He really did it. McCain played the Anti-Christ card.

[chieftain]

It may be the most despicable and least subtle dog-whistle I've ever seen. "The One" ad, complete with its hazy, fiery background images, is clearly designed to do one thing: feed the "Obama is the Anti-Christ" viral smear and scare the evangelical base into solidifying behind him. Vote for me, or vote for the spawn of Satan. That is what we're seeing here and we need to mobilize to expose the completely disgusting and transparent intentions behind the ad. It cannot simply be passed off like a joke as the media is currently doing. Of all the awful ads we've seen this week this one is the most scurrilous and most sharply tactical.

Obama needs HIS evangelical spokespeople out there CALLING HIM OUT for this outrageous smear. We've gone beyond the race-card here folks, we're into uncharted and frankly terrifying territory.

DO NOT ALLOW THIS AD TO GO UNCHALLENGED. IT MUST BE EXPOSED FOR WHAT IT REALLY IS. NOT JUST FOR THE ELECTION, BUT FOR THE SAFETY OF BARACK OBAMA!

[madaboutharry]

1. It is the most sickening thing I have ever seen and

John McCain has shown himself to be a craven and immoral person.

[chieftain]

2. I'm glad you see it too. This is the kind of thing that goes so far beyond dirty politics

it is simply mind-boggling. We NEED to get people to recognize what this ad really is.

[Whisp]

3. does it have the: I approve of this ad thingie at the end?

[chieftain]

5. No because its a web ad, but the McCain campaign has publicly taken credit for it

and dismissed it as them "just having fun"

B.S.

[Whisp]

11. I'm sure there are some good video makers here that can have some fun with Keating 5

and mcCains runaway banker son of late.

hows that for a truth chuckle and a laugh, old man?

heh heh heh.
I think this is how this should be handled - Obama doesnt have to get his hands dirty at all and even condemn them. but if it's out there...

[Frustratedlady]

4. I couldn't believe what I was watching.

McCain is going to shift into a "Mr. Nice Guy" while their big guys do the dirty work behind the "screens".

I admire Obama for being able to stand up before them and fight back, but we need to continue standing behind him in support.

[chieftain]

6. Please folks we need to keep this kicked and get it rec'd so people can process it

I don't care one bit about being the person to raise this alarm and I do not want to be perceived as making this request for personal attention but I STRONGLY believe that this is a pivotal moment in this campaign--admittedly, I don't even know what the best approach to confronting it is, but raising awareness is the first step. This is a moment that should go down in political history. Yes, I am furious, but I do not believe I am overreacting.

I'll leave this call up to the rest of DU to carry on now, but I implore you, STAND UP AND MAKE SURE EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS EXACTLY WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE.

[Cha]

7. Rec'd~ I'm the first..let's get this thing on the Greatest so

more people can read it.

I can't even believe shit won't Obamerang back in his ugly ass fucked up mug.

[Frustratedlady]

8. I added one, too.

All of these blogs need to come down on McCain and his gang. They are backed into a corner and are going to get dirtier as the days go by.

I'm not as concerned about Magoo as I am the Republicans. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to see why they can't afford to let the Dems back in the WH. If we don't uncover what they have been doing in January, we'll never know. They've already covered up or shredded more than we can imagine.

[Cha]

9. Amen!

THank you, FrustratedLady!

[ChazII]

26. Also K&R so

that as many folks see this.

[chieftain]

10. One more post from me--here is a link to the ad for those who haven't seen it

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x164311

The reason I'm being so aggressive about this is I really think a lot of us are missing the dog-whistle--pay close attention to the graphics, the way the imagery is used, and the underlying meaning behind "The One"

The "one" what?

That is the question every American should be pressing John McCain to answer.

[pot luck]

12. I would love to see some righteous indignation from

the religious left. Put McCain on defense for once. Where is the fauxrage about how he is insulting their religion? The demands for an apology? Our side needs to learn how to play the game.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

13. Happy to provide the 5th

Rec.

This is the most batshit insane thing I've ever seen in forty years of following politics. Grampy and his "people" are the scum of the earth.

[DainBramaged]

14. ALL Obama has to do is ask McSenile how many times THIS YEAR he has gone to church

and WHERE is his church

That's all.

[chieftain]

16. and ask the "one" WHAT?

This is a question McCain will not be able to answer--he'll know the answer, but absolutely cannot tell the truth--and will probably go into a complete melt-down over if pressed hard enough.

[DainBramaged]

21. Here is the REAL ONE

[Patchuli]

20. Here's a story about John McSame's church...

http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2008/03/24/mccain-manhood-plan/

A Manhood Plan?????

[NatBurner]

15. wow

i'm speechless

[onenote]

17. Maybe its just me, but that ad just smacks of desperation by mccain

Its the kind of ad that someone who is behind, and who has nothing to say, runs. It tries to mock an opponent's strengths -- confidence, piety, desire to serve -- and offers nothing in return. Are we to assume that McCain has none of the qualities on display in that ad? That isn't a pretty picture.

It is, seemingly, a "hail mary" sort of ad.

[woo me with science]

35. Yes, it's just silly.

And all the hysteria about it, as though it were doing anything other than diminishing McCain in the voters' eyes, is just silly, too.

[chieftain]

18. Stop the video at exactly 20 seconds in. SCARY.

Maybe I'm getting into real tinfoil hat territory here but you've got some really scary imagery there. Combine that with the rest of the religious invocation--"the world shall receive his blessing" etc

I'm freaked out, people. This is bad.

edit: another tidbit- at the 0:45 second mark you've got a nice subliminal burning American flag image as well. I cannot believe these are simply coincidences.

[onenote]

19. suggestion for a response ad: The Two

I think if the Obama campaign wants to have some fun they should do an ad that on its face lightheartedly mocks this ad, but at the same time hits McCain on his biggest weakness.

It should be called the two and it should open with a shot of Obama and a voiceover that says that McCain has been running an ad calling Obama "the One" because Obama is the one who is best suited to lead this country, who is dedicated to change, who understands that the people want a leader who understands and shares their values and concerns. John McCain, on the other hand -- well, he's definitely not "the one". In fact, he's really "The Two" -- and then it should go into a series of shots of McCain and chimpy together -- hugging, smiling,shaking hands, intercut with any statements or headlines or pics that tie them together or remind viewers of Iraq, unemployment, high food prices (stay away from gas prices, though). If they could get the music from Two of Us by the Beatles and play it over the shots of chimpy and bush (http://music.yahoo.com/The-Beatles/Two-Of-Us/lyrics/456457) that would be great too.

alternative music selection: from Irving Berlin: http://www.asklyrics.com/display/Berlin_Irving/Sisters_(Brothers)_Lyrics/44493.htm

[onenote]

22. some pics of "The Two"

[Frustratedlady]

25. Great idea! Anyone with talent to pull it off?

That's the only thing that's going to slow them down.

Making fun of them should take the wind out of their sails.

[ChazII]

27. Exactly.

Humor is the way to handle this ad. Great idea!

[darius15]

23. Fuck John McCain!

I atleast had a little bit of respect for him because of his service, and because in 2000 he was attacked so unfairly by George Bush.

But now, I don't give a shit. This is worse than what GWB did to him in 2000. Fuck John McCain! Just donated $250 to Obama's campaign.

[chieftain]

24. I agree. Its right out of the same playbook--written by the people now working for McCain.

That may be the ultimate moral flip-flop. You are the victim of a terrible yet effective smear yourself, and rather than dismiss it you embrace it and then take it a step further. Yes, McCain is now officially worse than Bush as far as despicable campaign tactics go.

[Faryn Balyncd]

28. "McCain Plays the Anti-Christ Card" ------- This needs to be spread FAR & WIDE.

This "ad" (calling this excrement an "ad" is far too lenient) is the epitome of dog-whistle politics -------- One that packs the full impact of "Obama is the Anti-christ" to the lunatics of the base, but, since it never explicitly states such, attempts to get a free pass from the non-lunatics (as, on the non-lunatic level, it "only" attacks Obama for "arrogance")......

These bastards are the sickest, vilest, and most skilled son-of-bitches that ever walked the face of the earth....

The only way to deal with them is to directly challenge them on the truth of what they are actually doing....... exploiting the "Obama is Anti-Christ" meme while attempting to distance themselves from what they are doing.....

These sons of bitches truly deserve to rot in hell (after we have beaten the hell out of them).......

To do that we need to define what they are doing.....

It's NOT an "Obama is the One" ad.....





The truth is that they are deliberately playing the "Obama is the Anti-Christ" card.......









(A look this ad reveals how skilled these slick bastards really are:
The smears against Obama have been remarkable CONTRADICTORY:

Qbama is a Muslim.
Obama is an ultra-liberal Christian.
Obama is the 5th Imam (sort of a Shia Messiah.)
Obama is a "black liberation theology" Christian.
Obama is an arrogant elietist.

The McCain operatives have decided that instead of clarifying which of these contradictory lies to use, they will devise a way to USE THEM ALL SIMULTANEOUSLY, delivering the message on a sub-verbal level through photographic imagery, all the while maintaining that, on a verbal level, they are simply attacking him for arragance (a charge they have even succeeded in getting one of the Fox "News" token "Democrat" sellouts (Susan Estrich) to make is one of her pseudo-Democratic articles at Fox.)

[glitch]

29. That certainly explains the bizaare "messianic" angle.

I was wondering where the hell that came from. Somebody is popular, draws crowds and so now they are "messianic"?!?
Click, I finally got who their target was on that meme. Sometimes I guess I am not so quick. Thanks for the post.
Although creepy is no surprise from these people, ya just gotta sink creepy enough to get where they want to go.

[dendrobium]

30. You are right to be alarmed.

This ad is implying that Obama is the anti-christ. There have been reports that Obama has been making inroads into the evangelical christian community. They have always been wary of McCain. So I believe that this is an attempt to scare this group into voting for McCain.

This sort of religious rhetoric can be very inflammatory and dangerous.

[chieftain]

34. dangerous is exactly right

which is why i posted this with such vigor. this kind of thing truly scares me and some of the hidden imagery in that ad is the stuff of nightmares.

[mathwhiz]

31. Why are people surprised at this?

If Obama put the sledgehammer down on Hillary and closed the deal by winning Texas and/or Ohio, the campaign wouldn't have lasted 3 more brutal months. His lack of the killer political instinct has always concerned me.

[XemaSab]

32. And I thought the Hitler card was bad

:P

[Buck Power]

33. AND Hal LIndsay's Dumb Ass

wrote an article that practically calls Barack the antichrist.

It's on Digg, and in desperate need of some burying. So, gang, get over there and bury the story (bury button is just below story title, next to "share") here:
http://digg.com/political_opinion/How_Obama_prepped_world_for_the_Antichrist

While you're there, bury the gnashing, frothing wingnut comments on the story. And rate mine up ;) We need all hands on deck.

Those of you without Digg accounts need to sign up. You're going to need one to help fight back these smears over the course of the next few months. We shall overcome!

[woo me with science]

36. Nah.

The purpose of the ad was clearly to piggyback on that tongue-in-cheek British newspaper piece that was so huge in the media last week. They loved the attention the piece got and wanted to keep it alive.

But it's backfiring, because this kind of ridicule diminishes McCain in the eyes of the voters. This is some of the delicious rope of which Nance Greggs speaks in her excellent post. :)

[chieftain]

37. Respectfully disagree.

That may be the easily-defendable purpose of the ad on its surface, but when you dig deeper into the imagery and coded language of it the dog-whistle is most certainly there. You can't tell me that the religious themes plus the distinctly red and scary transitional images which just HAPPEN to invoke images of hell and burning American flags are simple, innocent coincidences.

[jazzjunkysue]

38. Projection: the attribution of one's own attitudes, feelings, to someone or

Projection: the attribution of one's own attitudes, feelings, or desires to someone or something as an unconscious defense against anxiety or guilt. At Jung, the term designates the transference of spiritual features of the archetypal unconscious onto external images, objects, phenomena, etc..
http://dreaminterpretation.freudfile.org/dream_dictionary.html

[Douglas Carpenter]

39. Kick and recommended!!

[chieftain]

41. Thanks! We can't let this just slide under the radar.

Its too nefarious. All of these ads this week were far more calculating than the press at large is giving credit for. There was a lot of thought put into the subliminal effects these ads have. Its Rovian treachery at its worst.

[Tigress DEM]

40. My pc is not showing the vid, but I think I signed a pettition against it!

I thought this one was about the "race card" smear or the dual ads prepared to slam Obama if he visited the troops or didn't.
Either way, I know if it comes out of McCain's mouth it's a lie these days. What else can he do? If he tells the truth, even HE would have to vote for Obama.


http://therealmccain.com/pac/?utm_source=rgemail

32,898 signers

MY COMMENTS:

This is another case of "If you aren't outraged, you aren't paying attention."

Should we have pity on McCain? He can't win on looks, the issues or the moral high ground. So what is left to him but to try and smear a legitimate cadidate doing legitimate campaign activity?

NO PITY. He's old enough to know better and still he goes for the low blow.

SHAME ON MCCAIN!