A look back at the ads of the campaign: lots of new, some of the same

Political advertisements are more than just commercials, they’re artillery. And they’ve played a key role in driving the news cycle and shaping the narratives –- and even the vocabulary -– of this presidential race.

Now, as election day looms, and as Barack Obama and John McCain's campaigns unfurl increasingly negative ads at an increasingly rapid pace, the Ticket wondered: Is this normal?

So we turned to David Schwartz, a campaign commercial expert and the Chief Curator of the Museum of the Moving Image. Schwartz, who is the brain behind The Living Room Candidate, an online archive of presidential campaign commercials from 1952-2008, says this year's collection of ads has been exceptional in both quantity and creativity.

The campaign has seen a mix of ads this cycle, according to Schwartz, with campaigns making traditional television commericals (like Hillary Clinton's "3 a.m." spot) and also online-only videos (like this new Republican National Committee-sponsored ad attacking Obama for his ties to Tony Rezko). The Web spots are cheap to make and free to post to YouTube, so the campaigns can churn out dozens of new ones each week.

When making any kind of ad today, the campaigns are always thinking about the kind of life it will live on the Internet. So, like any good viral web videos, many campaign ads now aim to be funny or provocative. Consider, for example, "Celebrity," the McCain campaign's 30-second spot that compared Obama to stars like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

Schwartz thinks that videos like these are designed mostly to get attention from the media. And often, they do.

Schwartz said he admired McCain's "Celebrity" ad because it was different. "It was creative and it seemed to help [McCain] for awhile," Schwartz said. "That's a new line of attack, to attack a candidate for being too popular."

This season's ads have focused more than ever on the personalities of the candidates, Schwartz said. While McCain has painted Obama as a "celebrity," and, in recent weeks, as dangeously mysterious (a recent McCain spot asks ominously, "Who is Barack Obama?"), Obama has tried to portray McCain as erratic and out of touch.

Negative ads are nothing new, of course. They start cropping up at a certain point in every election, Schwartz says. "The candidates introduce themselves early in the campaign with positive ads and biographical ads and then . . .

. . . . they go negative"

Why go negative? Becasue it often works. Schwartz pointed to the brutal attack ads that President George H.W. Bush aired against his Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis as an example. Bush battered Dukakis with television ads that accused him of being an ineffective, inexperienced liberal who was soft on crime, and eventually, that's how some Americans began to see him.

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The McCain campaign has unleashed a wave of similar attacks on Obama in the last several months, but they haven't worked as well, Schwartz thinks, because the attacks keep changing.

"It’s very scattershot," he said. "They try out a new line of attack each week."

In 2004, Democratic candidate John Kerry's campaign for president was derailed in part by attack ads paid for by a tax-exempt 527 organization called the "Swiftboat Veterans for Truth." Third-party groups haven't been as active on behalf this year's Republicans candidate, but there have been an increase in pro-Obama ads made by third-party groups (like those made by Planned Parenthood or the MoveOn.org Voter Fund).

In fact, one of the most iconic videos of the election -- the Obama music video produced by musician will.i.am. -- wasn't even created by a campaign. These types of ads, if they're good enough, spread like wildfire online. Yesterday two new pro-Obama videos were posted -- one made by director Ron Howard and one made by the actors who starred in those popular Budweiser "Wassup" commercials (you can watch it below). In less than 24 hours, they have garnered nearly two million hits.

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The landscape of campaign advertising is certainly different this year. This month, Obama even placed the first-ever presidential campaign ads in online video games. But, Schwartz insists, some things never change. When it comes down to what the ads are actually saying, for example, they look a lot like past presidential campaigns.

"You always have Republicans saying Democrats are going to raise their taxes," he said. "And you always have Democrats saying that they're fighting for the working class."

-- Kate Linthicum

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Comments

[Amy]

Strangely enough, the "wassup" ad poignantly emphasizes the enormous decline in American optimism/light-heartedness and then directs us to what many of us see as our last ray of hope in Obama.

I am well aware that Barack Obama is just a man, and a flawed one at that, but he does have the ability to inspire and to lead.

I simply hope that he does not forget or betray what he learned as a Constitutional lawyer.

[Farhad from Berkeley]

Just as the eyes are a window to the soul, these ads display a window into the heart and character of a campaign. Pasting a string of misquotes from your opponent is at best juvenile (however effective in the past). If Mr. McCain has a truly better plan than Obama, then let’s hear it. And no, claiming maverick-ness is not a plan. If there is anything to be learned from the McCain scare campaign, it is precisely how he plans to rule the country in the next four years, by fear mongering, demonizing, and rouge manipulation. You are seeing a demonstration of his capabilities and his plans for the next term. Let's learn from the past, and not make the same mistakes.

[VJ Machiavelli]

Yes, Fundamental change is coming, and Big Brother Obama wants you to know I will be that Fundamental Change. I will end the war, heal the sick, stop the floods, end the market decline and keep you in your home. I am Big Brother Obama and in 2008 I will be your Leader.

I am 24 year late but i am here now so just don't listen to anything else. I have bought every bit of time from now until election day to keep you from seeing the forces of evil.

Big Brother Obama is the voice of truth, he is the voice of reason, he is the one and only voice you should listen too.

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.vjmachiavelli.blogspot.com

[Ed]

I truly enjoy reading the Los Angeles Times and their totally unbiased journalistic reports. Take for example the beginning of this article and I quote, "and as Barack Obama and John McCain's campaigns unfurl increasingly negative ads at an increasingly rapid pace, the Ticket wondered: Is this normal?" The article then points out three negative ads by the Mccain campaign but only one negative ad by the Obama Campaign. The writer then fills us in on all the Pro-Obama ads out there. She reprimands two more "nasty" republicans, George Bush Sr and Jr for their negative ads. Listen up Kate. There are more negative ads being put out there by Barack Obama than just one. "Obama has tried to portray McCain as erratic and out of touch." Wow, that is tough journalism. How about this one " ran an ad accusing McCain as out-of-touch on the economy " from August or the negative ad trying to connect Mccain to Bush, deregulation, dangerous for health care, etc. etc. None of these are included in the article and neither are the DNC attack ads that perform hit jobs for Obama. Please, Kate Linthicum wouldnt know how to write an objective article if she had a gun pointed to her head. This a hack job and another clear attempt by the biased LA times to prop up Obama and trash Mccain. I expect the democrat koolaid drinkers to jump all over my comments. These are the same people who would vote for Obama even if he were found not to be a natural born citizen and ineligible to be president according to our constitution. I'm not saying he's not natural born. I'm just trying to point out that the left wing loonies would vote for Mickey Mouse if he were the Democratic candidate without a second thought. I was actually considering voting for Hillary Clinton. At least she has some experience.

[Bill]

Maybe instead of whining about how this article is so biased, you could point out all of these negative ads Obama is running, Mr. Ed. Make sure you include a side by side analysis with time lines for both candidates.

I haven't seen any of them. Then again, I don't waste my time watching television.

[Auguste]

Big Brother Obama is the voice of truth, he is the voice of reason, he is the one and only voice you should listen too.

It only seems this way because, despite ample opportunity, McCain never actually says anything.

[Charlie]

I like the FOR Obama you tube vidieo.