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...

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

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Ad Ties Obama, Jailed Mayor

Here's another entry in the "Obama's Friends" series of attack ads. This one comes from Freedom's Defense Fund, a conservative political action committee. It seeks to tar Obama for his past praise of outgoing Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who pleaded guilty last week to two felonies and is headed to jail.

The ad shows a mug shot of Kilpatrick and a list of charges against him, along with audio of Obama saying "I'm grateful to call him a friend and a colleague and I'm looking forward to a lengthy collaboration." At the end, the on-screen text says, "You should know who Barack Obama's friends are." The Obama quote is from a May 2007 speech; more recently, Obama has shunned Kilpatrick and called for his resignation.

Freedom's Defense Fund is running the ad this week in the Detroit suburb of Macomb County, MI, with hopes to expand the ad buy. The group seems particularly focused on African-American politicians. One part of its Web site says, "Does the thought of Senators Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton scare you? At the Freedom's Defense Fund, we think it should."

The PAC has raised and spent more than $400,000 in the first half of this year. Its treasurer is Scott B. Mackenzie, who served in the Reagan Administration. Jerome Corsi, author of the attack book "The Obama Nation," is a paid consultant.

-- Will Evans

6:12 PM ET | 09- 8-2008 | permalink

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