Does Romney's Ad Against McCain Contain A Subliminal Message?

Is there a subliminal message in Mitt Romney's recent attack (err... contrast) ad against Sen. John McCain?

About seven seconds into a spot criticizing the Arizona Republican for his stance on immigration reform, the screen quickly flashes the word "rat" in a lone white box against a predominantly blue background. The rodent reference, which appears just under and to the right of McCain's name, is a highlighted portion of the word "immigration" and disappears almost immediately.

The inclusion of the word, Romney's campaign asserted, was completely unintentional. Any interpretation otherwise was "positively ridiculous."

"I saw that mentioned on some blog post and just chalked it up for exactly what it was: an over-imaginative scrutiny of a screenshot," Romney's spokesperson Kevin Madden told the Huffington Post when asked about the "rat" shot. "It's the same sort of reasoning that would argue that the 'gal' in the word 'illegal' is a subliminal appeal to female voters."

But some in the blogosphere have latched onto the word's appearance in the campaign spot because of the blatant historical parallels. In the 2000 presidential election, the Republican National Committee ran an advertisement against Al Gore's prescription drug plan that similarly included a brief screen shot of the word "RATS." In that instance the word was part of the phrase "BUREAUCRATS DECIDE."

The creator of the 2000 advertisement, Alex Castellanos, initially said there was nothing subliminal about the spot before later acknowledging that the word was included as "a visual drumbeat designed to make you look at the word bureaucrats." Castellanos currently serves as a high ranking media consultant for Romney's presidential campaign.

"I don't believe he did [the current ad]," Madden said.

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Beyond the questionable inclusion of the word "rat," Romney's advertisement underscores an intensifying negativity between his and McCain's campaigns. In a television spot before Iowa, the former Massachusetts governor criticized McCain over his stance on tax policies as well as illegal immigration.

McCain - who supported legislation that would allow illegal immigrants who come forward, pay fines, and wait for citizenship before collecting Social Security - has overtaken Romney in several New Hampshire polls. According to the Real Clear Politics average, the Arizona Republican finds himself at 31.3 percent support to Romney's 29.8

The McCain campaign did not return a request for comment.

Watch both ads:

Comments

[DontSpin]

I don't know. All I can say is you may be reading too much into it. I watched this multiple times and couldn't have noticed without reading this article.

[jcutbirth]

This is so stupid. Of course, its much easier to talk about in New Hampshire than McCain's immigration policy or his health care plan, thus why people are so turned off. Anyway, what is it that is supposed to happen anyway...I guess the idiots fear that somehow seeing the word RAT somewhere in a Romney ad will automatically make them think McCain is a "rat" and therefore march like they are hyp-no-tized to the polls and unconsciously vote for Romney when they were going to vote for McCain. How silly and sad.

[plutorage]

Romney is a strange case. The guy is an over-acheiver who is so talented, smart, and ambitious that he can run for President in spite of the fact that he has no political instincts whatsoever.

He has absolutely no clue.

[Steamboater]

Let them destroy each other.

[Maxbyte]

Romney's penchant for changing his position on a fair number of issues when he figures out that his positions are contrary to voter positions has probably already made his candidacy moot. He can keep spending his money until its gone, but most Americans won't buy his well-masticated point of the day.

I believe Romney is showing us why we do not want a former CEO as president. In the private sector, it's often wise to be flexible and quick to adjust to a changing environment.

But in politics, the Board of Directors [voters] generally want some stability. We don't mind changes when the need is obvious, well-articulated, and never shown to be a lie; but we do not want wishy-washy presidents, or presidents who ignore public opinion.

If opinion polls are good enough for campaign direction, they are good enough for telling a president he's full of it. George has struggled with that concept all of his life, and that's probably part of the reason his father considers Jeb Bush to be "the smart one".

It's interesting to note that if one Googles "bush brothers", the top five or more returns are for the "Bush Beans" brothers. Eventually, one hits a variety of articles on the amount of no-bid tax dollars flowing to Jeb, Neil, and Marvin. Some are filed under "profiteering".

[Webheadstl]

Back in the late 60's and early 70's, "rats" was a word used in my office in lieu of "fuck" when an error was made or there was bad news.

rat:
a mean sneaky deceitful person, especially somebody who betrays friends or confidences (slang)

The word "rat" has a negative connotation that may be directed at the baby boomers, or those whom once used the word in lieu of swearing.

[JohnFromCensornati]

What an appropriate sublinimal message. If you rearrange the letters in GOP, you get RATS!

[lnardozi]

Quotes from Bloomberg Economic News

``Since 1949 the unemployment rate has never risen by this magnitude without the economy being in recession,'' John Ryding, chief U.S. economist at Bear Stearns Cos. in New York, said in a note to clients. ``We now put ourselves on recession watch.''

Factory payrolls decreased by 31,000 after falling 13,000 a month earlier. Economists had forecast a drop of 15,000 in manufacturing employment. Builders reduced payrolls by 49,000 after cutting 37,000 jobs in November.

Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve will increase the size of two scheduled auctions of emergency loans by 50 percent to $30 billion as part of a global attempt by central bankers to restore faith in the money markets.

NYT

After inching down in recent weeks, average gas prices across the nation rose by 7.3 cents last week to $3.053 per gallon, 71.9 cents higher than the same period last year, the Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday.

Business Week

"Staying at [the $100] level will mean inflation and economic hardship," says Fadel Gheit, senior energy analyst for Oppenheimer Holdings (OPY).

Here's a question for you. How many books on economics has your candidate read? How many has he WRITTEN? The best economist in the world can't convince someone to whom he can't explain the problem. It looks very like we are headed for a recession or a depression. Before you cast your all-important primary vote, shouldn't you find out who has the most education on economics? This is not one of those times when you basically get bragging rights. This time, it may make the difference between you keeping your job and house or living on the streets. Remember, if we ALL sink there will be no one to give you welfare. Even people who OWN their house could be dispossessed by incredibly high real estate taxes. I know everyone says he is a long shot, but PLEASE do yourself (and me) a favor and research Dr. Ron Paul. The house you save may be your own.