Let's compare two commercials. The first is an RNC spot entitled 'Chicago Way', which hits Barack Obama on his connections to Tony Rezko, William Ayers and (somewhat oddly) William Daley:
This is a pretty standard negative ad. The message is essentially: 'Obama's a little wet behind the ears, he might be corrupt, and he's made some poor judgments in his associates'. The ad is straightforward and -- dare I say -- relatively fair. Nothing is taken out of context. In poking fun at the Chicago tradition, it even seems to have a bit of a sense of humor.
By comparison, take a look at 'Dangerous' -- the most recent spot put together by the McCain campaign:
This is a much darker ad. The viewer is caught in a matrix-like web of television screens. The colors are washed out. There a sinister (although barely audible) low-pitched hum in the background. The female narrator is humorless, scolding.
It is an ad, in short, designed to engage the viewer on an emotional rather than intellectual level, to play to the subconscious mind. And that carries through to the tagline -- 'Who is Barack Obama?' -- a question that the ad addresses only obliquely. What, precisely, is that supposed to mean? Shouldn't the ad be telling us who Barack Obama is, rather than asking our imag"
Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.
PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking report finds registered voters preferring Barack Obama (50%) to John McCain (43%) when asked who they would vote for if the presidential election were held today.
These results, based on Oct. 9-11 polling, represent a narrowing of Obama's lead over McCain. Obama led by double-digits for three consecutive days last week, but now his advantage is down to seven percentage points. Obama has led in each of the last three individual days' polling, but by less than double-digits each day, suggesting that the race is, in fact, tightening.
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