Is this bizarre?

[Anonymous]

I do not understand this McCain ad. Why would you want to emphasize the fact that your opponent says your accusations are lies? Hypothesis: the point of the ad is not what is said, but to put Obama's black face on the screen with the caption "NOT PRESIDENTIAL".

[jsteele]

You have to understand the full framing that's being pushed:

1) Obama is an "unknown";
2) Obama has suspicious associations and "extreme" positions;
3) When challenged, Obama gets defensive and doesn't offer explanations.

They don't actually have vidoe Obama acting defensive since that's not his style. So, they fall back on taking a couple of quotes out of context.

The irony, of course, is that Obama could make a commercial using that footage from the Des Moines Register editorial board meeting that shows McCain actually getting defensive when he was called on the lies in his commercials.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, it looks like they're trying to set it up like this:

"We have genuine concerns about Obama but he just dismisses them by accusing us of lying, which sounds pretty harsh. After all, isn't it legitimate to be concerned about someone I don't know well?"

I think that's the subtext they're trying to create here.

[Anonymous]

If the meaning of an ad has to be explained, it sucks.

[Anonymous]

If the meaning of an ad has to be explained, it sucks.