McCain Responds to Obama’s ‘Computer Illiteracy’ Ad

How about an ad that shows what McCain and the neocons promised for Iraq, compared to the reality 5+ years later?

i agree, this is a bit weak. Either way it will be spun , by the right, as a barbaric attack on John "The P.O.W." McCain. It might as well be tougher.

use his OWN WORDS, John was the FIRST person to claim that he had voted with President Bush over 90% of the time....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WYdzaW_J3g

Not nearly hard-hitting enough.

McCain supporters are already pushing meme that he can't type on a keyboard due to his P.O.W. injuries.

It's becoming apparent that the ad people he has hired are crap.

His feel-good campaign hired feel-good ad people who don't know how to do nasty.

Already backfiring big time.

'The reason he doesn't send email is that he can't use a keyboard because of the relentless beatings he received from the Viet Cong in service to our country'.

Don't take my word for it. Read the numerous articles posted on it already on memeorandum.

Train wreck.

CPDallas @ 10:

McCain supporters are already pushing meme that he can't type on a keyboard due to his P.O.W. injuries.

Yeah, because there's no voice recognition software or........oh wait, there is. If quadriplegics can use computers, shouldn't he be able to?

biff @ 17:

CPDallas @ 10:

McCain supporters are already pushing meme that he can't type on a keyboard due to his P.O.W. injuries.

I saw this quote too. Any occupational therapists out there. Is it possible that you can't type but you can still shake hands? I realize this issue is way down there in importance near the category of lipsticking pigs.

You don't even have to be able to type to use a computer. I wish I could remember where I saw the story of an Iraq war vet left with one arm and no hands who is working as a telemarketer. Uses a phone, computer, everything. No hands.

I think this is weak tea, and it tends to highlight the elitist charge. Also, lots of older people don't necessarily use computers a lot or at all -- why antagonize them needlessly? The point isn't that John McCain doesn't use a computer -- it's that he doesn't use sense and ethics.

I like the idea of showing the communities he helped as an organizer. (Gee, how do we think so many of the people who have evacuated from Ike are being helped? I suspect some community organizers have put their efforts into those relief efforts.) Also, of course, anything that says JOHN MCCAIN AND PALIN ARE BIG FAT LIARS!!!! repeatedly would help. Because obviously the media aren't going to lay into those two with the same glee that they butchered Gore for his innocent misspeakings.

zz4mula @ 19:

CPDallas @ 10:

McCain supporters are already pushing meme that he can't type on a keyboard due to his P.O.W. injuries.

Coming from a guy, most men are peckers when it comes to typing. McCain is just a pecker.

An all arpund one at that.

solid @ 11:

Mick Piobr @ 5:

Ehhh...The filthy Republicans are so sure that they're best for the USA that they've found it necessary to steal the election again. This according to news coming out of Ohio.

Linkage please.

http://www.motleymoose.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=113

I heard some of the right-wingers last night on the radio (Michael Savage among them) countering the argument with "but John McCain can fly a military jet" as if it were the answer to the question: the point of the Obama ads isn't that McCain is incompetent, it's that he's out of touch.

Forrestal Gump @ 4:

How about an ad that shows what McCain and the neocons promised for Iraq, compared to the reality 5+ years later?

.......................................................
Hmmm ? What did McCain say about Iraq .....right after 9/11/2001 ?
Click here : http://www.prisonplanet.com/on-morning-of-911-attacks-mccain-immediately...

ABOUT TIME!!!

5 YEARS POW... and all he gets is this lousy TSHIRT ? seniority will let him be SENIOR POW next time

The negative and often exaggerated or misleading claims being made about Obama and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, especially those playing on Palin’s gender, are just too irresistible for the process-consumed online and cable news media that now drives the campaign conversation, Weaver said.

“Unless there is a hurricane, they’re going to cover it,” he observed.

Adds Terry Nelson, McCain’s former campaign manager: “It works in part because Obama responds to it.”

FINE-F"ING-LY TAKING OFF THE GLOVES..... now go kick MCCAIN/PALIN in their NUTZ !!!

David Underwood @ 26:

I heard some of the right-wingers last night on the radio (Michael Savage among them) countering the argument with "but John McCain can fly a military jet" as if it were the answer to the question: the point of the Obama ads isn't that McCain is incompetent, it's that he's out of touch.

I severely doubt he can pull up his fly.

Now that the 527's are going, let's out-Rove Rove. Get O.J. Simpson to explain why he supports McPain, since he is the mark of the underlying persistent racist grudge that makes people who aren't wealthy vote against their own self-interests.
Also use McCain't in his own words saying he knows nothing about the economy.

Max H @ 6:

i agree, this is a bit weak. Either way it will be spun , by the right, as a barbaric attack on John "The P.O.W." McCain. It might as well be tougher.

use his OWN WORDS, John was the FIRST person to claim that he had voted with President Bush over 90% of the time....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WYdzaW_J3g

Obama needs to start using McCain's own words against him. there is plenty to use. McCain on the View saying Palin didn't ask for any earmarks and then show the facts, McCain and Palin claiming she said Thanks no Thanks to the Bridge to nowhere and then state the facts - she kept the money. Show them as hypocrits and liars and destroy the myth of McCain's honor. Time to take the gloves off - the high road wil leave Dems on the outside again come November

Weak ad. The high road is what defines Obama.
He should do a Reaganesque "Are you better off than you were 8 years ago?" ad.

The reason the McCain and his crew are suppressing the vote and sending out a million bogus voter registration forms in Ohio is because he was wounded AND a POW.

The biggest worry is that Obama himself has said that he thinks these new ads of his are in fact hard hitting. Anybody else who thinks we're toast if that's what he actually feels? This new "computer" ad was just pathetic and mean to an important voting block, namely OLD PEOPLE!

The Obama campaign is such a wreck now. If they continue like this they deserve to loose.

They should hire Michael Moore to do the ads. Now THAT would make for some good and hard hitting attacks against Mccain!

Also why are they saying they will "respond ferociously"? They should be on the attack themselves, setting the agenda and hitting Mccain so hard that he won't even remember his name.

"They should be on the attack themselves, setting the agenda and hitting Mccain so hard that he won’t even remember his name."

I'm.... uh, who am I?... and I approved this message.

"These are the types of ads Obama needs to keep running. Better late than never."

Silent Patriot. What a kidder.

Obama better get his act together. Who gives a rat's ass whether or not McCain is computer literate. Talk about your policies and how they will affect the populace. Obama is more and more getting under my skin as a weak candidate. I really wonder if he is out of touch with joe six pack.

you hope better late than never

dennis @ 29:

Fanon @ 16:

CPDallas @ 10:

McCain supporters are already pushing meme that he can't type on a keyboard due to his P.O.W. injuries.

Yeah, because there's no voice recognition software or........oh wait, there is. If quadriplegics can use computers, shouldn't he be able to?

is that a good reason to attack him for not using email, Fanon? You guys forget the outrage you voiced here over Rush Limbaugh imitating Michael J. Fox's erratic movements and rightly so. Very weak defense. And sorry, heartless.

Obama's camp should've done 5 minutes of research on this one. Like one famous blogger said, 'Obama gets tough, shoot self in head'.

Gee, I don't remember Michael J Fox running for president of the United States. It's just a tad bit different, no? I don't think I am being heartless at all. It shows he is out of touch, it shows he is unwilling to use and learn new technology. Not exactly qualities I want for the leader of my country. My 82 year old boss has a blackberry and uses it quite well. He can email with the best of them. My 82 year old grandmother can download her photos and attach them to her emails.

This is pure manufactured bullshit, dennis. Even you have to be able to see through that. We're supposed to see a brave POW who has a disability. What I see is a man who is too arrogant to help himself.

Heartless. What's heartless is his votes against the veteran's and soldier's of this country. What about their injuries and their rehab and education. That's what's fucking heartless.

dennis @ 31:

mudshark @ 21:

dennis @ 14:

Already backfiring big time.

'The reason he doesn't send email is that he can't use a keyboard because of the relentless beatings he received from the Viet Cong in service to our country'.

Don't take my word for it. Read the numerous articles posted on it already on memeorandum.

Train wreck.

Can he write? Or does he have a huge staff to do that for him?

It's difficult for him AND he has help to do it. Doesn't deserve being mocked. Unless you want to.

Not you, but Barack Obama, that is.

Good Morning Dennis. I gotta ask this question. If He is unable to write and or type, And, If he was a Democrat, would you consider him suitable or able to do the job of POTUS? Now, I'm not going into discrimination because he's handicapped.
I'd just like to see a even playing field.

Eight years of republican disasters at every turn and they come up with this?
This ad could be a SNL written script.
Barack needs to use visuals of Cheney snarling, Bush lying, McCain cursing and laughing at the GI bill he refused to sign, factory workers standing in unemployment lines,
Palin's fake lip curl and the ongoing live tally of the cost of this war!
These are just off the top of my head and I had a minute to think of these.
C'mon Obama. I know you are a gentleman and a scholar but you need to hit HARD!

dennis @ 14:

Already backfiring big time.

'The reason he doesn't send email is that he can't use a keyboard because of the relentless beatings he received from the Viet Cong in service to our country'.

Don't take my word for it. Read the numerous articles posted on it already on memeorandum.

Train wreck.

The reason McSame can't do anything is because he was a POW, which therefore disqualifies from being President.

{Deleted. KNOCK IT OFF! SiteMonitor}, dennis, not to realize that a man of means like McLame, can afford the latest technology that makes computers accessible to people with all sorts of disabilities. Another example of just how lame McSame is and you are to use POW bullshit instead of admitting he's just an old dog that hasn't learned to use the widely accepted technology yet.

The ad would have bee much stronger if he had put McCain in it speaking instead of just quoting McCain.

even if the mccain marionette were built with moving fingers, his operators would have a great deal of difficulty getting those stiff, stubby little arms to tap the proper keys.

Have I missed it? Where's the ad that features McCain's foolish, war-mongering "bomb bomb bomb Iran" ditty? That was the moment when this white, middle-class, middle-aged woman demographic wrote him off forever as another dangerous, disgraceful, America-hating, spiritually bankrupt right-winger. What mother wouldn't?

Obama's level-headed approach of common sense diplomacy versus McCain's aggressive imperialistic posturing makes for the starkest of contrasts. Throw in a bit about war with Russian, with maybe a lead like, "Got War?"

Got War?

That is a fantastic ad idea!

This ad is feeble and boring. We are only a few months away from the most extreme right-wing religious government in our history. Neil Bush and John McCain were central figures in the Keating five. Remember that one? The supreme court will be 100% owned by the radical right. Industry lobbying to remove regulation led to abuses and criminal activity stealing billions from government deposit insurance funds ending in a few more millionaires and a national debt financed by a 20 to 30 billion dollar tax payer bailout. Where have we heard this one before... we need to throw every crooked lie and misdeed at the tv screen over and over until the message is clear republicans are crooks.

There is nothing wrong with using the same tactics as the republicans. It wins elections.

Some older info here

http://www.slate.com/id/1004633/

Here's a question for those who think this commercial is weak...Are you really for change or do you just want to win? Obama has changed the game in the 19 months he's been campaigning. He's spoken to the American people as if they were adults. Are these comments telling me all his efforts were in vain because Americans are really just that stupid? Here's another question, why is so much emphasis being placed on opinion polls? How many people do you know actually took part in those polls? The only polls you should worry about are the exit polls and those can't be determined until after the people vote for their respected candidates. Let's not forget that Obama gave Americans the RNC playbook in the final minutes of his speech. The man shut down Times Square that Thursday night. BBC has the rest on the world on his side by a 4 to 1 margin. And you're panicking over an opinion that has never been right and 100% biased, that you never participated in. Be smart Americans!

So do me this great favor and follow this playbook. Register and vote in large numbers, both early and on Nov 4.

I'm sure nothing is as simple as I wish ...but more than a week after a BRILLIANT piece of video on TDS that used McShame and BUSH together speaking their own words...I have to wonder at this weak ad rather than get use of that clip OR create something equally as funny/accurate/hard hitting themselves???

Someone might wanna take a look at all those autographs McCain has signed through the years. He doesn't seem to have much of a problem signing his name multiple times on the campaign trail, usually awkwardly.

This ad is weak. My Dad does not know how to send an email, because he was a steel worker for 30 years. Way to go indirectly attack my dad and other retirees. These are the voters we need to beat McCain. I think McCain does know how to send an email he just says it to connect with older voters who were not raised by computers. The McCain Campaign probably loves this ad.

This ad is a waste of Obama campaign funds. Pull it. Bury it. It is lame. We have to do better.

Barack Obama is not connecting with the LOW INFORMATION VOTER... a term I have heard on all the networks. An ad about computers is not going to connect. It connects with the young people and educated he already has won over.
How does he do this? I do not know. But somebody better start advising him!

Can you imagine if Obama had been the one to say "The difference between a hockey mom and a pig ......is lipstick." Had that been the case HAD THAT BEEN THE CASE -- The WORLD would have rocked ! McCain would automatically be the next president. WAIT !!!!!!! I just realized something --Obama doesn't have a chance of becoming the next president !! W H Y ??　you ask !! You idiots !! Isn't it obvious that Obama doesn't have a chance :

1.) He's a Muslim
2.) Obama and his pastor HATE America
3.) Michelle Obama hates America
4.) Obama wants to raise taxes very much on all Americans which will obviously crash the USA economy
5.) Everybody knows Obama called the Honorable Governer Sarah Palin a "Pig with Lipstick" which takes American politics to its all time low.
6.) Obama has never lead anything in his whole fucking life. Nothing !! Nada !! Read my fucking lips !! Nada ! Zilch !!
This ain't nothing (the above ain't shit man ) You C&L people wait until the 4th week of October. We might be hearing stuff like this in just 5 weeks :
1.) Everybody knows that Obama has been frequesting Cruising Toilets for gay sex.
2.) Everybody knows that Obama donates 1/5th of his income to Hamas
3.) Everybody knows that Obama stated quote "Sarah Palin's baby came out of the rectum of the President of the Alaska Independence Committee"
4.) Everybody knows that Michelle Obama thinks she is the Black Mother Theresa
5.) Everybody knows that Obama wants to start a draft /consignment to the military immediately after being innaugurated if he were to win.
6.) Everybody knows that the President of Exxon and Barack Hussein Obama are best friends. That's why he is often refferred to as Exxon Barack.

Feel free to add to the list.

P.S. : After　Februaｒｙ　: it's going to be so exciting ! All those wars (new wars ) I live in East Asia. It's gonna be so funny watching Venezuela and Russia and Iran destroy McCain's USA. Ha ! Ha ! Ha!

The Spaniard @ 60:

They need an ad that point blank says

MCCAIN/PALIN ARE LYING TO YOU!

Then list the LIES and the sources.

This wishy wahsy language has to stop, now.

I don't give a rat ass that he "can't use a computer".
...............
Spaniard, you're right !! What a joke that ad is. They spent money on that ?? I'd vote for Barack Obama even if he was clueless about computers.

I know Computer Science majors that "can't use a computer".

No. 44 @ 76:

Nick @ 69:

Before thinking about exit polls, it's important to think about candidate-destroying smears. Media Matters:

Exit polls showed that, by a large margin, a plurality of voters identified the candidates' honesty and trustworthiness as the quality most important to them in deciding how to vote. Of the voters who thought honesty was the most important quality, 80 percent voted for George W. Bush; only 15 percent voted for Al Gore.

A whopping 74 percent thought "Gore would say anything to get elected," compared to 58 percent who thought the same about Bush. Sixty percent thought Gore attacked Bush "unfairly," while only 49 percent thought Bush attacked Gore unfairly.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200809120021

You haven't made a good justification for these feeble ads.

Gore was not a liar. He never said he invented the internet. The republicans seized that theme and used it in unison to create an image. A formula that has worked for nearly every republican election since Nixon. In fact, the democrats are so feeble and playing the squishy middle so obsessively, they are perceived as weak and unable to handle an attack. We suffered through enough democratic lameness. By putting out the constant message that Gore was a liar, Kerry was a coward and Obama is a mulsim terrorist who uses terrorist fist jabs to show his hatred of women, democrats funded by Iraq flew jets into the world trade center and republicans captured osama but democrats against torture forced his release.

These are all images and messages that voters use to inform their opinions about a candidate. McRichy Rich and the Church Lady will win while dems try to solicit the squishy middle who will always vote republican and say they are on the fence just to be pricks about it.

When a republican sees his name on media matters, he knows he his campaign is effective and goes and gives his media team a bonus for good work.

It's an OK ad, it's more like comedy relief. Getting to folks like Dennis/Diane is like trying to talk to dogs. So piss on them. The Double Talk Express wants to drag Obama down into the mud with them. You can't do that when you're 10,000 ft up. Take the higher road and stick to the issues.

Don Rumsfeld hater @ 81:

The Spaniard @ 60:

They need an ad that point blank says

MCCAIN/PALIN ARE LYING TO YOU!

Then list the LIES and the sources.

This wishy wahsy language has to stop, now.

I don't give a rat ass that he "can't use a computer".
...............
Spaniard, you're right !! What a joke that ad is. They spent money on that ?? I'd vote for Barack Obama even if he was clueless about computers.

I know Computer Science majors that "can't use a computer".

.............................................
Why don't they cut to the chase ????? MORALS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ETHICS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Morals /ethics are the Key !! Obama has no or few scandals !!! McCain has got a criminal record almost !!! I don't care if Obama is 1,000 times more skillful than McCain at using Excell or Microsoft Outlook !! What matters to me is that if McCain went a 1/2 day without lying - it should be a National Holiday. Obama is a stable congruent human being. McCain is a lying. crooked, criminal, Keatings 5 evil monster.
Osama bin Laden is one fuckin' kick ass man ! It don't matter whether he knows how to use Microsoft Outlook !!!!

The so-called "middle class voters" in that ad looked pretty well-off.

More like upper-middle-class.

Looks like they are in that group Obama will raise taxes on.

This ad is a silly distraction and one that could easily turn off older voters, many of whom are competent human beings who spend little or no time on computers.

Who cares if McCain doesn't use email? He has many more serious shortcomings.

Ads for Obama need to focus on
(l) Obama's legislative record, including ethics reform and support for veterans'
(2) Obama's plan to meet the heath care needs of the many, many uninsured Americans and the many others who have insurance but who find that their insurers care more about their own bottom lines than about the health of the insured;
(3) Obama's record of right judgment on foreign policy--most particularly his skepticism about the war of choice in Iraq;
(4) Obama's record of fiscal responsibility;\
(5) Obama's commitment to a new kind of politics that focuses on issues, getting things done, and not on "small things."

What McCain wants most is to draw Obama into a negative ad war focused on trivia. The computer ad is, one hopes, a departure from Obama's usual norm of focusing on stuff that matters.

Sounds like everyone want to incorporate every talking point of the campaign into one 30-second spot. There are already plenty of ads attacking McCain on various specific issues. The point of this ad is build a narrative: John McCain is out of touch and implicit in that is that he's older than dirt. Republicans are peeing in their pants from delight when we scream "John McCain is lying!" in ever shriller tones. If the John McCain is too old narrative takes hold, then every lie becomes sign of forgetfulness, confusion, delusion, dementia, what have you. Instead of becoming more angry, you start mocking him and the ads write themselves.

What's wrong with coming right out and calling McCain a liar?

I suppose his supporters could claim his years as a POW made him a pathological liar -- but I think it's worth the risk.

I agree with Max H. The most bang per ad will be those that quote McCain then and now. The campaign has gotten so childish that even the media is looking for facts. Fact checking is the future and thank goodness for the ready access to past commentary of the candidates. Loose lips will sink McCain's ship.

Don Rumsfeld hater @ 79:

Can you imagine if Obama had been the one to say "The difference between a hockey mom and a pig ......is lipstick." Had that been the case HAD THAT BEEN THE CASE -- The WORLD would have rocked ! McCain would automatically be the next president. WAIT !!!!!!! I just realized something --Obama doesn't have a chance of becoming the next president !! W H Y ??　you ask !! You idiots !! Isn't it obvious that Obama doesn't have a chance :

1.) He's a Muslim
2.) Obama and his pastor HATE America
3.) Michelle Obama hates America
4.) Obama wants to raise taxes very much on all Americans which will obviously crash the USA economy
5.) Everybody knows Obama called the Honorable Governer Sarah Palin a "Pig with Lipstick" which takes American politics to its all time low.
6.) Obama has never lead anything in his whole fucking life. Nothing !! Nada !! Read my fucking lips !! Nada ! Zilch !!
This ain't nothing (the above ain't shit man ) You C&L people wait until the 4th week of October. We might be hearing stuff like this in just 5 weeks :
1.) Everybody knows that Obama has been frequesting Cruising Toilets for gay sex.
2.) Everybody knows that Obama donates 1/5th of his income to Hamas
3.) Everybody knows that Obama stated quote "Sarah Palin's baby came out of the rectum of the President of the Alaska Independence Committee"
4.) Everybody knows that Michelle Obama thinks she is the Black Mother Theresa
5.) Everybody knows that Obama wants to start a draft /consignment to the military immediately after being innaugurated if he were to win.
6.) Everybody knows that the President of Exxon and Barack Hussein Obama are best friends. That's why he is often refferred to as Exxon Barack.

Feel free to add to the list.

P.S. : After　Februaｒｙ　: it's going to be so exciting ! All those wars (new wars ) I live in East Asia. It's gonna be so funny watching Venezuela and Russia and Iran destroy McCain's USA. Ha ! Ha ! Ha!

they are calling obama the 'anti-christ'-even a nun sent this to me-LOL
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/antichrist.asp

BuelahMan @ 84:

This is just more of the two party bullshit. There is nothing important about this. Its the game and C&L is participating, to our demise.

If anyone votes for McCain they are fools. The real issues candidates are ignored, even at C&L, perpetuating the hijacking of America.

As much as I appreciate many of the progressive issues John Amato stands for (and I have actually donated money here), C&L is little more than carrying the Dem water and not pursuing the real issues facing the ruination of America. You are willing to take Barack's shift-changing word in hopes that there will be change. But we aren't going to change in the most important areas under his leadership and anyone paying attention should know this.

You are hoping for hope in face of every proof it won't happen.

This is truth and it should be admitted.

But I imagine that those water-carriers will want to stone me, just like good little Dems.

Fuck it. Truth is truth and I am not looking for friends. I am looking to heal America. Before it is too late.

I agree but you are too late. Bush has left a gapping wound that will never heal. Republican's create hell on earth for us while using religion to say our rewards will come in the after life.

Our texan president is a creationist. Our texas governor is a creationist who fired his education secretary for posting an announce about how to deal with evolution and teaching, and replaced her with a creationist. The new VP pick is a creationist. The justice department is stuffed with creationists. And John McCain is looking like a big f'n dickhead. But america loves them - Donny and Marie style. American sweethearts. Real Mavericks.

A country cannot survive by moving all of the equity from 99% of its citizens into the hands of the other 1% . Like global warming republicans will deny it until the water is laping up on their doorstep and then they'll blame the democrats for making god mad by banning torture and letting gays get married.

Is this era, it is unthinkable to NOT be computer literate, and it is unacceptable for a president of any country. I remember when computers were becoming the standard and it was unthinkable then to fall behind by not learning their use. And it was so much harder then to work with the various programs and systems. But you have to stay current to address this world.

Joementum @ 95:

What's wrong with coming right out and calling McCain a liar?

I suppose his supporters could claim his years as a POW made him a pathological liar -- but I think it's worth the risk.

Lying seems to be one of those taboo words in politics. Have you no one in politics uses it? Only pundits and radio host use it and even they don't use it as often as they should. Especially with personalities like Rush, O'Reilly, Hannity, and the likes. It's the missing "bad word" George Carlin use to speak about.

Nick @ 105:

Joementum @ 95:

What's wrong with coming right out and calling McCain a liar?

I suppose his supporters could claim his years as a POW made him a pathological liar -- but I think it's worth the risk.

Lying seems to be one of those taboo words in politics. Have you no one in politics uses it? Only pundits and radio host use it and even they don't use it as often as they should. Especially with personalities like Rush, O'Reilly, Hannity, and the likes. It's the missing "bad word" George Carlin use to speak about.

Correction: Have you noticed that no one is politics uses it?

Very disappointing ad.

McCain has a wealth of issues he can rightly be condemned for; highlighting his inability to use a computer merely comes across as an ad hominem attack rather than a substantive criticism of his policies.

Obama promised to be better than that.

So did McCain, and he broke his word early. That is something that would have been effective to point out: McCain is not a man of his word; do we really want a dishonorable man running the country? But now Obama can't use that argument, because he's broken his word as well.

In my opinion the bottom lie is this. The idea of ads is to either promote your own candidate or create doubts and fears about the ability of the other to govern, with really scary consequences if they get elected. This ad doesn't accomplish anything. Ask yourself, if you were thinking of voting for McFossil, would this change your mind? Probably not. Use focus groups to find what pushes the fear buttons of people on the fence or weakly for McLame and aim ads like a laser to exploit these fears to push towards Obama. It ain't rocket science.

Nick @ 108:

douglas in oklahoma @ 106:

Boston Globe - March 2000. John McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from: COMBING HIS HAIR. TYPING ON A KEYBOARD, OR TYING HIS SHOES. The Axelrod/obama and company should do research before attacking a 72 yearold for not being up on computers. They seem to think they are still in the primary --- they got the youngins already. Independents. swing voters and those pesky HIllary supporters are the target, unless someone has found a new group. nay nay nay ---naaaay nay nah..we are young and clever you are old and stupid and are gonna die soon...is not a campaigm argument that will win over folk.

Weak. Even quadriplegics use computers.

Exactly!!

Nick @ 108:

douglas in oklahoma @ 106:

Boston Globe - March 2000. John McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from: COMBING HIS HAIR. TYPING ON A KEYBOARD, OR TYING HIS SHOES. The Axelrod/obama and company should do research before attacking a 72 yearold for not being up on computers. They seem to think they are still in the primary --- they got the youngins already. Independents. swing voters and those pesky HIllary supporters are the target, unless someone has found a new group. nay nay nay ---naaaay nay nah..we are young and clever you are old and stupid and are gonna die soon...is not a campaigm argument that will win over folk.

Weak. Even quadriplegics use computers.

exactly

Yup, weeeaakkk! Sorry to the poor grunts that came up with this ad, but it is a joke. And probably offends a lot of voters who don't use computers. Sometimes I wonder if the repubilcans didn't plant operatives right in the middle of the democart party. I stopped by the Arkansas State Democrat headquarters twice in the past month to pick up stickers and election paraphenallia (sp?) to no avail. The first time was during the DNC and the headquarters were shut down. The second time was yesterday and I was told that AdCraft had some stickers "for sale" or I could wait until Obama's local headquarters had their grand opening and they might have some available. Struck me as a bit odd.

douglas in oklahoma @ 106:

Boston Globe - March 2000. John McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from: COMBING HIS HAIR. TYPING ON A KEYBOARD, OR TYING HIS SHOES. The Axelrod/obama and company should do research before attacking a 72 yearold for not being up on computers. They seem to think they are still in the primary --- they got the youngins already. Independents. swing voters and those pesky HIllary supporters are the target, unless someone has found a new group. nay nay nay ---naaaay nay nah..we are young and clever you are old and stupid and are gonna die soon...is not a campaigm argument that will win over folk.

Nice concern trolling. The point is not that McCain is old, the point is that McCain is a fucking moron. Besides, this is the presidency of the United States, if he is so disabled... maybe just maybe he should not be running for the highest office in the land?

By the way, when I was in grad school, I had a lab mate with cerebral palsy, several other students with various degrees of discapacitation, and one partially blind faculty. All of them could send e-mails, write programs (engineering department after all), and write dissertations like no body's business.

So John McCain can't comb his own fucking hair, big deal. If he can philander on his wife, I am sure as fuck he could use e-mail.

IH @ 116:

Speaking of out of touch:

This morning I was reading up on Hurricane Ike, and it occurred to me that the campaigns were putting out fewer statements than when Gustav was bearing down on NOLA. McCain is not spreading his greatness at disaster central this time around.

So I checked out each campaign's website. At 9:45 this morning, Obama's splash screen was a call to donate to help the hurricane victims in Texas, a graphic and plea which was carried through to his home page. McCain's site has no mention of the hurricane and instead is running a video about how great he is for having been a POW.

So I pose the question: who is really putting country first, and who is using disasters as a political scoring opportunity?

As of 11am the sites remain the same. Please spread this around.

The sad part is that after an unchecked 8 years of GOP rule, that most Americans still have to ask that question. Is it not self evident?

In any other country, the fact that McCain and Bush were eating pie while New Orleans drowned would have been casus belli for the people to remove Bush from office, and would have destroyed any sort of political aspirations by McCain.

God bless us I guess, because just like we are about the only country which still not uses the metric system... we are the only country that did in fact keep that disgrace Bush in office, and allows his pal McCain to be a contender for the presidency.

Why is it so hard for the Obama campaign to bring out the milliard of offenses, far graver than not being able to use a computer, committed by this fucking asshole McCain.

Hey, Obama Campaign Guys:

If this is your idea of fighting back, you may well as close up shop and save everybody the touble. That was pretty much the same lame, focus-grouped, souless drivel we've been seeing all along. You guys have been presented the most target-rich environment ever enjoyed by a candidate, but you are still choosing to shoot blanks. Unbelievable. The only way to fight back is to name the friggin' game: Name the liar exactly that: a Liar, then give specific, factual and vetted examples. Name the prostitue a prostitute, in exactly those word, then give factual, vetted examples of his many acts of prostituting his office to corporate interests. Name him as corrupt using the word "corrupt", and then give specific, vetted factual examples of corrupt acts (Keating for example). In this ad, for example, you should have named him as being intellectually lazy and habitually willfully-ignorant, then provided your examples. Name the man's qualities, failings and crimes, guys. And don't mince words or dilute their power with euphamisms or diplomatic nicities...EVER. Don't trust that the people you most need to reach are going to be able to extract the vital points from the things you've left unspoken..they will almost universally fail to get the point.

If you can't figure out how to do it, consult two of the most unlikely examples of people who are masters at naming the game: Jon Stewart and Stpehen Colbert. They are beloved by their audiences and are throoughly effective, because they speak the truth by maning the game. It's their stock in trade. That they approach the task from a standpoint of obtaining a comedic effect, doesn't alter the effectiveness of the process. And, Note Well: Stewart and Colbert are brutally honest, pitiless, merciless and single-minded as they go about the grim business of truth speaking, yet they never violate any principles of ethics, morality or simple decency. They are gentlemen, even when the truths they speak are ugly. You, too, can do the same thing.

Your ad was a waste of resources. You guys fucked up; you left McCain acres and acres of wiggle room, because you didn't name the game. You didn't name the man as one whose life is charaterictized by intellectual laziness and habitual, willful ignorance, using exactly those words. The McCain campaign is probably laughing their asses off after seeing this ad. You know what they're going to do? They are going to easily deflect it with some shit like, "Of course, McCain can't type, his cruel NV captors crushed his hands, mamiming him for life as he rotted in a prison cell for you! If Obama didn't hate America so much he'd know this! Why do Obama and the Democrats hate America?!?!?!?!?", and they'll say it whilst shedding huge crodile tears, shaking from head-to-toe with mock outraged indiginance. Their tactic will work. And, nobody will notice the point that you left unspoken, even as you supplied vetted factual examples of it: That McCain is a man of life-long intellectual laziness and habitual, willful ignorance.

If the McCain camp is going to lie the lie, you must name the lie. If the Republicans are going to run a candidate of shabby character and low integrity, you must enumerate the failings in explicit, merciless detail. Name The. Fucking. Game.

I know you guys are new to this kind of approach. But you know what? Too bad....you are in a sink or swim situation. Figure it out fast or drown.

It doesn't matter how much or how little merit the McCain camp's response has. As soon as the argument becomes how well McCain's fingers work, and well they have to work to use a keyboard, and what his alternatives are if they don't work, we've lost the point of the ad, which is that he's out of touch. And to make matters worse, we've put the spotlight on his POW experience.

This was a terrible ad, and I'm getting a sinking feeling. I was encouraged by all the talk of Obama knowing how to fight and hit hard, as a veteran of Chicago politics. This is not what I expected.

Yeh, hit him where it hurts.... his computer illiteracy ????

What a brilliant strategy! Piss off the over 50 crowd, you know, the largest voting block in America. This is pathetic.

Do you have that funny feeling in the put of your stomach that sort of feels like an elevator going down really really fast and might not stop? Yep -that's panic. You can register your panic here with the Dem. Party Chair. Let them know how you feel.

http://www.democrats.org/page/petition/chairman

General Jack D. Ripper @ 130:

About the ad.....it is weak.....get tougher, Obama! I think he needs to have an ad showing that McCain is hiding behind Palin. What's McCain really think??? He obviously is hiding behind Palin to distract from the real issues we face.

McCain seems quite comfortable standing beside Palin. It is Obama who is trying to hide and behind the Clinton's, no less. It is now their job to help him win this and it's not going to happen. Did you see him with Bill Clinton? I know Bill Clinton and there was no love in that room. Bill and Hillary are both very loyal Democrats but I don't see them being able to drag him over the next finish line.

The sad part is that McCain is literally doing the job for Obama with his gaffe-a-day fuckup rate.

How hard can it be to take his sound bytes and can them into a commercial the day after?

Paul @ 123:

Hey, Obama Campaign Guys:

If this is your idea of fighting back, you may well as close up shop and save everybody the touble. That was pretty much the same lame, focus-grouped, souless drivel we've been seeing all along. You guys have been presented the most target-rich environment ever enjoyed by a candidate, but you are still choosing to shoot blanks. Unbelievable. The only way to fight back is to name the friggin' game: Name the liar exactly that: a Liar, then give specific, factual and vetted examples. Name the prostitue a prostitute, in exactly those word, then give factual, vetted examples of his many acts of prostituting his office to corporate interests. Name him as corrupt using the word "corrupt", and then give specific, vetted factual examples of corrupt acts (Keating for example). In this ad, for example, you should have named him as being intellectually lazy and habitually willfully-ignorant, then provided your examples. Name the man's qualities, failings and crimes, guys. And don't mince words or dilute their power with euphamisms or diplomatic nicities...EVER. Don't trust that the people you most need to reach are going to be able to extract the vital points from the things you've left unspoken..they will almost universally fail to get the point.

If you can't figure out how to do it, consult two of the most unlikely examples of people who are masters at naming the game: Jon Stewart and Stpehen Colbert. They are beloved by their audiences and are throoughly effective, because they speak the truth by maning the game. It's their stock in trade. That they approach the task from a standpoint of obtaining a comedic effect, doesn't alter the effectiveness of the process. And, Note Well: Stewart and Colbert are brutally honest, pitiless, merciless and single-minded as they go about the grim business of truth speaking, yet they never violate any principles of ethics, morality or simple decency. They are gentlemen, even when the truths they speak are ugly. You, too, can do the same thing.

Your ad was a waste of resources. You guys fucked up; you left McCain acres and acres of wiggle room, because you didn't name the game. You didn't name the man as one whose life is charaterictized by intellectual laziness and habitual, willful ignorance, using exactly those words. The McCain campaign is probably laughing their asses off after seeing this ad. You know what they're going to do? They are going to easily deflect it with some shit like, "Of course, McCain can't type, his cruel NV captors crushed his hands, mamiming him for life as he rotted in a prison cell for you! If Obama didn't hate America so much he'd know this! Why do Obama and the Democrats hate America?!?!?!?!?", and they'll say it whilst shedding huge crodile tears, shaking from head-to-toe with mock outraged indiginance. Their tactic will work. And, nobody will notice the point that you left unspoken, even as you supplied vetted factual examples of it: That McCain is a man of life-long intellectual laziness and habitual, willful ignorance.

If the McCain camp is going to lie the lie, you must name the lie. If the Republicans are going to run a candidate of shabby character and low integrity, you must enumerate the failings in explicit, merciless detail. Name The. Fucking. Game.

I know you guys are new to this kind of approach. But you know what? Too bad....you are in a sink or swim situation. Figure it out fast or drown.

Yes, I couldn't agree more. Even the Wall Street journal is calling McCain a liar.
Every paper in the country is spelling it out... L-I-A-R. THIS should be Obama's new ad.
He has dozens of people on tape saying it. Now HE needs to spell it out himself and call the ad ENOUGH! He has it in him when he uttered those words originally. I felt it.
We all felt it but this time he needs to look directly into a camera and say it and own it.

Bluesage @ 133:

General Jack D. Ripper @ 130:

About the ad.....it is weak.....get tougher, Obama! I think he needs to have an ad showing that McCain is hiding behind Palin. What's McCain really think??? He obviously is hiding behind Palin to distract from the real issues we face.

McCain seems quite comfortable standing beside Palin. It is Obama who is trying to hide and behind the Clinton's, no less. It is now their job to help him win this and it's not going to happen. Did you see him with Bill Clinton? I know Bill Clinton and there was no love in that room. Bill and Hillary are both very loyal Democrats but I don't see them being able to drag him over the next finish line.

How can I get this thru to people like yourself? The Clintons never want the Vice-President bid! Be smart Americans!

Tyler Durden @ 136:

Bluesage @ 133:

General Jack D. Ripper @ 130:

About the ad.....it is weak.....get tougher, Obama! I think he needs to have an ad showing that McCain is hiding behind Palin. What's McCain really think??? He obviously is hiding behind Palin to distract from the real issues we face.

McCain seems quite comfortable standing beside Palin. It is Obama who is trying to hide and behind the Clinton's, no less. It is now their job to help him win this and it's not going to happen. Did you see him with Bill Clinton? I know Bill Clinton and there was no love in that room. Bill and Hillary are both very loyal Democrats but I don't see them being able to drag him over the next finish line.

Maybe Bill can ask Ross Perot to enter the race, it worked for him...

You might need to study up a little on that issue. Studies done after that election showed the Perot's vote was about evenly split between Bush & Clinton. He made very little impact. Look it up.

The ad should have emphasized that Obama's tax plan benefits ordinary Americans far more than McCain's, as shown by the WaPo here.

As others have said her repeatedly McCane is a LIAR. He knows he's a LIAR. He is supported financially by LIARS. He does the bidding of LIARS. Many of the sheeple who will vote for him are LIARS.

Bottom line: these guys understand LYING. It's like the secret word that gets you into the club. Not acknowledging it will keep you outside. And Obama needs to get into the room first to get their attention. CALL THEM LIARS!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHazb4FAREE

Compare this stump speech of Biden's with the ad. Biden hit a home run with it. They need to use more of this and forget the bunk of the 1982 ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=955Y3NJTRIE