And They Keep Coming

Independent groups are vying to get in the last word before the election's over, so we'll try too. Here's a litte potpourri of last-minute efforts...

And it doesn't get more last-minute than this: Vets for Freedom just busted out with a TV ad today, airing in Pennsylvania and Ohio, channeling some veterans' anger at Obama. The ad (below) starts out talking about Dwight Eisenhower and some letters he wrote and how Obama only wrote one letter, except that's a metaphor...but the real message is that Obama only saw failure in the courageous efforts of Iraq War veterans. It ends with a spoof of one of Obama's slogans, saying, "Can we win our war? Yes we can."

Meanwhle, RightChange.com picked up a star of Republican Big Money: Bob Perry, the mega-donor who gave millions to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004. Perry gave $100,000 to RightChange's campaign against Obama and in defense of Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC). It's somehow reasuring to know that Perry isn't slacking off this election season.

Progressive Future, which we already profiled, put up an anti-McCain ad on cable that's more about mood than message. It shows images of people struggling with the economic downturn set to Paul Simon singing, "I don't know a soul who's not been battered..." When Simon gets to the lyrics, "I wonder what's gone wrong," the ad ends up on a Bush-McCain hug.

Guns and abortion -- with a special appearance by Chuck Norris -- after the jump...

Continue reading "And They Keep Coming" »

4:14 PM ET | 11- 4-2008 | permalink

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Reagan Endorses Obama! Or Not

Okay, so Ronald Reagan isn't around to actually endorse anyone. But that won't stop political operatives from invoking his presidency to boost their candidate. A new, liberal Colorado-based group called Progressive Future is bringing back the Gipper to put in a plug for Obama, while the conservative Let Freedom Ring calls Obama the "anti-Reagan."

Progressive Future's ad, airing in Florida and Ohio, starts off with footage of Reagan delivering his powerful rhetorical question of the 1980 debate against Jimmy Carter: "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" (One of the strategists who came up with the line later modestly called it "probably the most devastating line Mr. Reagan used against Mr. Carter." The strategist was writing a column hoping that John Kerry wouldn't use it with success against President Bush.)

The ad continues with Reagan's speech, set against images of Dick Cheney, Osama Bin Laden, rising gas prices, a home foreclosure, and, crucially, Bush together with John McCain. Reagan says, "If you don't think that this course that we've been on for the last four years is what you would like to see us follow for the next four, then I could suggest another choice that you have." And just as he mentions "another choice," there is Obama set against a giant American flag, gazing off into the distance at those Reagan Democrats he needs on Tuesday.

Obama himself played off the line last week at a Florida rally, saying, "At this rate, the question isn't just 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?', it's 'Are you better off than you were four weeks ago?'"

But Obama isn't running against an incumbent, as Reagan was. McCain aired his own ad saying, "We're worse off than we were four years ago," distancing himself from Bush's legacy.

Let Freedom Ring -- as part of an endless stream of new ads, some on TV and some Web-only -- tries to cast some of Reagan's glow on McCain instead of Obama. This new video calls Obama the "anti-Reagan" and says to McCain, "Your economic policies are the policies of Ronald Reagan."

We already dug up the background on Let Freedom Ring. Now let's take a look at Progressive Future and its dizzying array of affiliated groups, after the jump...

Continue reading "Reagan Endorses Obama! Or Not" »

2:54 PM ET | 10-30-2008 | permalink

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