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College Tribune | October 28th 2008
Features News
It’s about to get ugly With just one week to go before the U.S. presidency is decided, Chris Bond looks at the last ditch tactics that will be employed to win the race for the White House As we approach the last lap of the big race on the other side of the Atlantic, Barack Obama seems to have an insurmountable lead, but shows no signs of complacency. He himself has acknowledged that Democrats have a knack of stealing defeat from the jaws of victory. Michael Dukakis and Al Gore can testify to that. Attack ads formed a huge basis to attacks on those two candidates, but will they do so this time around? John McCain, a man who has defied the odds throughout his entire political and military career, refuses to give up hope. It’s worth noting that the last presidential candidate to turn an eight point opinion poll deficit this late in the race into an election victory was Ronald Reagan. However that was against unpopular incumbent President Jimmy Carter. Contrast that to John McCain’s predicament where this time the unpopular incumbent is McCain’s party colleague George W Bush. McCain continues to fight to the bitter end with a series of attack ads and robocalls, aimed at destroying Obama’s leadership credentials. Obama refuses to let those ads go unchallenged. As Obama’s presidential campaign began, so did McCain’s smear campaign. The McCain campaign launched an ad dismissing Obama as a celebrity in the calibre of Paris Hilton who is not ready to lead. He also launched an ad claiming that Obama’s taxation policies will result in tax increases for American workers. Subsequent opinion polls indicated that these ads may have scuppered Obama’s post primary season boost. Obama wasted no time in responding to McCains attacks, and launched a series of ads of his own which were aimed at dispelling McCain’s criticisms. Obama managed to hold a small lead up until and throughout the Democratic National Convention. A communication strategist for Obama, Robert Gibbs, believes that McCain’s attack ads are starting to backfire. Speaking about recent opinion polls Gibbs said that “more than 60% of the people think John McCain is more interested in attacking Barack Obama than in talking about what he’d do as president.” Meanwhile, one could be forgiven for believing that McCain has traded his increasingly unpopular running mate Sarah Palin for a mysterious character known as ‘Joe the Plumber’. Obama first came across Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher on the doorsteps in Ohio. Wurzelbacher, who is looking to buy a small plumbing firm, expressed his concern about possible tax increases he may incur under Obama’s economic
plan. McCain mentioned Joe the Plumber several times during the final presidential debate, purporting that Obama was planning to raise taxes on hard working people. Obama has fought back on the issue of taxation with the launch of taxcut. barackobama.com, an online calculator which allows users to work out their tax savings under Obama’s plan in comparison to McCain’s plan. Gibbs said that “this will help make it clear that the majority of Americans will pay less tax under Obama than they would under McCain”. John McCain is desperate to find a way to overcome Obama’s massive lead in the opinion polls. In using attack ads and drawing attention to people like Joe the Plumber he is trying to place himself on the side of ordinary Americans. He is attempting to portray Obama as elitist, out of touch and a tax hiker. He is also trying to draw attention to Obama’s relative inexperience. Nevertheless, Obama is intent on not making the same mistakes as John Kerry by refusing to respond to attack ads. This is evident in the setting up of a ‘’fight the smears’’ section of Obama’s campaign website. Every time McCain attacks Obama in his ads, Obama launches a counterpunch with some clever ads of his own which attack McCain’s policies. Obama hopes that he’ll be able to hold the fortress until the fourth of November.
■ McCain fan: Joe the Plumber
Greatest hits: Five ads that changed the political game 1. It’s morning in America again - Ronald Reagan, 1984 US Presidential election Ronald Reagan was running for his second term as US President against Democrat Walter Mondale. This ad follows ordinary Americans during a typical working day. It claims that these Americans have benefited from more jobs, higher levels of home ownership and lower inflation. The video cites the policies of incumbent president Ronald Reagan as the reason for these improvements in living standards. The theme of hope permeates throughout the entire video. Towards the close the announcer declares that “Americans can look forward to a better future,” tying people’s aspirations to the re-election of President Reagan. The end of the video contains a subtle dig at the previous Democratic Party Administration under President Jimmy Carter, asking, “Why would we want to return to where we were four short years ago?” This ad was instrumental in polarising public opinion against Mondale and the Democrats. Reagan went on to win 49 out of 50 states in the election.
of a huge bomb, and was entitled “Labour’s Tax Bombshell.” On the surface of the bomb, there was message in bold writing which stated “you’d pay £1,250 more tax a year under Labour.” Major’s party win on the narrowly win the election.
3. Daisy Bomb Ad - Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964 US presidential election. Vice President Lyndon Johnson ascended to the office of President of the United States in 1963 following the assassination of John F Kennedy. He had to face an election less than a year later. His opponent was conservative Republican Barry Goldwater. The Johnson campaign launched an ad depicting Goldwa-
This ad depicts a clueless John Redwood MP of the Conservatives, a former welsh Secretary, miming the Welsh National Anthem. The video alternates between images of Redwood’s mimes and depictions of the damage done to Wales by Tory Governments. The ad condemns the party’s record of double digit inflation, high unemployment and hospital closures. The clip ends cleverly with the statement, “they’re still singing the same old tune.”
» http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=YHRTLp960Cg
5. Peace - Fianna Fáil election broadcast 2007
» http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=EU-IBF8nwSY
h t t p : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / watch?v=kZrK5m9SGSE
2. Labour’s Tax BombshellConservative Party, 1992 UK General election Many commentators maintain that this ad dealt the killer blow to Labour’s chances of ousting the incumbent Conservative government in the 1992 British general election. In the run up to the election many polls had shown that a ‘modernised’ Labour Party under Neil Kinnock held a marginal lead over the Conservative Party under new leader John Major. During the final stages of the campaign the Tories launched a poster campaign attacking Labour’s tax policy. The poster contained a p i ct u r e
4. Remember the Tory Years -Welsh Labour ad, 2007.
ter as trigger happy when it comes to the use of Nuclear Weapons. The ad contains footage of a young girl innocently counting the number of petals on a daisy. Suddenly the clip cuts to the announcement of a countdown, followed by a massive nuclear explosion. Johnson went on to win a landslide victory over his Republican Opponent.
» http://www. youtube.com/ watch?v=zyVn9k6d1og
In 2007 the Fianna Fáil party cashed in on the popularity of incumbent Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. Their election broadcast was an exposition of Ahern’s role in bringing about the Good Friday agreement. The Video contained testimonials from British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Former US President Bill Clinton and former Irish-American Senator and diplomat George Mitchell. The three speakers claimed that the peace agreement wouldn’t have been possible without Bertie Ahern. The Fianna Fáil party went on to win a record third term in office.