Politics

Insane Campaign Ads

By Matt Cooper

I live in Washington, D.C. and we're just starting to get our flood of campaign ads. (Our primary, along with VA and MD, comes a week from today.) I'm driving today and there's an absurd 527 ad for Hillary, an AFL-CIO spot that's supposedly an independent expenditure but sounds like a Hillary campaign ad. It even has her tag line about being ready on Day One, whatever that means. (My spouse makes ads for Clinton.) Then we keep getting this John McCain ad which touts his conservative credentials and POW experience. I take a back seat to no one in my admiration for McCain's service to country but the ad includes the line, "As a POW he was inspired by Ronald Reagan...." Really? When he got shot down Reagan was a first-term governor. Did McCain spend a lot of time looking to Reagan for inspiration? I guess it's possible but it sounds dubious to me. I believe McCain was a huge fan of Reagan. I believe he was inspired while in Hanoi. I just find it hard to believe he spent a lot of time thinking of the man in Sacramento. We're getting all the inspirational and policy-free Obama ads. The Mittster may be rich, but I'm not seeing them here. The Clinton special on the Hallmark channel had its moments. She knows her policy. But the studio bleachers and roaming mikes gave it the feel of a TV infomercial. Where's Ron Popeil when you need him?

Full post as published by Portfolio.com: Capital on February 05, 2008 (boomark / email).