Obama Releases Another House Ad Despite Rezko Threat

On Thursday, John McCain's campaign said Obama's ad mocking the candidate's multiple house confusion by saying the Democrat had "opened the door" to return fire with Tony Rezko and Jeremiah Wright.

Within hours, the McCain campaign made good on the first half of their promise by issuing a Rezko-themed attack piece. If it was meant to dissuade Obama from working McCain over on the housing issue, however, it failed. The presumptive Democratic nominee's campaign is now debuting its second ad in as many days on McCain's multiple houses. Entitled "Out of Touch," it bemoans McCain's "country club economics" and features a video clip of the Arizonan tooling around in a golf cart with former President George H.W. Bush, presumably while unaware of the number of houses he and his wife own.

In addition to the new ad, Democrats are holding events in 10 states today calling attention to McCain's housing gaffe. Regardless of McCain's Rezko counter, the Obama campaign clearly believes that it has the better half of the argument here -- perhaps since the candidate's ties to Rezko have been exhaustively aired during the primary race with Sen. Hillary Clinton, and did not do any fatal damage.

As former Hillary Clinton spokesman Phil Singer told the Huffington Post: "With Americans focused like a laser on the economy, counter-punching with a complicated real estate issue that has already been litigated ad nauseam isn't going to be very effective."

But it's not entirely clear that the Rezko attack has been bled of all its usefulness, either. "I think few people processed this from primary," said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. "I think Obama is not that well defined, so Republicans are trying to do that. I think it's important for Democrats to push back because the key perception here is less elitism and more about lobbyists and corruption. That's what we need to push back on."

A representative from the Gallup polling firm backed up part of Lake's analysis, revealing that the Rezko issue never gained enough national traction for the firm to ask its respondents any questions about it. So while to political obsessives the Rezko issue may appear to be a dead letter, there's at least a chance that Obama could still be damaged by a wider airing of the connection.

Comments

[Willow712]

As an Obama supporter, I am delighted in the ads about McCain's lack of knowledge about how many houses he owns. However, logically, he probably was stumped by that question because he doesn't know how many houses are in HIS name and how many of the houses are in Cindy's name, and the children's names. it could be that there are many more houses and condos out there, McCain's name, that are in his kids' names, Cindy's name alone, investments that he doesn't have anything to do with. So I feel sorry for the guy, being stumped, because he was probably trying to compute how many houses he uses, versus how many houses are in his name or not in his name.

I don't even have a landline. And nobody ever calls me for a poll, darn it.

[ghenry]

Don't wait Obama, bring on Keating!!!

[MadJeffersonian]

I can't find the post, but someone said that Rezko gave to Bush and he couldn't find it. Here is some information from opensecrets.org:

REZKO, ANTOIN S MR
GLENVIEW,IL 60025 REZMAR CORPORATIO­N/CHAIRMAN 10/20/99 $1,000 Bush, George W (R)

REZKO, TONY MR
WILMITTE,IL 60091 SELF-EMPLO­YED/BUSINE­SSMAN 12/9/03 $4,000 Bush, George W (R)

REZKO, TONY MR
WILMITTE,IL 60091 SELF-EMPLOYED 12/19/03 $2,000 Bush, George W (R)

REZKO, TONY MR
WILMITTE,IL 60091 SELF-EMPLO­YED/BUSINE­SSMAN 12/19/03 $-2,000 Bush, George W (R)

To be fair, it must be pointed out the Rezko and his wife, Rita also gave to numerous Democrats including Obama. You be the judge of this information, but factcheck.org says McCain's Rezko attack is without merit (http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/rezko_reality.html).

[JenMI]

The Rezko contribution to Obama was given to charity.

[MadJeffersonian]

Thanks for reminding me and everybody else.

[JenMI]

The Rezco contribution to Obama was given to charity..."to be fair."

[Liqal]

New ..... continued
Republicans are much like the ruling elite of the New Testament time in that they were more interested in keeping power and relied on tradition and rules.
And then another came and said that what is in your heart is more important and by your fruit you will know them. How they treat one another.
Tie every positon to this creed and watch them squirm.

[Liqal]

The Real case for Obama.
Is not a case for Obama at all. I like McCain. I think McCain has more charisma than Obama. Convential wisdom is wrong here. The case for Obama is that the system is corrupt. How do you follow Enron with Subprime if the government is doing their job. The old McCain would have railed against it. That was before the South Carolina primary where conservative gave him his walking papers for correctly speaking out against the Confederate flag.
You see this battle is as old as the civilized world. It is the few trying to manipulate and control the many.
They conservative right represents monied interest that desire to have the regulators and government look the other way as they put 'lipstick on a pig' and sell it to the public. Sometimes this pig is Enron sometimes its subprime mortgages. Every day its packaged products from Wall Street 'sold' to Main street. Warren Bufffet spoke about this a few days ago on CNBC. And many times to keep the public looking the other way and focused away from their own self interest its gay marriage, abortion and the confederate flag.
This is the change that conservatives fear. A level playing field for all. The inability to dominate their fellow man.
The defining point Obama should make to postion his campaign and this is VERY important, gain the moral high ground is that conservative Republicans represent the Old Testament and Democrats represent the New. continued.....

[bygollymissmolly]

Is not a case for Obama at all. I like McCain. I think McCain has more charisma than Obama.
----------­----------­-
Boy, you are in serious need of something, I'm not quite sure what it is.

[Bendersky]

Uhmm, anybody want to talk about the issues? Just curious, being that there's a tragic war still eating up the lives of it's participants, the economy's in the tank, the ocean is about to take out the polar bears (not mention both coast lines and possibly the planet) and mad men are running about the world like dandelion seeds trying to creat as much havoc and death as possible.

[S1m0n]

Everyone who's going to vote on the issues already knows who they're voting for. It's everyone else that's the territory being fought for for the balance of this election.

[pupbayer]

Why have some of these threads been open for days but the thread about the new McC ad showing Biden is already closed after 8 posts? Where were all the people who were bashing HRC for her remarks the GOP used in ads? I'm sure they'll want to likewise carry on against Joe for the same thing.

[RatgurlSD]

PUMAs are gonna LOVE this:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/21/131623/210

Enjoy!!!!

[bygollymissmolly]

There's a really big difference between what B'iden said and what H'illary did. B'iden said something in the primaries during a debate. He said it once. H'illary, on the other hand, said more than one thing, on a daily basis for months.

[tony2008]

Another effective ad for Obama would be to air an ad about people who are running McCain's campaign, the same people who helped elect the current administration. Do Americans want another Karl Rove?

[hopefulinpa]

He is country club.. how about the fact he took a nine car caravan to Starbucks just for a cup of coffee? Doesn't he own a Mr. Coffee? Oh excuse me, that is not Country Club. Guess who pays for all the gas in those cars? We do.

[Myshkin57]

They need to run ads about this stuff 24/7 in Indiana and Ohio. However, I think that it would help McCain in Florida.

[Cookie100]

Rezko, smeshko. John 'Keating 5' McCain, is an airhead. He's too old and has no right to point that ugly, old finger at anyone.
That Steve Schmidt running his campaign is a real Rove, who must want the old man to lose. The polls may say one thing, but I'mm 55, have a land line for my fax, have been a registered vote for 36 years and have never, ever been polled. Who are these people they're calling anyway? The polls are wrong! O in a landslide.
IF the polling machines actually count the votes. Only in America can you get a receipt from Diebold when you make a deposit at a bank, BUT NOT TO VOTE!
The gloves are coming off, here we go, it's gonna get ugly, and Joe Biden is just the guy to get mean!
It was him or HRC, they both can get mean and snotty, I love it!
Obama/Biden 08' & 12'

[Doots]

Great pick. He needed a strong foreing policy advocate and counterweight to the Repub smears and lies.

[Whinger]

It's easy answering the questions when Karl is whispering in your earpiece!

A leaf out of the Chinese manual, lip sync with a Repubilcon twist!

[S1m0n]

It's not like Obama wasn't going to be hear about Rezko again, anyway.

And every snowball the GOP throws in August is one they won't have to throw when the REAL snowball fight happens in November.

[JumpyJack]

By the way, the Rezko attack is another lie:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/154782

[highlyamused]

Thanks for that memory refresher. I'd kinda forgotten the details since they came up in the primary.

[Daly]

I thought that MyLobbyist was the king of writing letters; does he want to open that Pandora's box?

Where is Vicky Issman?

[bygollymissmolly]

What's another lie to "I'm going to run a respectful campaign" McBush? And his lies will stand, because the MSM won't challenge him. They are too busy giving free air time to the hit job ad that Fox "accidentally" ran when they said they wouldn't. That, I suspect, is another planned attack. Fox makes a news item out of the ad so all the other networks will run the ad for free. How many times has that happened now.

What astounds me is how many people in this country fall for this $hit and don't see these people for who they really are. It makes me very sad about this country.

[lunchbag]

Problem is 75 to 80 % of voters either dem or repub would like McCains's weatlh- the American Dream. Attacking his wealth is like attacking the voters for their dreams of being wealthy (look at lottery ticket purchases, both dems and repub buy lots)

[highlyamused]

75 to 80% huh.........where'd you get those numbers?

I don't begrudge him his wealth. I begrudge him calling someone who has much less than HIM....an elitist. Kinda came back and bit him in the backend huh?

I really hate hypocrisy.

[FACINGREALIT]

AGREED! Karma is a what happens when you attempt to cause unnecessary harm to another.

[Justsaynodeal]

Elitist=At­titude....­..........­has nothing to do with wealth or $500 shoes.

[wdw101]

he pulled them from thin air