From the McCain camp:

Could there be a more disingenuous ad? McCain’s team take footage of Obama at the debate, doctors it (poorly) to cut him off mid-sentence, and pushes it out. It simply misrepresents Obama; and we can see that, because they didn’t even bother to remove the “but” from the end of one of his sentences. And so negate the ad’s entire message, as it becomes clear that, actually, Obama doesn’t think McCain is right after all.

Even the visuals push credibility. Perhaps the juxtaposition of Obama’s head with graphics so tacky they look to be from a Vegas-style arcade game was meant to trivialise him, or evoke an air of cheap faux-celebrity. But, in reality, they simply look amateur - as does McCain’s campaign, increasingly.

Contrast that with Obama’s latest offering:

It’s brilliant. Obama offers coherent content, delivered clearly, and looks convincing. The delivery evokes the tone of Roosevelt’s fireside chats; Obama talks directly and reassuringly to the people about the economy. And he offers them a solution - far more than McCain’s ads on the economy manage.

Every election campaign where one side balances optimism with reasons not to vote for the opposition, while that opposition simply pushes out ferocious attack ads, has had the same result; the optimists won. Constant offence might put voters off one candidate, but it gives them no reason to vote for the attacker. So they simply stay at home, instead; or judge that any candidate who makes such a fuss but proposes no alternative is just full of hot air. And that’s certainly the impression McCain must give at the moment.

(Hat-tips: BenSix and Miller respectively.)

The Musem of the Moving Image present every US Presidential Campaign Ad since 1952. Excuse me if I spend the next two to three days absorbed in their archives, but this is wonderful…

And piles it on with a shovel:

Hardly subtle, is it? Virtually every sentence acts as a dogwhistle for Republicans; Obama is a, “liberal,” who’ll bring forth, “massive government,” and, “skyrocketing taxes.” The same is true of any and all imagery. Or rather, the imagery; a giant, sleeping baby, just to remind you who’s the candidate for families.

The message is simply mendacious. McCain claims big government hurts in a financial crisis - when, of course, the ideology of small government and light financial regulation allowed banks to make this mess in the first place. Likewise, McCain’s claims that Obama would raise, “painful,” taxes. Obama’s tax plans would, at most, inconvenience the wealthy slightly, allowing him to cut taxes on those who can’t afford them. There’d be spending increases, yes. Coming from the man who wants to fight (expensively) in Iraq to the bitter end, though, any condemnation for such is the purest hypocrisy.

But it plays to every Republican prejudice about Democrats - and so plays right into McCain’s strategy. He isn’t looking for new voters, only to get every registered Republican out and voting against Obama. He picked Palin partially to reassure that conservative base, and now he’ll issue dubious ads to rally them. In short, just what Bush tried in 2000 and 2004; negative politics designed to win 50.1% of the population, and no more. If McCain wants anyone to believe his rhetoric on also being a, “candidate of change,” he ought to hope no-one thinks about his ads.

An attack ad from Obama:

(Also: ooh, 900th post!)

This interests me:

Look at the implicit message. Obama shares what these prominent Christians perceive as a respect for the family. McCain, by contrast, doesn’t; that shared look at 0:30 certainly implies that, presumably inspired by the affairs that, by his own admission, destroyed his first marriage.

I doubt ads like this will persuade Christian fundamentalists (defined here as those whose religion forms their primary voting concern) to vote for Obama in droves. Few would deny that he’s religious, or that he loves his family; but at the same time, the various vicious rumours about Obama’s church, and the Democrats’ general stance on issues like abortion, will probably put most of them off. Support from Clerics like Caldwell might act as a pull - but so support from Clinton, and virtually every other hate-figure the right constructs, will act as a push.

What they might do is persuade those fundies not to vote for McCain. That videos like this even exist demonstrates how disillusioned they are with McCain. Many pinned their hopes on Huckabee, and denounced McCain for moderation in the primaries; that flopped, and so have McCain’s attempts to win their confidence. And so a portion of the Republican base drifts away. Ads that continually remind that base their nominee isn’t “one of them” - and that his opponent is - will keep it that way.

Just so long as Obama doesn’t listen to them…

Some commentators have criticised Obama for not responding to McCain’s attack ads in kind. He simply doesn’t need to - voters do it for him. Like so:

Obama gets the attack ads; they hit home. And he can claim he’s still the insurgency candidate who’s above the old, negative politics. Rather what he’s looking for, no?

(Hat-tip: Jennie)

McCain’s campaign hit a new low today when Paris Hilton made fun of him. That she displays a sharper grasp of elementary satire of McCain, his advertising and herself is bad enough; that she can make a more effective attack ad than his campaign must just hurt.

(Hat-tip: JimJay’s Twitter feed.)

Ali scoffs at McCain’s ad strategy - and I’m inclined to join him. But there’s evidence that McCain might slowly develop a more effective line:

Superficially, the ad makes little sense; Obama is popular, so he must be bad. But that’s not the point. Just look at the imagery deployed. Paris Hilton, screaming crowds, camera flashes - the world of vacuous, effeminate celebrity. McCain portrays Obama as a suit as empty as Hilton’s head, and as ill-deserving of his popularity.

It won’t convert many floaters - who’ll see the ad and quite possibly share Ali’s reaction. What it’ll do is rally Republicans who were so disillusioned by the whole election as to stay home. If McCain can turn Obama into a figure they hate - the effeminate vacuity of these ads - they might just come and vote for the Republican, however much they feel he’s a shallow moderate himself.

Obama’s response to such attacks is the only possible, and should prevent too many independents being taken in. But McCain’s insidious new line might help him a little.

I am amazed by McCain’s latest attacks on Obama. They seem to rest on the idea that Obama is popular and is promising change. Remind me why to vote against him…

The latest batch of misjudged attempts at attacks have been striking in their total lack of constructive message. McCain is, effectively, spending huge sums of money on adverts that argue “Obama believes the next President can do some good, so he wants to be President. Vote for McCain!” Hilarious. Amazingly, though, some appear taken in by that vacuous message.

Obama’s response is fair and just.