RNC Has a New Ayers Viral Video Out...gets front page treatment on Politico

[Lunar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E3Vhnfhk-c&eurl

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14507.html
The Republican Party on Monday morning will make a new push to convince voters that distant ties between Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and former radical William Ayers are somehow disqualifying for the presidency.

The Republican National Committee plans to e-mail “an audience of tens of millions” the link to a new video on the subject called “Guilt by Participation” and encourage recipients to forward it to friends and family, aides said.

“Barack Obama has no problem with forming relationships when politically convenient,” says the menacing narration, accompanied by brooding music.

The title comes from a Wall Street Journal opinion piece by conservative scholar Stanley Kurtz, who wrote on Sept. 23: “The Obama campaign has cried foul when Bill Ayers comes up, claiming 'guilt by association.' Yet the issue here isn't guilt by association; it's guilt by participation.”

The 80-second video ends with a new slogan, a variation of one Republicans have used in the past: “Barack Obama: Career First. Country Second.” The slogan is likely to be used again, officials say.
The video flashes garish lettering like “WANTED BY FBI” and “DON’T REGRET SETTING BOMBS.”

The Obama campaign on Sunday released a roundup of media quotes headed “McCain's Strategy of Distracting From the Economy ... How's It Playing With Republicans?”: “In case you missed them, below are stories across the country voters are reading and hearing about McCain’s closing strategy, even conservative pundits, Republican officials and Republican voters are rejecting it."

Among those quoted was Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, who said on “Fox News Sunday”: “[T]he main thing to say about these negative ads, which, I don’t think — almost none of them has been across the line — they haven't worked. Obama's favorable rating is as high as it's been in three months. It's actually gone up in the last month. So it's a stupid campaign.”

Republican officials don’t claim that the Ayers issue is moving numbers for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). A Republican official replied that the reason for the continued push is: “Ayers has been effective from the standpoint that it helps further doubts that already exist about Obama's judgment and how much we really know about him.”

The video begins: “Barack Obama. He launched his political career in the home of William Ayers, a 1970s domestic terrorist, a founder of the Weather Underground in the ‘60s.”

The Obama campaign released an ad Saturday saying he began his career at a Ramada Inn in Chicago, “not in anyone’s living room.”

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” former Republican House leader Rob Portman of Ohio defended the attention to Ayers: “I saw yesterday there had been nine different explanations about his relationship with Bill Ayers and when he met him and who he thought he was, and so on. And so that's the issue, is his judgment and his truthfulness.”

During a discussion about Ayers on “Fox News Sunday,” Obama chief strategist David Axelrod said to McCain campaign manager Rick Davis: “[E]very single charge that you've thrown out has been debunked by FactCheck.org.”

[Ty440]

You gotta give MAC the credit for fighting back. If they wanna play the Bush card we will play the Ayers card. If they take it further, end the moratorium on Rev. Wright, and play that card.

[Torie]

It's inane. Few except diehards think Obama is some wild eyed radical. McCain needs to make the case that he is a safer bet to save your middle class economic ass from the left side of the bell curve. The end.

[War on Want]

So much for the negative card ending...

[ChrisFromNJ]

A pretty substandard ad, IMO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E3Vhnfhk-c

[cinyc]

It's inane. Few except diehards think Obama is some wild eyed radical.   McCain needs to make the case that he is a safer bet to save your middle class economic ass from the left side of the bell curve. The end.

That only diehards think Obama is some wild eyed radical needs to change if McCain wants to win the election.   And there's certainly enough material in his past to paint Obama as a wild eyed radical.  Heck, he probably is one deep down in his soul.

The economy is a losing issue for McCain.  Voters blame Republicans for the mess on Wall Street, even if the Democrats are as culpable or more culpable.  Playing defense on your opponent's playing field is a sure recipe to lose.  Unless McCain unveils a radical new economic package (which rumor says he may), playing defense on the economy will lead to a big McCain loss. 

And honestly, McCain needs to do both.   Obama's negatives are too low for McCain to win, even if McCain becomes favored on the economy.   It's no accident that Obama's negatives were highest when Wright became the dominant issue in the Democratic primary.

Torie - you're simply too nice to like negative attacks.  They work when there's a grain of truth to them.  There's a grain of truth about Obama the wild eyed radical.

Edited to ad: This ad is too long and pretty boring.

[Lunar]

Indeed, it's a bad viral video.

Also, I think they need to actually reveal something interesting that the news hasn't covered in order to get people to forward it to all their friends.  Ideally something cutesy or viral.

[Likely Voter]

are there any pictures or video of Ayers and Obama together? If they are such 'pals' and they 'work together' there should be pics but none of these attack ads use them

[wildfood]

Ads like these do not appeal to Independents (unless the are the Indies too embarased to call themselves Republicans but who will vote Republican nonetheless).


This will only get out the base and if that is McCain's plan he has a real problem.

[daboese]

And there's certainly enough material in his past to paint Obama as a wild eyed radical.  Heck, he probably is one deep down in his soul.

Didn't know that you can easily look into someone else's soul. You should become a psychic with these abilities, you will earn a lot of money.

Generally, Obama went already through all these accusations in the primary, that's why they don't sting anymore- except with the religious right. But these people are fired up enough by Palin anyhow, and with going so negative, McCain will only alienate independents even more.

After picking Palin, he cannot run on the experience issue anymore, nor can he say that people don't know who Obama is- since noone heard of Palin before either. So, with his VP choice, his campaign showed some double-standards, something which has rightfully killed him in the end. It is not only the economy which almost killed his chances to win the election.

[cinyc]

And there's certainly enough material in his past to paint Obama as a wild eyed radical.  Heck, he probably is one deep down in his soul.

Didn't know that you can easily look into someone else's soul. You should become a psychic with these abilities, you will earn a lot of money.

That's a figure of speech.

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Republicans and most independents weren't closely watching the Democrat primary.  So these accusations are new to us.  And Ayres is just the tip of the iceberg.  Add ACORN, Wright, Pflegger, Meeks, campaigning for Odinga in Kenya, Emil Jones and the south side of Chicago political establishment and others, and you get a bigger picture of Obama the left wing radical.  At a minimum, he's extremely liberal.

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Again, not necessarily true.  Palin is running for VICE President.  If the other side's Presidential candidate has less experience than the Veep, it draws attention to the other side's Presidental candidate's lack of experience.  At the end of the day, people vote for President, not Vice President.