Post-Debate Ads Say It All

by Todd Beeton, Sat Sep 27, 2008 at 12:47:55 PM EDT

Today the Obama and McCain campaigns have new ads out and the contrast in their content and style is very telling.

Obama's ad is called "zero" and hits McCain for not once referencing the "middle class" in last night's debate. The ad goes on to show footage of Barack speaking directly into the camera, speaking to and about those that are struggling right now.

Watch it:

John McCain's ad on the other hand doesn't use any footage from the debate (can't say I blame him) but rather just repeats one of his attacks from last night, namely that Obama "voted to cut off funding for our troops."

The truth is, of course, that, as the Obama campaign's statement makes clear:

"Despite what his increasingly desperate and dishonorable campaign says, John McCain opposed funding for our troops that would have brought them home, while Barack Obama voted against a blank check for George Bush."

But the veracity of the claims in the ads is less my concern here than the sort of meta narrative that the ads tell about their respective candidates. As one of the Fox News focus group participants said last night about why McCain turned her off:

Too much about his history, I wasn't interested in that, I'm interested in what's going on right now.

And as a wise man told me after the debate:

I thought Obama won hands down. McCain kept talking about the past; Obama talked about the future.

Pretty much says it all.

Update [2008-9-27 17:21:57 by Todd Beeton]:Nice. Barack continues to hammer McCain for not addressing the concerns of average Americans on the stump today.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Saturday called Republican rival John McCain out of touch with middle-class Americans, telling supporters that the GOP senator never once uttered the words "middle class" during their first debate.
"Through 90 minutes of debate, John McCain had a lot to say about me, but he didn't have anything to say about you," Obama told a cheering crowd at the J. Douglas Galyon Depot in downtown Greensboro. "He didn't even say the words 'middle class.' He didn't even say the words 'working people.'" [...]
"Just as important as what we heard from John McCain is what we didn't hear from John McCain," Obama said. "We talked about the economy for 40 minutes and not once did Sen. McCain talk about the struggles of middle-class families. Not once did he talk about what they are facing every day here in North Carolina and across the country."

Tags: ads, Barack Obama, John McCain (all tags)

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

Once again, the McCain camp has to switch focus.

Some hail mary is coming next week, count on it or the polls will start trending towards Obama.

by WashStateBlue 2008-09-27 12:53PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

Does trying to injure the quarterback count as a hail mary? Cause I think that's what's coming.

by vcalzone 2008-09-27 01:31PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

I hope everyone is realizing, that Obama owes a big debt to Senator Clinton, for his approach to McCain.

What I now realizes is, McCain SEEMED condescending, overtly, and that came off as harsh.

Obama SEEMED deferential, but still shoved the shiv in a number of times.

This comes from how he learned to debate Senator Clinton.

He KNEW if he went at her hard, it would piss off her supporters.

So, this is a direct result of his working on that technique.

Now, Senator Clinton is WAY TO GOOD a debator to have taken the bait, she knew what was happening.

It seemed to work on McCain who got more hunched over, more manic, more repititious as the debate went on.

These ads show who won the debate.

McCain HAS to try to make people forget.

Obama is trying to make people remember.

I now am remembering how much better Obama got against Senator Clinton, and I hope everyone recognizes how much that helped Obama.

by WashStateBlue 2008-09-27 01:04PM | 0 recs

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I've always thought that the hard fought,

bare-knuckle Democratic primary campaign better prepared Obama for the General Election campaign than the wimpy Republican primary did McCain. While Obama and Clinton were duking it out, McCain was floating around the country go to country fairs surrounded by a cadre of adoring press buddies. I'm sure the fact that he can't keep up now came as a complete shock to him.

by GFORD 2008-09-27 01:35PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

You're absolutely right. I wanted to see how he would do in a standing format and had to go back to South Carolina. Back then he was rude, confrontational, and almost petulant. He still was able to stand toe-to-toe, but he didn't know how to look good doing it. Then I watched the latest example I could think of that would feature Obama in a confrontational mode... O'Reilly. Watching those two, I thought I might have seen what the debate would be like, and I think I was right. By the time he hit O'Reilly, he was aggressive without being confrontational, and confrontational without being aggressive. And at the end of that interview, O'Reilly made a joke and Obama snapped right back with a quip. That was when I knew he had learned.

I don't think we'll have the same luck in the town hall. McCain suffered from having no crowd cheering and laughing. They still won't be able to, but he'll be able to see the crowd and see reactions. So the question becomes, how Obama can compete with the folksiness? He better come up with about a dozen GOOD one-liners. Quickly, contact Al Franken or the Daily Show/Letterman writers!

by vcalzone 2008-09-27 01:42PM | 0 recs

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McCain must have been unprepared

He didn't bring up Biden during the segment about troop cuts; what makes the attack potentially stinging is that Obama's own running mate made the attack against him last year. It seemed like a pretty obvious hit that he could landed on Obama but he must have been too pissed off at the time to think particularly clearly.

Will this ad even air in the battleground states? Biden probably needs a good answer to this question about troop cuts in his debate as Palin will probably bring it up.

by Blazers Edge 2008-09-27 01:09PM | 0 recs

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Obama himself allegedly expects a landslide

according to this article:

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/09/27/S ources_say_Obama_aides_expect_landslide/ UPI-93881222540186/

After these last two weeks, I'd be that confident as well.

by Blazers Edge 2008-09-27 01:13PM | 0 recs

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Re: Obama himself allegedly expects a landslide

Not sure that makes me happy.

I prefer they stay hungry, and not get cocky.

by WashStateBlue 2008-09-27 01:16PM | 0 recs

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Re: Obama himself allegedly expects a landslide

I don't know about you, but I am hungry for a landslide. I want 60 Democrats in the Senate and a president elected with 375 Electoral votes. I want Obama in office operating with a clear mandate to bring the changes he has talked about.

We don't just need a win. I'm hungry for a landslide!

by PghArch 2008-09-27 01:40PM | 0 recs

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Re: Obama himself allegedly expects a landslide

BTW, I don't just choose 375 out of the air. That is the amount Obama can get if just 2% of the voters switch from McCain to Obama in the key swing states I see on most electoral college websites. Fivethirtyeight.com even gives us a probability in his current simulations of %18 for that to happen.

That isn't enough. I want to see that grow to %90!

by PghArch 2008-09-27 01:46PM | 0 recs

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Re: Obama himself allegedly expects a landslide

Nah, I dunno which swing states YOU'RE looking at, but giving him all the states he's favored to win plus OH, FL, NC, IN and NV still doesn't get him there. And those are some mighty big "if"s. With the country as divided as it really is (and understanding that Obama is behind by 15+ margins in several states), I'd call a landslide about 330-340.

by vcalzone 2008-09-27 02:09PM | 0 recs

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Re: Obama himself allegedly expects a landslide

His favored states, plus the states you mentioned, plus Missouri, does put him there.

by Khun David 2008-09-27 06:07PM | 0 recs

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The thing is

at this moment, we are almost to where we were at the time Obama finished his convention speech.

The whole premise as to why Obama was vulnerable to McCain was that McCain could close his eyes and still win Ohio and Florida; that premise has been blown out of the water because of the events these last two weeks.

The premise also was that Obama would never be able to get within three of McCain in Indiana and North Carolina regardless of how much money he spent; that premise is gone as well. Ed Rollins said it best at the time of the Indiana/NC primaries: "if we have to defend Indiana and North Carolina, we're in trouble."

Did the RNC's recent ad buy include North Carolina by the way?

by Blazers Edge 2008-09-27 01:42PM | 0 recs

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Re: The thing is

I'm about 99% sure it did.

by vcalzone 2008-09-27 01:44PM | 0 recs

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Surprisingly

the RNC did not.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanma rtin/0908/RNC_arm_to_go_up_with_big_buy_ next_week.html?showall

"The independent expenditure arm of the RNC will go on the air Tuesday with a $5 million ad campaign in six states, says Brad Todd, the GOP consultant who runs the effort. Todd said the committee would go up in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Indiana."

by Blazers Edge 2008-09-27 01:48PM | 0 recs

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Re: Surprisingly

Well, that's probably a mistake, given the increasing likelihood of Palin's pilot light dimming.

by vcalzone 2008-09-27 01:59PM | 0 recs

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Re: Obama himself allegedly expects a landslide

I don't like that at all... I like confident, but let's not get cocky.... we haven't won anything, yet... and there are still a lot of things that could go wrong along the way....

Although, Plouffe and Axelrod have been scary right about everything so far. Plouffe has said that the race would be tight until October, when one candidate would start breaking away... and look what's happening!

I just hope they are cognizant of all the voter suppression efforts that will be going on in the various states... I'm sure they are... they've been right on everything else so far...

by LordMike 2008-09-27 01:59PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

My guess is the next Hail Mary will come with the replacement of Palin by Mittens. McNuts will explain it by saying with the economy in such dire straits we needed InRomnia to handle the crisis. He is like a shell game artist on the subway platform. Always keep the pea moving. It is starting to look like the guy who talks to himself though.

by billreef 2008-09-27 01:22PM | 0 recs

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Would Mittens agree to that?

He was left on the bench at the Repug convention and now they tell him to suit up? If I were him I'd say "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll save myself for a 2012 run."

by GFORD 2008-09-27 01:37PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

Would not work. McCain would look terrible. Mitt would come out okay, but not as good as if he had stayed out. It would piss off evangelicals and would make voters certain that McCain was unsteady. People wouldn't vote FOR Mitt Romney the way they would for Palin. The damage was done when he picked her on a whim.

by vcalzone 2008-09-27 01:46PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

Of course it wouldn't work... but McCain is insane! So, don't count this move out.

by LordMike 2008-09-27 02:01PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

If he does it, I bet he wouldn't pick Mitt, he'd pick Joe.

by vcalzone 2008-09-27 02:10PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

You're right! Mitt woudln't want it, and that would certainly be a game changer... We'd win by a massive landslide..

by LordMike 2008-09-27 03:19PM | 0 recs

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THEN I start thinking landslide....

If McCain is insane enough to pull Palin...

The RR will go ballastic, enough we may win states that are not even in play now.

Even IF they fake it, make up a health excuse, one of her kids..

Everyone will know, and the Evangelicals will riot.

by WashStateBlue 2008-09-27 02:41PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

Replace an evangelical with a Mormon...

That's a recipe for keeping the Republican base at home.

by Khun David 2008-09-27 06:08PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

McCain was acutely aware when Jim Lehrer was about to change topics and would begin running off at the mouth, getting his last slams in at Obama, and ignoring all of Lehrer's pleas to cease and desist. At times, Obama was shaking his head in disbelief knowing he would not be permitted the additional time to refute the trash talk.

by pascal1947 2008-09-27 01:25PM | 0 recs

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That drove me crazy.

McCain was talking a mile a minute trying to get in as many digs as possible. I was expecting him to foam at the mouth at any moment.

by GFORD 2008-09-27 01:38PM | 0 recs

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recycling failed attack against Obama

Hillary Rodham Clinton ran that she would be "ready on day one."

McCain is attacking Obama as "not ready to lead".

I think this will be an ineffective attack for McCain if he doesn't partner it with something more specific than he intends to win in Iraq.

by Carl Nyberg 2008-09-27 02:33PM | 0 recs

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Excellent rally

There was a huge crowd. First around the depot, then another behind the barrier but still within the security area, then up the street behind us. GSO police estimate it at about 18,000 people.

Both Biden and Obama were in good voice, the crowd got excited, there was real enthusiasm in the air. Tons of volunteers, and I personally saw numerous people registering to vote while we were waiting in line.

Obama said he'd win GSO, NC, and the country. Got a huge cheer!

Hit the points Todd noted above.

Interestingly no other candidates spoke. Both Biden and Obama read off a list of folks, mostly challengers in state and local races. Interestingly Kay was not mentioned.

It's just so exciting to see a candidate actually competing here. I think there's a great chance the Old North State goes Blue!

by LanceS 2008-09-27 02:38PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

The latest tactic I wish Obama would use would be to use "looking people in the eye" as a metaphor for everything, without ever making specific reference to the debates. Just feed that to the press, and let that be the story of the debate, and going forward.

"We need someone who can finally look working Americans in the eye..." that sort of thing.

by Jess81 2008-09-27 02:41PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

Good...

It's a double whammy, cause it will piss off McCain and he might come back and say something stupid...

Which will show the press he is reactive..

Which will show Obama got under his skin....

Do us a favor, mail that to the Obama campaign website, it's a very good suggestion.

by WashStateBlue 2008-09-27 02:44PM | 0 recs

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Hey did you know Rossi

isn't a Republican but a GOP member? This guy just reminds me of that sleazy used car salesman who sold you a lemon and laughed about it afterward.

by Blazers Edge 2008-09-27 02:47PM | 0 recs

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Re: Hey did you know Rossi

What a tool.

I guess, he is NOT the only Repub trying to pull that trick in our state.

LOL, losers...

by WashStateBlue 2008-09-27 02:58PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

I'm sure they're up to their eyeballs in advice, but sure - it can't hurt.

by Jess81 2008-09-27 03:08PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

I can't wait to see McCain overcompensating in the next town hall. To see that big, fake smile thrown over his face.

by vcalzone 2008-09-27 03:40PM | 0 recs

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The Landslide Story is a Plant

I don't believe that article at all. Its a plant to change the narrative to Obama is cocky etc. and to scare up the working class voters. Obama campaign is working hard and not taking anything for granted.

by markieparkie 2008-09-27 03:46PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

That's a great ad. I always thought the best ads would be ones with moments from Obama's best debates and speeches.

by ProfessorReo 2008-09-27 05:21PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

How about mentioning that McCain voted to send them over to Iraq without proper body armor and up-armored vehicles?

McCain says he's for the troops and yet he let them get slaughtered for two years before anything got done.

by charliemike 2008-09-27 09:58PM | 0 recs

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Re: Post-Debate Ads Say It All

I liked how much he said,"John you are right!" It shows that he might actually have some common sense.

by Vincent van Gogh 2008-09-28 12:47PM | 0 recs