John McCain compares Barack Obama to the original celebrity

They went there.

John McCain's campaign earlier today emailed supporters a new minute-long video called "The One,"
which opens like a Hollywood trailer: "In 2008, the world will be blessed," giant letters promise. "They will call him, The One." It then cuts to shots of Barack Obama at his most messianic: "We are the ones we have been waiting for" and the by-now standard photos of hundreds of thousands of cheering Germans. The spot ends with footage of a bearded and robed Charlton Heston in "The Ten Commandments" parting the Red Sea.

In a week that has already seen the McCain campaign comparing Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, the new spot takes the, dare we say audacious, step of comparing Obama to the original celebrity.

On the campaign plane, McCain spokeswoman Nicolle Wallace defended the clip as just another harmless quip. "There is an important role for humor in political campaigns," she told reporters. "I think all of us would slit our wrists if there wasn't."

She also said the spot had a serious purpose: To buck up any McCain backers who may have been dispirited watching Obama dominate the news with his overseas trip and rally. The hope is to "make sure they understand that Barack Obama, who stands in front of tens of thousands, is not anything to be intimidated by," she said. "We're proud we're showcasing our candidate surrounded by workers."

-- Nicholas Riccardi

Comments

[Nick]

Meh, that was a pretty uninspiring commercial; boilerplate FUD with a weak punchline. I'm as anti-Obama as anyone else with a few functioning brain cells who doesn't want the US to be a socialist country, but I can't see McCain picking up many votes with that garbage. You'd think the campaign for the party that intelligent, educated people vote for could do better; and with an election this important, where a loss could mean literally the end of capitalism, you'd think they would try harder.

[Bush League Drop-out]

Funny, yes... but helping McCain? If anything thi makes Papa John look desperate and bankrupt of ideas.

Obama is leading the nation RIGHT NOW out of the nightmare of the last 8 years. McCain doesn't inspire me to do anything other than wonder when Reagan came down with Altzheimer's.

[Oregonian]

Is he ready to lead? Was Moses?

Funny ad - and I now feel almost sorry for Grandpa McCain - but at least he's appearing to bow to the inevitable - he's losing this election, and has no way of changing course. His only choice is to keep giving Obama more and more publicity - and make himself look old and silly in the process. You go John!

[gil]

Obama is the Atkins diet of today. He promises the world and provides long term dissapointment. He is a con man with a long history of selling himself and offering little. He is trying to make himself the savior of today. Give me a break. The media sensationalizes him like the next Star Wars Trilogy. This guy has accomplished little but says he "can" Those who believe in this crap should go get an arm loan, boycott the military, stick around during a huricane, and bitch when no one is spoon feeding his/her laziness.

[Christy]

gave me a chuckle.

somehow made me like barack a little more, though.

big-time backfire.

[coolrepublica]

Posted by: Robert | August 01, 2008 at 02:09 PM

Robert,

It's summer relax. Obama has a shield around him that has been up by the press. McCain is applying military strategy to get to it. You either want McCain to win or want him to lose while saying nothing about Oboama. Where do you stand.

McCain could give the greatest speech ever and people wouldn't care. They are too raptured into Obama. What McCain is doing is losening those chains. He has to pierce the Obama armor and then he has a chance to get his message through.

You have to live the strategy to the strategists. McCain is doing the right thing. Next week is going to be the olympics and then the conventions. Once the convention are over you will start seeing these boring, I'm the guy that will save the economy ads that everyone is so looking forward to seeing, including yourself. So hang in there the boring part is coming. Until then, just laugh a little.

[TimL]

Whats really funny about this video clip is that the end of the clip is a white guy with hair... It just made me think of a younger McCain.

If this was an attack add... well it made me like Obama that much more as it showed me Obama has a sense of humor with the little "Line shining down on you" clip. That was funny.

[minerva]

McCain's people know they are losing the election.
Yes the ad is funny, yet I don't think it will get them any additional votes.
He is definitely an angry old turkey.
M

[Eric L]

Like that New Yorker cover, this ad is both funny and completely untrue. Unfortunately, there are too many people that will believe them both to be true. What makes this ad so dishonest (or clever, if you are an amoral McCain supporter) is that the Obama statements it quotes are actually the opposite of arrogant.

When Obama said "we are the ones that we’ve been waiting for", his point was that the "we", his supporters, are the ones with the power and responsibility to create change (or not). This follows the very JFK-ish theme of his candidacy, which is that common Americans are just as responsible for producing change as the politicians that they elect... that is the opposite of arrogance.

The "Light will shine down from somewhere" was actually a sarcastic reference to how Obama felt his opponents would try to represent his campaign. That the McCain camp took it out of context to use in an attack ad shows 1) Obama was right, and 2) McCain has no interest in running an honest or decent campaign.

[Sandy F]

Yep, McCain does have a great sense of humor all right.
Remember "Bomb, Bomb, Iran" He thought that one was really funny.

What's not funny is that his constant smirk reminds me of that guy he was always hugging the past two years before he had the way cleared for him to be the next Republican chimp. You know, what's his name, the hick from Texas whose daddy baught him businesses to bankrupt so now he has bankrupted OUR nation.

Truthfully, I'm not laughing because it's like watching the death throes of an era containing too much death. The towers, the Iraqi tole and the US Military tole. Not to mention the REAL small businesses that are belly up, the citizens losing their jobs and their houses. The condition of the states on which have been dumped the health crisis and the safety net costs.

God blessed us with a special man for a special time. One who believes together we can clean up this disaster and move on. I just hope he's right and if he is, I'm not going to laugh, I'm going to volunteer.

What are you going to do, Republicans? Keep laughing or help save the nation?

[McCain Is Bush]

Johm McCain is not even original. Hillary Clinton continually tried coming up with comparisons to others for herself and for her opponent. It seems to be what you you do if you don't honestly have a handle on the issues affecting the country and need to deflect attention away from your lack of ideas.
This ploy can actualy work on the feeble minded.

[Made in America]

I don't think this shows McCain's sense of humor. I'm sure he didn't come up with the concept. I'm don't believe that it serves any useful purpose for the McCain campaign. At best, a waste of money. It smacks of junior high ridicule -- if you can't meet someone on solid intellectual ground, you make fun of them.

Perhaps it will get fans of the movie The Matrix to vote for Obama - afterall, he is "The One.".

[tlsmith1963]

At least Obama is liked around the world. What a change from Bush, who is hated. I'll take the "celebrity" over the one that no one likes any day.

[SandyF]

Well, Chuck, if you could read, you could go to Sen. Obama's website and read all his position papers and then you could go to the Senate voting record and see how he voted and what bills he sponsored or co-sponsored and then you would know something about Candidate Obama and what he will do as President with the help of the Congress and the citizens.

If not, just keep watching McCain ads to find out about Sen. Obama's intentions in office and you will know squat.

Your choice.

[Daniel D]

Keep it up McLame.

YOU ARE HANDING IT TO BARACK OBAMA!!!!

And frankly, that is FINE with me!

Love,
Tempe, Arizona

ps. YOU DO NOT GET A FREE PASS HERE!!!

[minerva]

Hey I made my first contribution ever to a poitical candidate! I gave money to Barack!
Thanks to the Ads that the McCain side is airing!
Thank you John!!

[Eric Brown]

Is this supposed to make McCain look presidential??

[Gary]

I have a respect for Mr.McCain`s Military and Congressional service to this country but that`s where it stops. He is a nasty old man that is just besides himself with glee that those he has choosen to chart his path to the presidency have found that his only strength is to be caustic and demeaning. His conduct is not showing me anything except he is a sucker to his advisorys to exploit his renowned weakness, his short fuse and caustic anger. Are we to believe this is the tact he would also use in international diplomacy?

[Bart]

Your unemployed wife is donating to Obama because she knows that if elected president he'll take from the rick and give to the poor.

Get off the entitlement nipple and make it on your own Obama followers!

[My V. Nguyen]

Dear Senator John McCain:
Presidential Election campaign is often viewed as a circus, with clowns and entertainers. However, this year is different as people are no mood for jokes and laughter in place of serious debates about issues that affect their lives directly.
In the last 8 years, the American people have lived through an agonizing period of perpetual recession through no fault of their own, in spite of the deceitfully optimistic government economic statistics. In addition, they now face inflation that has a negative impact on their standard of living.
Not since the Great Depression have Americans demanded that the government do something about the mounting problems that confront this nation in the 21st Century. Of course, under George W. Bush and your party the GOP, laissez faire is the philosophy that will make America great again.
As for the American people, the responsible thing they need to do now is to kick out the Old Guard. They need to elect in Washington a leadership which is responsive to the needs of the Nation and its people first. We need a leadership which unites us together, rather than one which is catering the needs of lobbyist and self-interest groups.

[gerald]

Here's McCain's month old attack video showing Obama's face on a dollar bill. Obama wasn't trying to bring up the "race card", but responding to this type of attacks he has been receiving and will continue to receive from McCain the radical right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPARec32KMI

[sterling]

Remember the last person who tried to run this kind of attack campaign against Obama? It didn't work out too well for her, did it?

[Susan]

McCain calls Obama a "celebrity" and then tries to break into comedy himself. Obama's right. McCain has nothing else to go on but this drivel.

[McCain should stop now.]

Seriously. Who is McCain's ad agency? Are they stuck in the 80s? All of his campaigns have such horrible design and even worse concepts. Obama FTW.

[Mike Habte]

I'm voting for Obama. It was funny. I laughed because on its face, it's pretty funny. Look a little deeper and the jealousy and bitterness of the, by contrast, very uninspiring John McCain shines through. I wish he'd stop sniping. I have a lot of respect for the old codger.