I Hear John McCain's an American

There are no coincidences in something like a presidential campaign ad, so, no, I don't think it's reading too much into things to think that John McCain claiming to be "the American president Americans have been waiting for" is designed to imply that a certain opponent might be less-than-fully American.

Given what a mess the Republicans have made of things, it'll be mighty hard to actually argue on the merits that a souped-up Bushism is what the country needs to improve its national security but the foreign policy hawk can always take refuge in the idea that we have a patriotic obligation to follow an all-war, all-the-time course no matter what the results. Mix in Barack Obama's funny name, and the stage is set for the conservative critique of Obama as allegedly "post-American." Note that it's not just the tag line of McCain's ad -- the whole focus is on the idea that McCain really thinks America is a swell place and Americans are awesome people. Sure, he wants to bankrupt those people and get their kids killed in senseless wars, but he really likes 'em! Not like that whatsisname the Democrats are running.

Comments

This will all be forgotten when Obama reveals his campaign slogan "The American Born American For A New America."

At least until McCain's "The Most Americanest American President Americans Have Been Waiting For In America."

Posted by IMUnaware | March 28, 2008 4:45 PM

Mix in Barack Obama's funny name, and the stage is set for the conservative critique of Obama as allegedly "post-American."

Also mix in that Obama's spiritual advisor, the pastor who he's been going to hear for 17 years, who he brings his kids to see, believes "God DAMN America".

McCain ain't bringing his kids to hear a pastor say God Damn America.

Posted by Al | March 28, 2008 4:46 PM

McCain ain't bringing his kids to hear a pastor say God Damn America.

And Obama isn't going to make his kids wear a flag pin.

Posted by AKBY | March 28, 2008 4:51 PM

Well, it's pretty well proven that George W. Bush is a Thetan impostor. What a slam!

Posted by elle loco | March 28, 2008 4:54 PM

"the whole focus is on the idea that McCain really thinks America is a swell place and Americans are awesome people."

Combined with the media bending over for him and the general "Don't know, don't care" most Americans have, this is a recipe for a cakewalk for McCain.

Posted by We're number 1! | March 28, 2008 4:56 PM

Thus McCain's strategy boils down to calling Obama "Makaka".

Awesome!

Posted by doshaburi | March 28, 2008 4:57 PM

That's a great line. Goes directly at Obama's vulnerability. He better figure out a response that will resonate beyond the cult. I don't think snark is going to work against McCain.

Maybe he should have worn that flag pin.

Posted by Undecided | March 28, 2008 4:57 PM

"Sure, he wants to bankrupt those people and get their kids killed in senseless wars"

McCain, the fiscal hawk who voted against the Bush tax cuts, is going to bankrupt America -- while Obama, the Mondale-style liberal is going to balance the budget by offering government handouts and entitlements to everyone? That's Matt in pure hack mode.

As for "kids" getting killed in wars you call "senseless" (i.e., wars where where America has national interests at stake), the only Americans who are at risk of that are those who, like McCain's sons, volunteer to serve in the military. As far as I know, McCain hasn't proposed drafting Pabst Blue Ribbon-drinking twenty-something hipsters, so you should have nothing to worry about.

Posted by Fred | March 28, 2008 4:58 PM

I'm not terribly offended, mostly due to the idea that Bush Jr, Bush Sr, and Reagan were NOT American presidents, or at least not American presidents Americans in America were waiting for. I found Bill's musings about how nice it would be if, just once, two candidates who really loved America could run for the presidency to be more offensive--however low my opinion of Bush and Cheney, I don't consider them, or any other president, unpatriotic.

Posted by Deborah | March 28, 2008 5:00 PM

And Obama isn't going to make his kids wear a flag pin.

In general, I think Americans like the American flag and don't like people who say "God Damn America". Or maybe I'm just misreading the American people.

Posted by Al | March 28, 2008 5:02 PM

Matt must have struck a nerve - we haven't seen a full-blown troll counter-offensive in years.

"The American President Americans have been waiting for" is far too terrible a piece of writing to have occurred by accident. It sounds like something Aaron Sorkin would put in the mouth of a Republican caricature on one of his bad days.

Posted by Gabriel | March 28, 2008 5:02 PM

Hey, if my fellow American-y Americans want to vote for the Pan-American McCain's Americanny Americanness because Barack Obama's pastor said some stuff which offends, then they obviously prefer the shanty-town economy we'll get from Reagan III / McCain.

Posted by El Cid | March 28, 2008 5:06 PM

This is a huge trap for McCain and the GOP. Americans love the way Obama speaks about America, going all the way back to his 2004 convention speech. So if they try to counteract all their unpopular positions on issues with a patriotism contest, Obama will slaughter them.

Posted by DTM | March 28, 2008 5:06 PM

Maybe it's a reference to the Michael Douglas film "The American President," and McCain plans to win by becoming a widower before November.

Posted by tinisoli | March 28, 2008 5:08 PM

In general, I think Americans like the American flag and don't like people who say "God Damn America".

True. But Republicans make a big deal about both. They make a big deal about anything that furthers the idea that only Republicans are true patriots, flag pin included.

Posted by AKBY | March 28, 2008 5:10 PM

Oh, and that actually carries through right to his name: Obama incorporates his funny-sounding name into his only-in-America theme regarding his candidacy. People seriously love it, as in fact they should--it does indeed reflect well on us that Obama can (and probably will) become President of our country.

Posted by DTM | March 28, 2008 5:12 PM

I read it with the emphasis on the second "Americans", i.e. that he's emphatically NOT the American president the North Koreans, the Iranians, the terrorists, and the French have been waiting for.

Posted by mark | March 28, 2008 5:15 PM

Wonder what the Cuban-Americans think of that? Given the importance of ethnic groups in places like Florida, Hispanics in numerous states, is he screwing the pooch?

Posted by David in NY | March 28, 2008 5:18 PM

Al brings up in an anti-Obama way what I wanted to mention. There are a few possible opposites to "American"--
Non-American, which is what Matt describes
Anti-American, which plays off of the pastor issue
Unamerican, i.e. communist and liberal, in the language of right-wing talk radio

I don't think the McCain campain has a particular one of these in mind, but rather they know that you'll pick whichever one resonates most strongly with you. That open-endedness is part of what makes the add so diabolical--it's like a stereotype madlibs.

Plus, the ". . .Americans have been waiting for" is a clear reference to Obama's "We're the ones you've been waiting for--this ad isn't merely attacking Obama, but it's saying that Obama's supporters are Non- Un- or Anti- American as well.

McCain should be ashamed, and the Obama campain needs to hit back hard.

Posted by Galen | March 28, 2008 5:20 PM

I'm at work so I can't view/hear this ad. In writing, it seems horribly redundant, something that would be so obvious to take note of that people would immediately start to see right through it. But maybe it's more clever when it's spoken, I'll have to see.

Posted by socctty | March 28, 2008 5:21 PM

I suspect that this kind of ad/branding campaign might not work all that well for McCain's campaign. Not because this kind of hyperpatriotism doesn't work in presidential races, but because McCain has had such a hard time with large segments of his base on the immigration issue (i.e. those who have slurred him with titles such as "Juan McCain"). Who knows, of course, but maybe hammering home McCain's superawesome Americany Americanosity might ring false (perhaps if only subconsciously) even with his supporters. Wishful thinking? Probably, but we shouldn't forget how much some righties hated him not too long ago (I'm sure they don't forget).

Posted by Sean R | March 28, 2008 5:22 PM

Al brings up in an anti-Obama way what I wanted to mention. There are a few possible opposites to "American"--
Non-American, which is what Matt describes
Anti-American, which plays off of the pastor issue
Unamerican, i.e. communist and liberal, in the language of right-wing talk radio

I don't think the McCain campain has a particular one of these in mind, but rather they know that you'll pick whichever one resonates most strongly with you. That open-endedness is part of what makes the add so diabolical--it's like a stereotype madlibs.

Plus, the ". . .Americans have been waiting for" is a clear reference to Obama's "We're the ones you've been waiting for--this ad isn't merely attacking Obama, but it's saying that Obama's supporters are Non- Un- or Anti- American as well.

McCain should be ashamed, and the Obama campain needs to hit back hard.

Posted by Galen | March 28, 2008 5:24 PM

Why do people have such knee-jerk reactions to things like this and expect them to actually work?

I've been in Advertising and Marketing for about 15 years and I can assure you, just because someone says it, doesn't make it true. KFC spent millions trying to convince people it was really Kitchen Fresh Chicken, but it didn't make it so. People aren't that stupid.

Besides it's just plain bad writing. It's horsey, redundant and pretty nonsensical.

Posted by JLTTravis | March 28, 2008 5:41 PM

It's the Team America slogan: "America! Fuck yeah!"

Posted by DonBoy | March 28, 2008 5:44 PM

The problem for McCain is that he really can't take this tack against Obama, for reasons people have mentioned: first, Obama already cast himself in 2004 as "there are no red states and blue states, we're all Americans," and, next, the first attempt at tarring Obama as "unpatriotic" was throwing a fit that he didn't wear a flag pin. They blew their load on that pettiness on a guy who, in the first place, already established himself as the "all coming together as Americans" candidate.

Posted by Tyro | March 28, 2008 5:45 PM

McCain just knows that he can't quite pull off the Huckabee-esque 'American Christian Leader' (implication: not a Muslim!), so he has to go with 'American Leader Of America And Especially American Wars, Fuck Yeah!'

In other news, Americans tend to hate fucking hacks, Al.

Posted by pseudonymous in nc | March 28, 2008 5:52 PM

Funny, McCain claiming to be American. He wasn't born here, but Obama was. Even Clinton was born here.

Posted by md 20/400 | March 28, 2008 6:21 PM

The proper response is not outrage but laughter, and I'm glad to see plenty of ridicule in this thread.

McCain, the fiscal hawk who voted against the Bush tax cuts...

Do you have an old set of Romney talking points or something? You're not supposed to mention that he used to be opposed to the Bush tax cuts. That was the old McCain, the one Republicans are actively working to forget.

Posted by KCinDC | March 28, 2008 6:30 PM

Funny, McCain claiming to be American. He wasn't born here, but Obama was. Even Clinton was born here.

Please. His father was in the Navy, stationed in Panama. I don't think we should penalize the children of service men and women who have to live abroad on our military bases. Cheap shot.

Posted by AKBY | March 28, 2008 6:30 PM

Well, if you want to do hints Obama could do that: Obama: "I, as a non-old candidate", or "Although I haven't crashed fighter planes like my worthy opponent...".

I think if McCain chooses a hinting strategy that he will find there is a lot of hinting that can be done.

Posted by Bengt Larsson | March 28, 2008 6:34 PM

Besides, its just plain bad writing. It's horsey, redundant and pretty nonsensical

"We are the ones we've been waiting for" makes more sense? Do you Bamabots ever take the blinders off?

Interesting that you believe the answer to everything is a speech.

Posted by Undecided | March 28, 2008 6:46 PM

Undecided, the difference is that Obama's statement has some artful writing involved while McCain's slogan is stilted and old-fashioned. There's no harm in mocking McCain for it. Personally, I think the slogan is quaint, and have no problem bashing him and his supporters over the head with it.

Posted by Tyro | March 28, 2008 6:56 PM

"post-American" sound great to me, but then I'm a rootless, cosmopolitan euro-weenie ...

Posted by novakant | March 28, 2008 7:08 PM

Will McCain get any diversity points from the wine track voters for having an adopted Bangladeshi daughter?

Posted by Fred | March 28, 2008 7:19 PM

McCain's slogan is clumsy only because its a direct riff on Obama's clumsy new age slogan. With the added tweak.

"We" waiting for "we"
vs.
"Americans" waiting for an "American"

Crude but makes the point.

This is obvious, isn't it?

Posted by Undecided | March 28, 2008 7:29 PM

doshaburi is right that this is calling Obama "Makaka." Except . . . it's going to work. It's damned effective, and I mean "damned" in a religious sense. It's evil, and it will work, and it needs a strong, vicious, back-breaking response.

“Muslim” = “Black Radical” = “Foreign” = “Terrorist” = “Jap” = “Communist” = “Abolitionist” = “Jacobin” = “N*****”

The sentiment is exactly the same over all of American history; only the “Scary Other’ signifier changes.

My conservative, conspiratorial, shockingly ignorant WHITE pastor said the other day that “the Muslims are behind” the recent violence in Kenya. Of course, Kenya is only 10% Muslim and both sides in the conflict were Christian. He might as well have been saying “the Communists are behind it.” (It’s okay to be an ignorant jerk if you’re white, though.) The point is, "Other" is "Other." It's scary and not American.

Posted by rm | March 28, 2008 8:06 PM

Galen, just read your comment. Definitely "stereotype madlibs" -- great phrase. Ditto to everything you wrote.

Posted by rm | March 28, 2008 8:21 PM

Obama's popularity has risen a little over the last couple of weeks. By all means, keep flogging the Rev. Wright. (Is it possible for Republicans to be MORE empty? Let's watch.)

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | March 28, 2008 8:25 PM

"Will McCain get any diversity points from the wine track voters for having an adopted Bangladeshi daughter?

Posted by Fred | March 28, 2008 7:19 PM"

Yeah, I do respect for it, but it's not going to make me forget issues matter.

Remember Romney's "Gosh, I love America" line? That didn't go over with even Republicans. This ad also brings up the question, "wait, Bush wasn't the president we've been waiting for?" which can only piss off Bush supporters wary of McCain while bringing up the question of why they didn't nominate him in 2000.

As for the preacher thing, he probably will have to nominate Huckabee as VP - he needs Huckabee more than Huckabee needs McCain now the Huckabee has some real credentials with ultra-Christian America. Huckabee has come out in support of Obama and Wright. Playing that tape again and again will hurt McCain if he chooses that tact and will also bring up the idea that maybe we shouldn't attack people for their religious beliefs, thus tying the Wright issue mentally to liberals making fun of Bush thinking he hears voices.

Posted by Reality Man | March 28, 2008 8:39 PM

Put up posters with McCain's face, Captain America's body, costume and shield, and the phrase "Captain AmeriCain!"

People will get the idea.

McCain won't survive the comparison.

Any American who accepts that McCain represents this country should commit suicide. Because if he does, this country should commit suicide.

For those who think McCain is some kind of brainwashed "Manchurian Candidate", I can actually see how that would work. If McCain is elected, he will bog the US down in so MANY wars that the US military will simply be destroyed. You couldn't have a more effective way of destroying this country's military and its economy than in trying to take on the whole world - and that's what McCain will do.

He will attack Iran, Syria, Pakistan, North Korea, maybe even China, if not Russia. And the US will lose every damn one of those wars, with the possible exception of North Korea - except that one will cost fifty thousand US casualties in ninety days and end up costing a hundred thousand or more, not to mention destroying South Korea as well.

Electing McCain President will finish the destruction of the US military and economy, whereas electing Clinton or Obama will only severely damage the US when either of them starts a war with Iran.

We really should not underestimate the disaster that a McCain Presidency will be.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | March 28, 2008 9:53 PM

These cheap shots on Obama's patriotism don't worry me that much.

Obama will get the nomination, the Republicans will unload their attacks, emotions will run at a fever pitch, and Obama will hit a home run with a "major speech on American patriotism."

If Regan was the great communicator (a meme I've never understood), Obama is the great teacher. Moreover, his specialty is the fundamental document of our democracy.

Obama can sleep-write a compelling speech about true patriotism that exposes Republican attacks on his allegiance for the dangerous jingoism they are. With the back drop of Iraq, he will lay bare the dangers of blind, unquestioning patriotism. He can remind Americans why we are ill served by politics that must adhere to the notion that American is always right and, in doing so, make his audience feel exceedingly proud to be Americans.

He hasn't even hit his stride.

There. I said it.

Posted by linkslinger | March 28, 2008 9:58 PM

McCain's slogan seems to be directed against Bush, too. Americans have been waiting while . . . what?

Posted by SqueakyRat | March 28, 2008 10:52 PM

Don't overestimate the funny name factor.

There is an element of nativism in it - that strain, running through American history, of hatred for people of a different origin or religion. Loretta Lynn, the country singer, was with Vice President Bush when he campaigned in central Illinois last month. Speaking of Mr. Dukakis, she said, ''Why, I can't even pronounce his name!'' The crowd roared with glee. Mr. Bush said nothing. -- NYT 10/27/88

Posted by Dan Hartung | March 29, 2008 12:42 AM

I guess this is one of the GOP's "What Happened to Kansas?" pitches to distract blue collar votes from economic issues.

Obama needs to cut off McCain from the conservative base. Once he locks down the nomination, he should move to the right of McCain's on immigration. That really isn't very hard, even if Obama says he won't propose any amnesty bill until the border is secure and in any event, not in his first term... he's to McCain's right).

Secondly, he needs to find any progressive position that McCain supported in the past that he's since walked away. McCain came out against Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and has now endorsed them. Obama has brought this flip flop up already, he needs to keep plugging away. Any other issue flips like this will work great too.

As General Sherman would say, it puts McCain on the horns of a dilemma. If McCain now goes with conservative orthodoxy, he looks like a flip flopper but if he reaffirms his old liberal positions, it pisses off the conservative base.

Posted by beowulf | March 29, 2008 4:36 AM

John McCain, the Old Guy Old People Have been Waiting For.

Posted by AJ | March 29, 2008 9:43 AM

Arguably - if you want to play this dumb game - Obama is the most American - Afterall, he is both white and black and he was actually born on sovereign US soil.

When people say McCain is 'American' - they are making a coded racial appeal. Otherwise, why state the obvious. TV ads are too expensive for non sequitors - so it's fair to note that seeming non sequitors are really code for race.

Posted by Comment | March 29, 2008 10:03 PM

"When people say McCain is 'American' - they are making a coded racial appeal."

Please. When Obama's supporters point out his international links (he's got family in Kenya and China!), his potential international appeal (Muslims will like him because he's black and he lived in Indonesia!), and Obama himself eschews uncontroversial symbols of patriotism, McCain's tagline is a natural counterpoint. It's not about race: the tagline wouldn't effectively distinguish McCain from an African American candidate such as Colin Powell.

Posted by Fred | March 29, 2008 10:39 PM