The third iteration of John McCain's "celeb" attack on Barack Obama is, I think, the most egregious, as it just blatantly makes shit up about Obama's tax policy, fearmongers about the safety of seniors' "life savings" and portrays Barack Obama not only as a celebrity "not ready to lead", but as an elitist who is uncaring and oblivious to the plight of people who are hurting.
Watch it:
McCain here is going directly to where Democrats are traditionally strong, on the concept of compassion, but in so doing opens up himself to attacks on his own wealth. Not that wealth in itself is a crime or equates to elitism necessarily, but if McCain wants to go down that road, Josh Marshall sums up what turnabout might look like.
Must be grand to be flying in your private jet and trying to decide which of your eight homes to fly to.
Will Team Obama go that route? Not likely and so far their only response to this ad is a sternly worded statement. Why the statement is good: it uses the word "lie" twice.
"This ad is a lie, and it's part of the old, tired politics of a party in Washington that has run out of ideas and run out of steam. Even though a host of independent, nonpartisan organizations have said this attack isn't true, Senator McCain continues to lie about Senator Obama's plan to give 95% of all families a tax cut of $1,000, and not raise taxes for those making under $250,000 a single dime. The reason so many families are hurting today is because we've had eight years of failed Bush policies that Senator McCain wants to continue for another four, and that's what Barack Obama will change as President."
I'm glad to see the Obama campaign flat out calling McCain and Republicans liars. It's not the first time, you'll recall on Wednesday when Barack hit back against the implication that "inflating your tires" was the extent of his energy plan, he said "first of all, they're lying." It's nice to see Obama not mincing words.
Why the statement isn't really that good: it's just a statement.
More please.
Update [2008-8-8 14:27:23 by Todd Beeton]:I also like the prominence of the phrase "old and tired" to refer to McCain's politics -- not an accidental turn of phrase I suspect.
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