Campaign Ads and the Olympics

The Olympics, in particular the Opening Ceremonies, is a great time to put out some campaign ads to reach a large market of people who might otherwise not be targetted with ads (such as Delaware which is almost guaranteed Democratic). Both campaigns focused on energy in their ads but went in very different directions with their ads. I’ll go over each one below and give some critiquing. Unfortunately, www.factcheck.org has yet to post an analysis of Obama’s ad “Hands”, which is new for the Olympics while McCain used an older ad titled “Family” which has been analyzed. Once/if “Hands” is analyzed I’ll edit in a link to that page.

The main focus of the ad is on the retraining of workers into the so-called “Green Collar” jobs which are focused on building up a renewable infrastructure and retrofitting existing buildings and other things so that they are more environmentally friendly. The visuals are very positive and “happy” with a soft focus on everything as well as saturated colors. Overall, it’s pretty simple and does it’s job with a couple of quick mentions of his policy while providing a link at the end. Something to note, McCain was never once mentioned in the ad which instead focused soley on Obama’s plan.

McCain’s ad is continuing the negative road that he has been following for the past couple of weeks now. It begins with the continued usage of the Berlin speech in the continued campaign by McCain and the RNC to paint Obama as an elitist and a celebrity before saying that he’s going to tax the middle class and increase government spending which would lead to less jobs. After that, the part focusing on McCain states that he’ll create jobs, bring about energy independence, and focus on building up renewable resources.

FactCheck.org tears apart the ad piece by piece as they examine the different claims and statements made in the ad. First up is the claim that Obama is going to raise taxes. FactCheck states that:

Obama actually proposes to cut taxes for all but the most affluent families. He wants to restore tax rates to pre-Bush levels only for those making over $250,000 a year.

Pretty much sums it up, so yes, some taxes would be increased but it’d be only on individuals making $250k a year or more, a group that was given tax breaks under Bush in the belief that by having more money they would spend it and help the economy. FactCheck also points out that some of the claims in the ad don’t have any sort of support from McCain’s energy plan or what McCain plans on doing is unclear at best. Most of McCain’s plan that has specifics still centers on non-renewable energy:

Beyond that, the campaign points to McCain’s commitment of $2 billion in annual funding for “clean coal” technology and his goal of building 45 new nuclear plants by 2030. Coal – even if it’s “clean” – isn’t a renewable energy source. Ditto for nuclear.

All of this basically amounts to the continued “credit carding” of our energy problems where we push the crucial transition period further and further into the future becuse of the fear that the economy would be hurt when we have to switch over. Honestly, I’m not going to go point by point down the FactCheck.org analysis but they provide sources and information that tear apart this ad (and Obama’s other ones as well).

John McCain (Left) has embraced the dirty politicing of Karl Rove (Right). By the way...is that a Latte McCain is drinking? I thought only Liberals drank those...

This ad, though, is the prime example of the Rovian politics that have become so entrenched in the RNC way of campaigning. It’s this focusing on painting your opponent as the worst kind of person ever, regardless of if your information is true or not. There is a big difference between nuances and flat out lies and McCain’s campaign has been skirting that line, occasionally crossing over it. The book I’m currently reading “A Time to Fight” by Senator Jim Webb (D-VA.) has a chapter devoted to the Rovian onslaught from Former Senator Rick Allen (of Macaca fame) who tried to paint him as a traitor, pornographic novelist, and a crazed left wing liberal. I’m no so naive to think that this is something that will just go away because, unfortunately, the relative stupidity of a large majority of the American electorate responds to these ads without question.