Well, it’s Swiftboating season here in America again. In 2004, they waited until right before the Republican Convention, but this year the Conventions almost overlap so they’re off and running early. I’m surprised a little bit by Rush Limbaugh’s Carpetbombing and the McCain ads appearing almost as people speak at the Convention.
The
Ayers Ad was made by the
American Issues Project:
The other day, the independent Swift-Boating outfit American Issues Project vowed to plunk down a cool $2.8 million on a slimy and vicious ad tying Obama to former Weatherman Bill Ayers. Such vows often can be mere bluster designed to get free media and gin up contributions. Not this time, however. The FEC report from the group is in, and it confirms that the group did in fact plunk down the nearly $3 million to air the ad.
That’s a sizable buy. Meanwhile, Evan Tracey, who tracks national ad campaigns for the Campaign Media Analysis Group, confirms to me that the spot is running in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. This ad, in short, matters. The Obama campaign apparently realizes this too: They have a response ad up in Ohio that hasn’t been released yet.
In other words, the spot tying Obama to Ayers is the real deal — the first wave of the Swift-Boating that has yet to materialize in earnest.
I know it’s not supposed to bother me. It’s just what they do. But, it does bother me. It makes me feel like crying to see the technology of the Young Republicans of my youth catapulted into National politics. It makes me feel ashamed of my country. I expect Thomas Jefferson and John Adams dabbled in this kind of stuff. I’m sure the South of my youth was dirty politics personified. But for it to be such a blatant part of our political process in the 21st century is just sad to me. And "Maverik" John McCain reads it off of the tele-prompter just as well as his former opponents…
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