Political Ads

Disclaimer: the purpose of this post is not to discuss the policies put forth in these ads; rather, it is to explore the delivery, format, and content of the ads.

There has been a lot of press covering the latest political ads from both the McCain and Obama campaigns. Visit the following links to view the Reuters reports (here and here).

Here is one of the latest ads from John McCain, entitled "The One".





Here is Obama's latest ad, entitled "Pocket".




Let's break down each ad as objectively as possible.



The McCain Ad: From the beginning of the ad, there is a very sarcastic tone. The commentator speaks in pseudo-scriptural language referring to Barack Obama as "The One" who will bless the world. It says that Obama has "anointed himself" to take on the burden of solving the world's problems. The ad continues by showing Barack Obama say some self-aggrandizing things, followed by a clip of Charlton Heston parting the Red Sea in the epic movie, "The Ten Commandments". The ad concludes by asking if Barack Obama is ready to lead. There are no policy statements in this ad whatsoever.



I have watched this ad several times; each time I view it, it strikes me how immature it is. There is no real substance to this ad. It seems that all it is aiming to do is to satirically show Obama as a Messiah-like figure. This ad does nothing to promote John McCain's campaign; instead, I feel it exposes the cynical nature of John McCain. Seriously, is the only thing that McCain can do is take jabs at Obama's wide ranging appeal? Seems immature and juvenile to me.



The Obama Ad: This ad begins by showing somebody filling up the gas tank in a car, and states that each time you fill up gas companies are making record profits. These gas companies have contributed two million dollars to John McCain's campaign. The ad continues by highlighting a difference between Obama and McCain. It states that McCain wants to give the gas companies further tax credits, while Obama seeks to tax their wind-fall profits. It then shows a picture of President Bush with John McCain by his side, saying that we cannot afford another president who is beholden to gas companies like these two. At the conclusion of the ad, it says that Obama will give a $1000 energy rebate to consumers, paid for by the wind-fall taxes received from the big gas companies.



I felt that this ad did a great job of highlighting a difference between the two candidates and then showing what Obama's plan to improve the situation is. I felt it was unfair to lump McCain's energy policy together with President Bush's. However, I felt this ad did a good job of stating a problem, a differing solution, and then putting forth Obama's solution.



To restate what I said at the beginning of this post, the object of this discussion is not whether the policies are good. Instead, it is to discuss the overall tone, content, and delivery of the ads. Obama's ad stayed above personal attacks (aside from the pairing of Bush and McCain... but that in and of itself is not necessarily an "attack", per se: they are both Republicans). From an objective point of view, I felt Obama came off looking better. He focused on his policies, rather than trying to mock McCain.

In this recent exchange of political ads, I felt Obama came off victor.

Paradoxically, McCain has improved in the polls. Apparently Americans like McCain's tactics.

Read this Telegraph article for further discussion on that topic.