I think McBush played right into Obama's hands with this one. It'll be interesting perhaps to hear from Axelrod, Plouffe and Obama all about their strategy. I think they have truly redefined modern campaign tactics.
The real killer in that commercial is the reaction shots of McCain, the disdain he shows for Obama. The rhetoric is good, though I'm always leery of starting off with your opponent's definition of himself, but we didn't hear McCain's voice again until the end where he proved Obama's point, so it's a net win, I think.
I hadn't really paid attention to the shots of McCain they used from the debate last night until Incertus mentioned his or her point. Brilliant stuff. These guys really are on top of their game.
I loved how the MSM tried to make that the tagline of the night as if McCain really shed the anchor of the Republican party and Bush just by saying that.
Obama did mess up in one respect tho IMO. He should have used last night's debate to hammer Republicans on their failed policies over and over and over. He should have ignored McCain and just focused on Republican trickle down, tax cuts for the rich, no regulation, always at war policies. Right now he needs to not only keep his lead but also help his down ticket running mates so he has a mandate when he takes over. I think had he taken this approach at some point McCain would have had to defend it, if only to get Obama to engage him. I think O spent too much time rebutting attacks that have already been debunked or that Americans could care less about.
Great ad. I didn't realize there was an actual clip of McCain himself saying he voted with Bush over 90% of the time. Ouch.
Obama needs to be on offense like this for the next three weeks. And he needs to get back on the stump with his inspirational speeches; that's the place where his emotion comes through...he needs to bring us back there.
Great one though I'm not sure there is anybody still riding the fence to convince (Joe the Plumber? - as someone else said, why not Jose the Plumber or Josef the Plumber?).
I'm wondering who will write the definitive book about this campaign as White, Broder, and Drew did in the past?
One last thing, has anybody else heard this talking point in the last couple days: "Obama won't really be the first black president because his mother's wife and his father is from Kenya - not an American black."
I heard somebody say that this morning at the gas station which is now the third mention I've heard in the past couple days. Anybody else hear this line of logic lately? Is the right trying to diminish his black credentials in the face of possible victory? Are they trying to make him Barry?
Does anyone else get the sense that this campaign has, from the start been almost completely controlled by Obama?
For example, Obama calls McCain out on the Ayers issue ("Say it to my face"), McCain does, and Obama answers the charge. Ably, in my opinion, but then, I never cared about Ayers anyway.
Does it not seem that they anticipated this? That they expected McCain at some point to say, "I am not Bush"?
It really seems that the whole set up, and the way the debate played out, was brilliantly orchestrated in some way by Obama.
Wow. More evidence of the discipline of the Obama campaign. They held on to the video of McCain saying 90% of the time (at least I hadn't seen it), waiting for a moment like this. I wonder if they were hoping for an explicit denial of the claim so they could call McCain a lier. Of course, McCain must have known this clip was out there, so they weren't going to fall for that. But nicely done, Obama.
I'm glad those crazy-ass TV undecided voters and snap-poll respondents feel Obama held his own. After McCain's effective start I became pessimistic and convinced McCain was knocking it out of the park. I can't even imagine what would convince an undecided voter at this stage, and having been on the losing side of so many presidential elections, it's easy to assume that the Republicans know what they are doing and if they feel that they are doing well -- as McCain obviously did -- then they probably are. Hopefully, they're finally wrong this year.
Zowie. I thought he handled this particularly well in the debate, too - McCain got the "I'm not George Bush" sound bite, but "If I sometimes mistake your policies for Bush's policies..." that's cold, Gunther.
Does it not seem that they anticipated this? That they expected McCain at some point to say, "I am not Bush"?
They should have anticipated it, considering how hard they've been hitting McCain as Bush the Newer. Part of a good strategy is anticipating the attacks and counter-attacks. Obama's campaign has been excellent at doing it, but I'm not sure they'd seem so brilliant if McCain's campaign weren't so flat-footed.
Here's a piece no one cared about. Meh, whatever, probably the most enjoyable article I did during my stint at TIME. Premiered a month before I got laid-off. The nail in the coffin? Ya think?
Here's me going after Al. I didn't so much have a problem with him, as I had a problem with media acting like this dude was the go-to guy for everything black.
This was my first real story at time. I was writing for the Business section, a real change of direction for me. At any rate, it's about Wal-Mart's attempts to colonize the inner-city. As much as I enjoyed this piece, I mostly enjoyed going out to Chicago, which is a beautiful, beautiful city.
This a piece I did about the cops just outside our nation capitol, in Prince George's County, a few years back. I wanted to offer a counter to the dumb, conventional wisdom that if you paint your police force black, you could eradicate police brutality. In fact, Prince George's--one of the richest, blackest counties in the country--also had one of the most brutal police force's in the country.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Nice to see O learning the 'speed kills' lessons from the early Clinton days.
LOVE the use of McThuselah's reaction shots, lol
I think McBush played right into Obama's hands with this one. It'll be interesting perhaps to hear from Axelrod, Plouffe and Obama all about their strategy. I think they have truly redefined modern campaign tactics.
The real killer in that commercial is the reaction shots of McCain, the disdain he shows for Obama. The rhetoric is good, though I'm always leery of starting off with your opponent's definition of himself, but we didn't hear McCain's voice again until the end where he proved Obama's point, so it's a net win, I think.
I hadn't really paid attention to the shots of McCain they used from the debate last night until Incertus mentioned his or her point. Brilliant stuff. These guys really are on top of their game.
I loved how the MSM tried to make that the tagline of the night as if McCain really shed the anchor of the Republican party and Bush just by saying that.
Obama did mess up in one respect tho IMO. He should have used last night's debate to hammer Republicans on their failed policies over and over and over. He should have ignored McCain and just focused on Republican trickle down, tax cuts for the rich, no regulation, always at war policies. Right now he needs to not only keep his lead but also help his down ticket running mates so he has a mandate when he takes over. I think had he taken this approach at some point McCain would have had to defend it, if only to get Obama to engage him. I think O spent too much time rebutting attacks that have already been debunked or that Americans could care less about.
Great ad. I didn't realize there was an actual clip of McCain himself saying he voted with Bush over 90% of the time. Ouch.
Obama needs to be on offense like this for the next three weeks. And he needs to get back on the stump with his inspirational speeches; that's the place where his emotion comes through...he needs to bring us back there.
Great one though I'm not sure there is anybody still riding the fence to convince (Joe the Plumber? - as someone else said, why not Jose the Plumber or Josef the Plumber?).
I'm wondering who will write the definitive book about this campaign as White, Broder, and Drew did in the past?
One last thing, has anybody else heard this talking point in the last couple days: "Obama won't really be the first black president because his mother's wife and his father is from Kenya - not an American black."
I heard somebody say that this morning at the gas station which is now the third mention I've heard in the past couple days. Anybody else hear this line of logic lately? Is the right trying to diminish his black credentials in the face of possible victory? Are they trying to make him Barry?
Does anyone else get the sense that this campaign has, from the start been almost completely controlled by Obama?
For example, Obama calls McCain out on the Ayers issue ("Say it to my face"), McCain does, and Obama answers the charge. Ably, in my opinion, but then, I never cared about Ayers anyway.
Does it not seem that they anticipated this? That they expected McCain at some point to say, "I am not Bush"?
It really seems that the whole set up, and the way the debate played out, was brilliantly orchestrated in some way by Obama.
Is the right trying to diminish his black credentials in the face of possible victory?
His black "credentials"....?
Al Jazerra doing the American media's job better than CNN? Who's suprised.
Their interviews at a Palin rally http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRqcfqiXCX0
That McCain quote at the end is DAMNING!!
Wow. More evidence of the discipline of the Obama campaign. They held on to the video of McCain saying 90% of the time (at least I hadn't seen it), waiting for a moment like this. I wonder if they were hoping for an explicit denial of the claim so they could call McCain a lier. Of course, McCain must have known this clip was out there, so they weren't going to fall for that. But nicely done, Obama.
I'm glad those crazy-ass TV undecided voters and snap-poll respondents feel Obama held his own. After McCain's effective start I became pessimistic and convinced McCain was knocking it out of the park. I can't even imagine what would convince an undecided voter at this stage, and having been on the losing side of so many presidential elections, it's easy to assume that the Republicans know what they are doing and if they feel that they are doing well -- as McCain obviously did -- then they probably are. Hopefully, they're finally wrong this year.
Zowie. I thought he handled this particularly well in the debate, too - McCain got the "I'm not George Bush" sound bite, but "If I sometimes mistake your policies for Bush's policies..." that's cold, Gunther.
Does it not seem that they anticipated this? That they expected McCain at some point to say, "I am not Bush"?
They should have anticipated it, considering how hard they've been hitting McCain as Bush the Newer. Part of a good strategy is anticipating the attacks and counter-attacks. Obama's campaign has been excellent at doing it, but I'm not sure they'd seem so brilliant if McCain's campaign weren't so flat-footed.
Am I the only one who sees just a blank white area where the video is supposed to be? What gives?
Christ, this really puts the nail in the coffin. Oh man.