LOTS & LOTS OF NEW ADS!

July 9th, 2008, 9:19 am · Post a Comment · posted by Dan Lehr

As you might expect, energy is the hottest subject of the latest round of ads from both sides.

1st up, an ad called “Balance” from the Republican National Committee comparing McCain’s & Obama’s ads. (Note: the RNC, unlike McCain, can receive unlimited contributions)

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Here’s ad from McCain that addresses economic insecurities, called “Jobs for America:”

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Obama has a new ad that doesn’t shirk from his stance on energy policy. This one’s called “New Energy:”

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Here’s an ad from the Senate Republicans Conference (not to be confused with the National Republican Senatorial Commitee) that also hammers home the “drill! drill! drill!” message. Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander appears briefly.

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Now another one from McCain, that addresses baby boomers & leans toward the biographical, called “Love.” Note how he “tweaks” the Obama campaign, with the announcer saying ‘hope’ in a way that you can hear quotes around them:

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Upon watching this, I noted the the line “when offered early release, he said no,” & wondered if the role McCain’s father played in his prisonerhood will ever be mentioned by the campaign. Did you realize that his father was commander of U.S. operations in the Pacific during the Vietnam War? That’s why his captors considered him such a high-value bargaining chip, & was the reason he was offered an early release. I asked several people in the newsroom if they were aware of this fact & they said no.

MSNBC’s Chuck Todd has some interesting analysis on this ad:

*** Talkin’ ’bout my generation: The TV ad the McCain campaign unveiled yesterday, which invokes the divisive decade of the 1960s, is just another reminder how big a role the generational divide could be in this election. One thing worth pointing out: Perhaps not surprisingly, McCain is over-performing with older voters, while Obama is over-performing among younger ones. According to exit polls, Bush won the 65-and-older crowd by five points (52%-47%) in 2004 and three points (50%-47%) in 2000. But in last month’s NBC/WSJ poll, McCain was leading Obama among this group by seven (48%-41%). Meanwhile, Kerry won the 18-to-29 set by nine points in 2004 (54%-45%), and Gore won them by two in 2000 (48%-46%). Obama? The NBC/WSJ poll had him up 13 points (53%-40%) among those 18 to 34. Also of note: Kerry lost the 30-to-44 crowd in 2004 (53%-46%), as did Gore in 2000 (49%-48%). Yet in our poll, Obama was leading among those 35 to 49 by four points (44%-40%).

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*** One more thought on the ad: Yesterday’s release of the new McCain bio spot signals a turning point in the McCain message — that everything they do from here on out will be an attempt to make this election a referendum on Obama. The new ad, while appearing biographical in nature, is contrast heavy with Obama. Many Republicans were pushing for McCain to accept the fact that this wasn’t going to be about him, that he had to do something to shift the focus from Bush to Obama. Let’s see if they stick to this.

Finally, from the Republican National Committee, criticizing Obama’s Iraq plan:

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It’s Republican heavy, I realize, but that’s just what’s out there now.