New McCain Ad: Obama May Be "The One"

UPDATE: The Obama campaign has reacted to McCain's latest ad starring him and Moses.
This time Obama didn't personalize the response. Much smarter than how he responded yesterday to the Britney-Paris ad.

From the Obama campaign:

"It's downright sad that on a day when we learned that 51,000 Americans lost their jobs, a candidate for the presidency is spending all of his time and the powerful platform he has on these sorts of juvenile antics," said spokesman Hari Sevugan. "Senator McCain can keep telling everyone how 'proud' he is of these political stunts which even his Republican friends and advisors have called 'childish', but Barack Obama will continue talking about his plan to jumpstart our economy by giving working families $1,000 of immediate relief."

The fallout over the Britney Spears-Paris Hilton celebrity ad only appears to have emboldened John McCain's new strategy to paint Barack Obama as a witless fad. McCain's latest ad ratchets up the celebrity comparisons by putting the Senator next to one of the biggest figures in time: Moses.

Obamaone1
by dollarsandsense123

McCain's strategy doesn't feel too different from a tactic Hillary Clinton used against Barack Obama in February when her campaign started to realize it wasn't going to fulfill its media-anointed mantle of inevitability. Hillary mocked Obama, telling the crowd "the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing, and everyone will know we should do the right thing, and the world will be perfect."

Making fun of Barack Obama as a Jesus figure obviously didn't help Hillary. That doesn't mean it can't help McCain. Unlike Hillary, the GOP candidate isn't the one explicitly making fun of Obama. When Hillary did it, people made fun of her. Yes, McCain's in the commercials, but only to approve them. By creating an ad campaign around mocking Obama, McCain is forcing him to comment and therefore make the ads a bigger deal. That's exactly what happened on Thursday when Obama commented on the Paris-Britney ad. Obama took the bait and did just what the McCain camp wanted him to do when he said McCain was saying he "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills." Obama's comment painted himself as different, a figure of race, a person who rose up by different means, perhaps even through celebrity... Let's see how the Obama campaign reacts to this one. (Update: Obama has responded. See above.)

ABC dissects the ad to show where the McCain camp is spinning "the one" out of context:

"We are the ones we've been waiting for," Obama says, in his Super Duper Tuesday speech in California.

The narrator continues: "And he has anointed himself, ready to carry the burden of The One. To quote Barack, 'I have become a symbol of America returning to our best traditions.'"

As we covered earlier in the week, that quote was actually Obama telling House Democrats that the big crowds and enthusiastic receptions he received in Europe had less to do with him than they had to do with a desire for a new U.S. foreign policy. In a way, it was more a statement of humility than arrogance.

"He can do no wrong," the narrator says.

Cut to an excerpt of CBS's Lara Logan asking Obama, "Do you have any doubts?"

"Never," Obama says, smiling.

"Can you see the light?" asks the narrator.

Comments

[DickClark]

With the Moses ad the McCain camp has made a pro Obama ad.....

and they are too stupid to realize it !!!.....What a "hoot"....

[MissT]

"We are the ones we've been waiting for," Obama says, in his Super Duper Tuesday speech in California."

This is one of my most favorite quotes from O. To me it indicates that he understands that many people are projecting a lot of hope onto him. But he takes the emphasis off of himself and puts it on the collective. He is calling us to get involved with the changes we would like to see. He cannot do it alone so he is inviting and empowering his supporters. And his grassroots approach has borne just that kind of fruit.

I contrast it to HRC's constant cry that she would fight for us. Way too paternalistic for my taste.

Anyone watching and listening to the JMc campaign would think they are afraid that O may really be "The One". And in the Jackie Robinson sense, maybe is.

[mule66]

this ad is to show the right that he's the anti-christ so watch as it gets good now

[amazingdays]

Apparently the term "The One" is an inside-the-room giggler for McCain senior staff. They call Obama that and it cracks them up.

For the rest of us, who haven't been following the detailed descriptions of each campaign staff, the term is from the movie The Matrix, as the Washington Post has helpfully elucidated.

So the McCain campaign is trying to connect with swing and anti-Obama voters by using a pop culture reference that will most appeal to 20-somethings who are into sci fic and technology, meaning for the most part, Obama voters. Or maybe The Matrix had a broader reach into the 50- and 60-something white working class than I realize. If not, doesn't seem like the cleverest reference.

"Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" sounds more like the right generational reference, but there was that pesky thing about failing to get legal permission to use it... Gosh I hope our country isn't going to be managed by these idiots. Just look at how much better the Obama campaign is run.

[Krikkit]

The reason that these ads are so bizarre is that they target people who intend to vote for Obama. Can't criticize a "celebrity" without also criticizing his constituency who want to see him in the white house. Taking this tack is akin to admitting that McWhatever has no constituency of his own. The fallout should have been predictable. These ads are alienating, not convincing in the least.

[Sixtwo]

Every day the McCain campaign reveals just how ridiculous, disorganized and out of control they are. Within 24 hous they paint Obama as a "low-life" celebrity like the two girls in the ad, and a renowned Biblical figure of substance, Moses!! They can play with Obama but they can't play with GOd. What man meant for evil, God meant for good.

[theone718]

Watch the ad on mute, I gurantee you you would have no idea this was an anti Obama ad.

[nk007]

Dear John McCain

If, as you claim, the followers of Obama see him as a Moses doesn't that tell you that they are convinced he is ready to lead this country out of the hell of the last 71/2 years.

[tlgeiger62]

Jon Stewart did this as part of The Daily Show last week. THE DAILY SHOW !!!

[pupbayer]

Wow!!!! That caught me off guard!

I thought the celebrity one was not very well done...I got the idea and thought it was a fair idea...but didn't think it was very well executed and seemed to be a very disjointed ad.

This one is anything but! It's bold to be sure. It is very well done. I was impressed. I understand why O's supporters would be upset. It's very strong and will evoke a strong emotional reaction from all sides. Being an independent and not being tied to any party or candidate, I can look at it unemotionally. This is one of those ads that will always be referred to in any discussion about political ads. As I say, bold.

A lot of people who aren't even O supporters will see this as over the top, I think. I don't know that it will help M. It'll be interesting.

[queotic]

McCain must've hired The Onion to create this one lol

[rasthedestroyer]

Ican't wait for the debates.... sombody's gonna get a spank'n

[pupbayer]

Nah. They'll both hem and haw and um and uh around so much there won't actually be much said.

[rasthedestroyer]

I just watch it again to make sure..... i thought i was back in H.S.

[barackobama4prez]

He's the one....and I'm ready to vote him in...like yesterday.

[UrsaMajority]

The person who rightfully should be offended by this is Obama, for a reason that you might not think about. With all the crap that has been spewed about him being Muslim or whatever, folks forget that Obama is a deeply religious man, more so than McCain or any Democratic candidate since Carter. And, one of the tenets of the Christian faith is a humility toward God. As Obama himself phrased it in his famous June 23, 2007 speech on faith, "I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him. I felt I heard God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works." So, it is deeply offensive to a person of faith to accuse him of thinking he is greater than or equal to his God. And for the McCain camp to pull this out as a joke -- particularly where they take comments out of context, shows how out of touch with the importance of religion they are.