Attack Of The Attack Ads

We thought some of the attack ads in September and October set new standards for tearing down a candidate.

We were naive.

RightChange.com just put out one of the most heavy-handed ads we've seen. It starts with sirens wailing and shaky video of the World Trade Towers billowing smoke -- footage that would have been unthinkable in a political ad a few years ago. The voiceover ties 9/11 to the current economic crisis and says,"'Joe Biden predicts another attack." The ad runs audio of Biden's prediction of a "generated crisis"; there are quick, staged images of "terrorists" preparing an attack, with a photo of Barack Obama also appearing. The ad ends with a bomb blast.

This from a group that, until now, has focused on taxes.

The other recent ad attacking Obama in the context of 9/11 came from the National Republican Trust PAC, which is spending enormous amounts on its anti-Obama ads in the final stretch. It reported ad buys of $800,000 Wednesday, $1.2 million Thursday and $2.53 million Friday.

GOP Trust PAC is truly in the major leagues. In just one month of activity, it surpased MoveOn.org in independent expenditures for the whole campaign season, according the Center for Responsive Politics.

Yet another attack-PAC, Freedom's Defense Fund, just came out the ad below, which accuses Obama of having "campaigned" for a "communist" Kenyan leader who "spread fundamental Islamic law" while "the Christian majority is under attack." Both Politifact and Factcheck.org have already debunked these claims, popular among anti-Obama conspiracy theorists. They derive from the widely discredited book of Jerome Corsi, who has been a paid consultant to Freedom's Defense Fund.

And finally, there's a simple but brutal ad from the Republican Majority Campaign, after the jump...

The ad (below) features a veteran facing the camera and speaking to Obama. "When you call the Iraqi war a mistake," he says, "you disrespect the sacrifice of everbody who has died. Freedom carries with it a price...." Done with his speech, the vet walks away, and the view sees that he has a prosthetic leg. The political action committee, which has spent millions opposing Obama, says the ad is up in Pennsylvania.

Clearly, with almost no time left and Obama still leading in national polls, his opposition is pulling out the stops.

-- Will Evans

6:21 PM ET | 11- 1-2008 | permalink

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