Valley View vs. Greenville
Cars and Parts Springfield Swap Meet
Carroll Commencement
Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2008 > August > 28 > Entry
Eye On Ohio: RNC ‘Right’ ad
By Jonathan Riskind
The Columbus Dispatch
The ad: “Right,” 30 seconds.
Producer: Republican National Committee.
Where to see it: The Republican National Committee says it has paid between $2 million and $2.5 million to air this spot in “major markets in Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and western Pennsylvania.” View it at DaytonDailyNews.com/eyeonohio.
Script: Narrator: “Who has the experience to govern our nation?”
Hillary Clinton: “Sen. McCain will bring a lifetime of experience to the campaign. I will bring a lifetime of experience. And Sen. Obama will bring a speech that he gave in 2002.”
Narrator: “Barack Obama. He gives a great speech. But now Americans must ask ourselves: Should we elect the most inexperienced presidential candidate of our times? Or was she right?”
Video: The ad opens with photos of Barack Obama and John McCain with a “who has the experience” question written underneath. Then it goes to the clip of Hillary Clinton disparaging Obama’s experience during the Democratic rivals’ bitter primary fight. There are shots of Obama making a speech and people cheering, and the narrator poses the final question.
Analysis: This Republican National Committee ad, although legally an “independent expenditure” that can’t be coordinated with the McCain campaign, continues a theme sounded by McCain and Republicans almost from the minute Obama picked Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., as his running mate.
The GOP is more than happy to beat on Obama by using criticisms of him, and sometimes praise of McCain, by Biden and Clinton.
On the one hand, Clinton said it, no getting around that. And at the time, Democrats just knew that if Obama won the nomination, she had handed Republicans a campaign commercial. On the other hand, Clinton has made it clear that she believes an Obama administration would be far preferable to a McCain administration on issues such as abortion rights, the economy and education.
“I just want to make it absolutely clear we cannot afford four more years of George W. Bush’s failed policies in America, and that’s what we would get with John McCain,” Clinton told the New York delegation at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. “Now I understand that the McCain campaign is running ads trying to divide us, and let me state what I think about their tactics and these ads: I am Hillary Clinton, and I do not approve that message.”
Jonathan Riskind is a reporter in the Washington bureau of The Columbus Dispatch. E-mail: jriskind@dispatch.com.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Eye on Ohio
Comments
By mwm
August 28, 2008 7:03 PM | Link to this
Bush, besides being a habitual liar, was also a failure in business, did not complete his military obligation and, should not be president. McCain is a clone and follower of the Bush neocon ideology. Lincoln, was a Republican. However, the current Republican party is nothing like the Republican party of Lincoln. Lincoln was an honest man. The current Republicans are dishonest.By Ethel S.
August 28, 2008 2:18 PM | Link to this
Abraham Lincoln was a Republican with a lot of experience as a Congressman and Senator. Sen. Obama is more comparable to Jimmy Carter as the unknown and unproven. The Dems can just “hope” that Sen. Obama can one day in the future get some experience and truly make the “changes” he talks about. Talk is cheap without any results so far. Vote McCain for proven experience, leadership and results!By EricR11
August 28, 2008 10:23 AM | Link to this
The rejoinder to this ad is that there was another inexperienced congressman from Illinois who gave a great speech, also committed to uniting and healing a deeply divided country in a critical time - and who was also the target of ridicule and misunderstanding for what he stood for. Some older Republicans might even remember this guy. These days though, make no mistake - Barack Obama, Democrat, is a real heir of Abraham Lincoln’s legacy in this election.