After an emergency quilting circle with Rach where we explored our feelings about this new ad from McCain, I have figured out what bothers me so much about it and can now express myself (somewhat) coherently. As is often the case with me, my response is two-fold. First, the incredibly sarcastic and condescending tone of the ad doesn't do much more than paint McCain and his campaign as bitter. It's not an attractive quality. Second, and this certainly is the more offensive of the two points, this ad doesn't just mock Obama, it mocks his supporters. Telling folks they are stupid for buying into an arrogant false prophet parading around as a messiah is not necessarily the best way to win friends and influence people. At least the "Celeb" ad deals in some way with the issues, mentioning taxes and offshore drilling. "The One" doesn't even bother to pretend to go through the motions. And perhaps the most condescending statement of all? In a press conference today, when asked about the turn his campaign has taken of late, McCain had the balls to say, "I don't think our campaign is negative in the slightest." I feel like, "How stupid does this guy think we are?" is going to become a tired refrain of mine. I told Rach I'll be so disappointed if these ads work on the American people, but she assures me they will not. And she has a degree in this stuff.
