Karl Rove's evil genius breaks 'Obama's Promise'
The new ad that attacks Obama from Rove-founded Super Pac Crossroads GPS is unfair, of course, but fiendishly effective
Email
Who
It's a blast from the past in the shape of "Bush's brain", Karl Rove. Or, more accurately, the battle of the Super Pacs is finally beginning in the shape of Crossroads GPS, a Rove-founded organisation that aims to stop Obama's second term.
What
Much has been written about the enormous impact Super Pacs are going to have in 2012, now that they have been unburdened of campaign finance limits. This ad – which is airing in 10 states on a $25m buy – is the biggest shot yet from the Super Pac camp. The 60 seconds-long "Obama's Promise" seems to be a direct response (dollar-for-dollar) to the $25m recent launch of Team Obama's own advertising campaign. Of course, campaign laws mean that neither Mitt Romney nor Barack Obama can have any official links to the various Super Pacs that support them. (And if you believe that, I have a nice swamp down in Florida I'd like to sell you.)
When
The TV ad blitz began Wednesday 16 May.
Where
It is airing in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. And that, ladies and gentleman, is pretty much the entire 2012 battleground right there. It is people in those states who will decide who sits in the White House next year.
How
Shedding the Republicans' usual image as the fusty old persons' party, the ad begins by spiralling in on an iPad on which the rest of the advert then plays out. How very hi-tech modern!
"President Obama's agenda promised so much," the ad announces, as a disembodied hand reaches out to control the iPad's touch screen. It then plays a series of statements from Obama on issues close to the hearts of American voters. After each one, the advert attempts to show how that pledge has been broken.
It's a simple idea and a strong one that is repeated multiple times. Which is about as "Rovian" a propaganda technique as they come. "We must help the millions of homeowners who are facing foreclosure," Obama says. The ad then announces angrily, "Promise broken," and points to fact that one in five home mortgages are still underwater. Then, Obama is shown promising no increase in taxes for people earning under $250,000 a year. "Broken!" the ad declares, saying healthcare reform will see 18 taxes raised.
In a similar vein, it claims Obama broke promises not to take people's healthcare coverage away and to halve the deficit. "Broken! He hasn't even come close. We need solutions, not promises," the ad sneers.
Even by the low standards of modern political attack ads, this one is massively disingenuous. After all, let's face it the Republican party is the side that has been happily blaming feckless homeowners, not gambling-addicted bankers, as the real cause of the Great Recession. And how does healthcare reform really add up to a broken tax promise for the middle class? If proper healthcare reform was brought in, it would actually be a huge boon to most people's pockets, as they and their corporate employers could stop paying absurdly high profit-driven insurance premiums.
As for the deficit line, well, perhaps the ad might want to mention the "say no to anything" stance the Tea Party-driven Republicans have been taking in Capitol Hill negotiations. But, of course, looking for facts and fairness in a political ad is like looking for honour among thieves. There isn't any and it is not important.
What matters is surface impression and this ad is powerful. It attacks Obama on his core appeal (as a decent person whom everybody admired in 2008) and paints him as a disappointing underachiever who has failed to improve the lot of ordinary Americans on the key issues they care about.
That strikes me as a powerful message to vital independent voters. It is also notable the ad mentions the impact of healthcare reform twice (in stark contrast to the Obama camp's apparent desire to ignore their signature domestic legislative achievement). That seems to suggest that Rove et al think that slamming healthcare reform is a winner for them. They could easily be right, too.
Rove in 2007. Photograph: Stefan Zaklin/EPAOh, Karl Rove. Your bewitching dark arts are still top-notch.
A final point. This ad actually benefits from not really being able to mention Mitt Romney (it is a Super Pac ad, after all). The one thing that would seriously blunt the ad's message would be a picture of a smiling, uber-wealthy, stiff-as-a-board Mitt Romney at the end of it. Being disappointed at Obama is one thing, but being reminded of the alternative is quite another.
Sadly for Obama, Romney is nowhere to be seen; and the advert deals a powerful, negative below-the-belt blow that just might leave Democratsfeeling winded in some key states.
Somewhere out there, Karl Rove is sitting down, stroking a white cat and laughing.
'via Blog this'
No comments:
Post a Comment