hit the sweet spot with the Limbaugh set, but I don't think it'll do as well with independents.
"and it insults people who are inspired by Obama"
More precisely, those who are inspired by the very words the ad shows. And, exactly-- deservedly so.
Carter foreign policy: allowed Soviets to invade Afghanistan, allowed Islamists to take over Iran using embassy personnel as hostages and introducing modern terrorism on a global scale.
Bush foreign policy: no attacks since 9/11, stay on offense.
Carter energy plan: inflate your tires.
Bush energy plan: lift ban on US oil exploration.
As for the economy I never said it was boom time--that's your exaggeration--but 1% growth in the stock market is better than Carter's 18% interest rates.
[McCain's] whole legitimacy is being based on his unquestionable (or, more accurately, unquestioned) wonderfulness
I'm with Seven -- that's the weirdest political claim I've heard anyone make in weeks.
As to the ad ....
I also laughed when Moses (Charleton Heston) appeared. Frankly, I gave them credit for not only tweaking Obama, but Heston who is somewhat a conservative favorite.
As to the candidates ...
No, the dumping of the first Mrs. McCain was not cool. There, McCainw was living in his 28,000 sq ft house and being flown here and there by private jet and treated like a king and he still chose to stray ....
Wait, I have my Johns mixed up.
As I recall, when McCain returned from Vietnam, it was then he learned of her serious accident and the resulting disabilities.
And he did not treat her as well as he should have.
Of course, when Mrs. McCain welcomed her husband home, he had spent 5 1/2 years in prison being beaten and tortured randomly and never knew when he had lived his last day. The two had rarely - if ever communicated - in real time with one another and every word in the letters they may have exchanged were being scrutinized by both sides of the conflict for hidden meaning.
The husband Mrs. McCain welcomed home had 5 years of contact with his family and the world snipped out of his life. He had physical disabilities of his own that plague him to this day. And, it would be a shock if he had not had some form of post-tramatic stress.
No, he didn't treat her as well as he should have.
But, given the circumstances that John McCain and his first wife faced - individually and as a couple - I give them credit for maintaining a cordial relationship and, by all accounts, raising some good kids to responsible adulthood.
It's very easy for each of us to say what he should have done, but, I cannot honestly claim that I would have done better in the same circumstance.
Ann identified reactions of three categories of viewers: (1) McCain partisans; (2) Obama partisans; and (3) thoughtful independents. Category 4 is the killer: the disengaged and not particularly thoughtful uncommitted.
But you're missing other categories:
(5): Republicans who don't want to vote for McCain. There are millions of these. McCain needs to convince them that there's a good reason to vote for him. He can't rely on his record because his record is often at odds with the Republican base. He can, however, show his opponent to be someone who no responsible American would want in the Oval Office.
(6): People leaning towards Obama because he's so "new" and "different". I.e., the "disengaged and not particularly thoughtful *committed*". Mocking Obama for being an empty suit is a risky move, since this group of people might feel insulted. Then again, there is nobody more partisan than the folks who think the other side was trying to hoodwink them. Since Obama really *is* an empty suit, these people can be turned against him. Every misty-eyed Obama fan is a potential "bitter Obama opponent".
Ohio Anne:
Good one mixing up your Johns! LOL.
the ad is pathetic and bitter. it doesn't paint obama in a poor light at all but rather does the exact reverse.
mccain is well on his way to getting stomped.
2. Being President is a deadly serious and immensely difficult and important business and we've got to pick the man who is better prepared to take it on.
Shouldn't McCain give you reason to think that he's that guy, and not just make fun of the other guy? As long as I see these types of ads, I'm going to assume McCain has nothing meaningful to offer about himself.
The Reagans cold-shouldered McCain after his divorce -- did you see that endorsement by Nancy, and the way she slapped him down?
Anyway. The ad was not aimed at people as politically & culturally savvy as the divine Ms. A. She'll make her decision based on her feelings about the two candidates (though I find it hard to believe she'll end up voting for Obama, her 60-40 statement notwithstanding, given the war and the character issue -- I think she'll hit a breaking point, as she did with Kerry in '04). It was aimed at the people who aren't really paying attention, but who have noticed the Obama phenomenon and found it intriguing.
I didn't think it was so good until I saw how Obama and his people reacted to it. It stung.
Problem is, I can't see McCain doing better as a candidate. Obama will probably get better as the contest intensifies.
All evidence is to the contrary. Hil(l)ary would've won if she had taken Obama seriously. BHO won on the basis of his first startling surge.
Shouldn't McCain give you reason to think that he's that guy, and not just make fun of the other guy? As long as I see these types of ads, I'm going to assume McCain has nothing meaningful to offer about himself.
You're inclined to do that anyway, yes?
But if you step back a pace, you'll realize not every commercial can do everything. You can always fault a 75-second spot for what it doesn't include but I think most advertising experts would agree that the main goal of any commercial is to get a single point across.
Whether this gets the desired point across, and whether it's a point that will be effective is another issue.
McCain's qualifications are points for different spots and they would only diffuse the message here.
McCain has other types of ads. But there's no reason to believe that they'll be effective compared to the glow Obama gets for free. He can't effectively run just as "I'm good, too!" because Obama is portrayed as transcendent.
Indeed, McCain has to convince people like me that Obama would be such a disaster that I should vote for McCain, despite my distaste for what he has "accomplished".
OK, maybe not me, since I'm not appalled by the BHO worship and think he might simply be ineffective, versus being gravely concerned by what JSM might actually "accomplish".
But other undecideds who watch these sorts of ads, anyway.
That should be I am appalled.
But I don't think the positive press would translate into effectiveness.
The economy has two major problems. 1. High oil prices, 2. The fall out from the sub prime bust.
Obama offers no solutions for either. For No. 1, we need to try everything, including drilling, to bring down gas prices in the short term. Obama's plan is to tax the oil companies and redistribute the taxes to his constituents. How dumb is that!
Regarding the sub prime bust, that issue is largly over. However, we need to avoid it happening again which means getting rid of the stuff that caused it such as Fannie and Freddie. Obama, of course has no plans to do that. He favors wealth transfers.
On the other side, Obama wants to increas taxes on capital, increase taxes on income, and reduce free trade. These are economy killers.
Blake: I was wondering about the end of this sentence: ... I'm not appalled by the BHO worship and think he might simply be ineffective, versus being gravely concerned by what JSM might actually "accomplish".
I'm really not trying to be sarcastic, but what on earth can McCain possibly accomplish once elected? He's a one-term wonder the day he takes office. A placeholder. He'll face an extremely hostile congress (and that's just the members of his own party). The only way he'll get anything accomplished domestically is to sell out to the Democrats like Schwarzenegger ended up doing. The odds are that McCain won't have a chance to embark on foreign (mis)adventures because they won't get funded, the nation's military is overextended, and there isn't an ally left (or right) with the slightest interest in following his lead. Obama, OTOH, may prove ineffective but the Democratic majorities in the Congress will give him anything he asks for, and probably much more than he wants. The likelihood of Obama accomplishing something is infinitely greater, which is what has so many people worried: what will be accomplaished and how bad will it be? (The Law of Unintended Consequences applies to legislation by both parties and invariably overrides intent.)
Obama consistently harks that G.W. Bush represents failed economic policies and that Obama wants to change all of that. He could be right about Bush's policy for a weak dollar, but I have never heard Obama talk about his dollar policy. Perhaps Obama has no understanding of the dollar.
Ironically, the two major economic problems we have are the result of democratic policies not Bush policies.
High oil prices have been desired and promoted by democrats and the environmental lobby for years. They finally have their high prices and the average american is suffering for this horrible policy.
On the other side, Fannie and Freddie are creatures of the left and supported by liberal politicians. These entities need to be disbanded. They and the Feds easy money policy in 2002-2004 are the root cause of the mortgage debacle.
If it wasn't for the Bush tax cuts we would probably be in a very bad recession today rather than just a slow down.
There certainly is a huge charisma gap between McCcain and Obama. The Obama campaign is a stretch limo enroute to the prom. Scarlet Johannsen stands up in the sky roof and throws her arms out like Nike to embrace the night. The McCain campaign is a rusty pick up with busted springs. It's a car pool to the night shift at the plant, and you're squished between Gingrich and Huckabee as the limo passes by......You don't begrudge the kids their night out, but you know who in the end will pick up the tab. I think the ad captures some of this resentment.
Since there is justified confusion, I should elaborate on "McCain's wonderfulness."
This is my short hand for whatever it is that allows McCain to get a pass.
The lying about Romney is an example, though in that situation I enjoyed watching frustrated Romney spinning his wheels as he tried to get folks to react against McCain. And there is the treatment of his gaffes in Iraq and other places. Or, his rewriting the history of his POW stories so that they're tailored to the state he's currently campaigning in. Or, that he get's away with not knowing what his current positions are, or what his past positions have been. But he's the serious one?
Compare these situations to the hysteric reaction to the bitter comments, which were almost always misquoted in the WaPo, NYT and mostly everywhere else (I can add great detail, if required.) Or there was the recent madness that followed the Milbank piece. And the Milbank piece was 100% wrong in that it implied the opposite of what BHO was saying. In fact, the actual BHO quote was similar to things I've heard Rush and other anti-BHO folks say when they talk about BHO as a symbol for peoples expectations. BHO was being humble, probably to a fault.
And, I could go on. But, simply put "wonderful McCain" means whatever it is that allows McCain to constantly get a pass.
Sloanasaurus,
He has the support of Volcker and Buffet. I'm sure the dollar has been discussed. And, the conversations have been with folks much better informed and experienced than you or me.
BHO was being humble, probably to a fault.
I would like to see some humility from the guy. I'm not following it closely, but what I've seen there's no humility.
This from a guy who's accomplished so very little from what I can tell. Places switched, I would be the most earnest, humble, hard-working guy in Washington D.C.
I feel like a just described Hil(l)ary.
I can add great detail, if required.
Oh, please. Spare us.
BHO was being humble, probably to a fault.
Too late, I see. Ah well, more damage inflicted upon your candidate by one of his supporters.
Shouldn't McCain give you reason to think that he's that guy, and not just make fun of the other guy?
McCain should want to convince you that he's more "that guy" than Obama is. That can be done by touting his own credentials, undermining Obama's, or both.
McCain's been in the public eye since Obama was in elementary school. Pretty much everybody who has followed current events over the past few decades already has an opinion on the man. Obama, on the other hand, is new to the public eye and his image is thus more easily changed. Plus, of course, Obama really *doesn't* have any experience people normally expect in a President; he has to sell himself on his personality and character, and we don't know much about either yet.
BHO was being humble, probably to a fault.
"Obama was being humble" is *almost* as funny as "McCain's legitimacy is based on his unquestionable wonderfulness"... but it doesn't quite pull ahead. Good attempt, though. I give it 8 points out of 10.
1. "Cool" is for teenagers, not adults.
2. "Cool" is at best superficial, and is certainly no qualification for being the leader of the free world.
3. Obama is a nerd. When did nerdy become "cool"?
Sloan--
Obama does have an answer for high oil prices. Properly inflated tires.
Sloan,
Here is a graphic that illustrates how well Obama's "windfall profits" tax worked when Jimmy Carter tried it in the '80s.
Projected versus Actual
PatCA--your link seems to go to an empty page. (I mean, the site's sidebar is up, but there's nothing in the main area.)
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