Obama Should Run a Sarah Palin Rape Kit TV Ad

The Obama campaign promises to get meaner and tougher with its television ads. It has to. Time is running out for the candidate who had consistently promised to wage a clean, wholesome, and message-positive presidential campaign. But is this entirely possible when the other side is well-schooled in the dark art of negative attack ads, lies, distortion and inflammatory innuendo?

The McCain-Palin team will do anything and say anything to get its odd couple into the White House. You'd think if you only just saw several of its more seamy commercials that Obama was a celebrity pedophile intent on destroying the American way of life.

Can the Obama team rise to the occasion? Which in this case means lowering its standards and going on the counter-offensive? Yet its most recent ad swipe at McCain was inert and almost comically ineffective. It attempted to depict how out of touch McCain is. Golly -- he can't use a computer or know how to send an email! Is this going to make people vote for Obama?

What gives the GOP smear campaign -- as in previous years -- its potency is that it has emotional staying power; the negativity stays in your brain and won't budge. We remember the Paris Hilton ad. But do any of us recall any of those costly commercials that Obama ran during the Olympics? (Hint: it had something to do with energy independence.)

Effective advertising often has to be aimed at the heart, not the head. Watch an episode of Mad Men and this becomes even clearer. In the first episode, creative director Don Draper was faced with the task of devising a new ad campaign for Lucky Strike since the FDA was coming down hard on the tobacco industry for medical reasons. No longer could the cigarette companies claim that tobacco promoted sound health or even use doctors in ads. To circumvent the fact that Lucky Strike was essentially selling poison to the public, Draper came up with the tag line, "It's Toasty!" His agency kept the account.

So how can Obama not bomb? For starters, it must rethink how to go after Palin without alienating women, since they will ultimately decide the electoral outcome. Furthermore, as Frank Rich observed, "The more voters see that McCain will be the figurehead for a Palin presidency, the more they are likely to demand stepped-up vetting of the rigidly scripted heir apparent." Palin is McCain's greatest asset and liability.

To pull voters from McCain-Palin, Obama must appeal to raw emotion. The target here, of course, is Palin, who is banking on her plucky, television-friendly personality to deflect close attention away from her woeful lack of experience and questionable politics. The Democrats need to borrow a soiled page from the Willie Horton playbook by selectively using facts about Palin's tenure as mayor of Wasilla to expose her faulty judgment and dubious qualifications as McCain's running mate. Take her down a number of notches, and it will have a downward impact on McCain's poll numbers.

Here's how one Obama go-for-the-jugular television ad might work:

Opening scene:

A young woman in a fur parka is standing outside a cabin in Alaska with a "Wasilla City Limits" sign in background.

"Hello, my name is XXX and several years ago I was raped. After the attack, I went to the Wasilla police station. They said I needed to pay for a rape medical examination kit."

Cut to outside of Wasilla police station. But the woman is still talking. "I was shocked. The police said it would cost me $1,250. I couldn't understand why I had to pay this medical cost."

Cut back to woman: "They explained that this was the policy of Mayor Sarah Palin for rape victims."

Cut to a smiling Sarah Palin at the Republican National Convention.

Another woman's voice as voice over: "If a woman got raped in Wasilla when Mayor Palin was in charge, she became victimized -- twice over. And if you happened to get pregnant from being raped, Palin would still want you to have the child."

Cut to outside scene of White House.

Sound effect of a heart beat growing louder.

Same woman's voice over: "It's your choice this election. The nation can't afford a Sarah Palin to be just a heartbeat away from the presidency."

Comments

[jeanneward]

Rape kits do not contain emergency contraception. A doctor who does the exam writes a prescription that the victim may choose to fill afterwards. The hospital pharmacy usually fills it as a courtesy, but it is not paid out of the police investigation. This was a plausible theory of why Palin opposed paying for rape kits, but if is true, she was completely ignorant.

[SeanGardner]

I agree. I have been pushing this idea on HUFFPO since I first learned of it. I have also e-mailed major organizations like NOW, NARAL and EMILY'S LIST, asking them to do an ad on this very topic.

Thank you for writing a post on it.

[laylahb]

That's an ad that should be done by a woman's group, like Planned Parenthood, NOW or a 527 backed by women. But it should be done, and include her views on abortion in the cases of rape and incest. The whole "abstinence only" policy of the McPalin team should be placed in a spotlight, as well as attacking their views on teaching 5 and 6 years old about how to fight a child predator.

[bdfu2]

Love it! They need to hit her where it hurts!

[Change We NEED]

I think this is a perfectly acceptable way to work the female voters away from Sarah Palin. However, there doesn't need to be some intricate story such as the one Bill has included at the end of his text. The Obama team just needs to release one that's VERY straightforward about the rape kit issue. If Obama does that ad first, then he too can control the news cycle for a couple of days in regards to that specific issue. That'll open the door to another similar Palin issue, specifically her position against abortion for rape and incest victims. Once that door is opened, Obama can release another ad about that, which will, again, allow him to control the news cycle and keep the McCain-Palin ticket off kilter.

We cannot question the effectiveness of those ads. They would work. By forcing rape victims to pay for their own rape kits (in a state where rape and incest are rampant), then Sarah Palin is showing that she is not for women's rights and doesn't align with issues that MOST women align themselves with. It's a great way to hit Palin's cred with women. Rape and incest victims inherently draw compassion from that group. It's not dirty politics, it's smart.

[elizabethc]

This would be an excellent issue for the 527's. It's too risky for Obama to do.

[milo h minderbinder]

This could make a really effective ad, but it REALLY should be a 527 and not come from Obama. I'd hate to see it come from him, probably would freak some people out and backfire unless it was from a third party.

[MPeter]

No Obama does not have to take that bait. You should be asking the 527s to do it. Where are the Democratic 527s? Rethugs have them all over the place. Why do Democrats want Obama to do everything himself? Why don't you, just like Bob Sesca and other have been doing, do a Youtube or web clip and make it viral? Obama should not be asked to do things that will give those edgy women, elders and rabid, racist Rethugs a chance to label him and lash back. Up to this point, Obama has done his part and showed us why we must fight to get our country back. Now do your part.

[BettyG]

Sick doesn't begin to describe this policy.

[bandolier]

As much as I can't stand the thought of it, Palin's sort of off limits. Whatever you throw will blow right back at you. Gotta go after the old man and exploit his weakness. She'll fall apart soon enough on her own.

[SamiNJ]

does the reasoning behind Palin making rape victims pay for their own evidence gathering kits bother anyone? the kits besides swabs etc, USUALLY contain a high-dosage oral contraceptive to combat a pregnancy if the attacker happens to "you know" during the assault.... and the religious nutbags consider THAT abortion. .....to stop the pregnancy from occuring if a woman is attacked by some aggressor..... Make a victim pay for their own kit.... and if you can't come up with the $500.00? your attacker goes free.... free to attack again.
it's brilliant.
now that's what i call reform.
ugh.