Against Hope

John McCain runs against hope. And against hippies. Literally.

Perhaps this will be the last we hear about how he doesn't like to discuss his POW experience? Still, I think it's a decent ad that does the job of simultaneously hitting McCain's main biographical theme while also trying to position McCain as a candidate for those who think the country's on the wrong track.

UPDATE: Of course this also puts one in mind of Wesley Clark's remarks. As best I can tell, the argument of this advertisement is that having been shot down over Vietnam and held in captivity qualifies John McCain to run the country's foreign policy. Surely whether or not that's true should be a within-bounds issue for political debate.

Comments

Doesn't the fact that Obama was about 6 years old when McCain was in Vietnam diminish the link he's trying to make?

If the person McCain was running against was 10-20 years older, it might be more successful. It seems like the perfect ad to have run if Clinton were the nominee. But tying Obama to hippies doesn't seem like a winner to me.

And how can he be a hippie, an elitist, a black nationalist, and a stealth Muslim all at the same time?

Posted by John B | July 8, 2008 12:21 PM

That's actually a decent ad. 1 part fact for every 3 parts bullshit, but effective nonetheless.

I see the beginnings of a great new campaign slogan:

"John McCain: While the hippies were fucking, he was working for YOU!"

Posted by Jay Andrew Allen | July 8, 2008 12:23 PM

Ick. Talk about your Dr. No. I'm starting to think McCain's campaign strategy is to garner support by making all Americans feel like they've had bamboo shoots shoved under their fingernails....

Posted by jamois | July 8, 2008 12:37 PM

Uh, so basically this makes what Wes Clark said all the more accurate and germane, right?

I seem to remember some McCain apologist pablum about how it was improper for Clark to say being a POW didn't qualify McCain to be president because McCain wasn't saying that. Guess that defense is pretty much down the toilet, eh?

Posted by LFC | July 8, 2008 12:37 PM

But, I thought he was only Interrogated via Enhanced Methods, such as water boarding.

Posted by Evinfuilt | July 8, 2008 12:44 PM

re: Perhaps this will be the last we hear about how he doesn't like to discuss his POW experience?

McCain today:
When I was in prison in Vietnam, I like other of my fellow POWs, was offered early release by my captors. Most of us refused because we were bound to our code of conduct, which said those who had been captured the earliest had to be released the soonest.

Posted by bjd | July 8, 2008 12:45 PM

Can we now just call him IWAPOW for "I Was a Prisoner of War"? After all, it does seem to the be basis of his campaign.

Posted by LFC | July 8, 2008 12:49 PM

Interesting that they described the economy as a "shambles".

Posted by Mark | July 8, 2008 12:52 PM

Probably somewhat effective. Also hilarious.

There's always something just a little 'off' in McCain's campaign material - they can never resist trying just a little too hard. His candidacy, like the candidate himself, always looks better on paper than is manifest.

That voiceover is subtly over the top, even for a political ad. It's pleading. My favorite part is when the voice says 'a maverick'. Listen to it again and laugh. I have been in hundreds of voiceover sessions, and I know pretty much how it went down.

[client to voiceover talent:]

- Let's just try the 'maverick' part a few more times. Give me balls.

[talent]

-'A maverick!'

- More feeling!

- 'A Maverick'!

- Look, this is the guy's fucking BRAND! MORE FEELING! Stuff everything into those two words!

- 'A MAVERICK'!

- Good, but smile more..

etc.

Posted by jonnybutter | July 8, 2008 1:06 PM

Interesting that they described the economy as a "shambles".

Au contraire. McCain 'believes' (because a true man Believes Things)....that the world is a 'dangerous place' and that our economy is in 'shambles'. He believes it! Priceless bad copywriting. That he 'believes' the economy is in shambles is the 'tell'.

Posted by jonnybutter | July 8, 2008 1:16 PM

I think the narrator is Powers Boothe, who played Tolliver on "Deadwood." I knew there was a reason I liked Swearengen better.

Posted by bobbo | July 8, 2008 1:28 PM

Can it really be effective for McCain to make an ad that's primarily about re-fighting the battles of the Sixties? Isn't this just reinforcing the Tired vs. Fresh/Past vs. Future/Same Old Pointless Arguments vs. Brand New Purposeful Unity opposition that's doing so much work for Obama this cycle?

Posted by Hen3ry | July 8, 2008 1:28 PM

Not a bad ad as those things go, though I think if the GOP expects to ever revive itself, they really need to let go of the '60s "culture war" BS, which everyone but a handful of paranoid right wing hacks had gotten over by the time Jerry Rubin was working on Wall Street. The dismissal of "hope" is likely counterproductive (as Hillary found out) because the strength of Obama's message is that it has the potential to make citizens get more involved in solutions, rather than feel they are just hiring a fixer via the ballot box.

Posted by Tom | July 8, 2008 1:30 PM

Ha, watch closely -- they're trying to avoid showing how short he is. So they're fucked in the debates, unless he wears orthopedic shoes.

Posted by M | July 8, 2008 1:34 PM

Does anyone else think that this was an ad they developed when they thought they might run against Hillary Clinton, and then when they realized that wasn't going to happen, they tacked on another ending to the ad and let it fly?

Posted by Isaac | July 8, 2008 1:40 PM

I think the narrator is Powers Boothe, who played Tolliver on "Deadwood."

I could've been too hasty, but I thought DW was utterly preposterous in the way that only super-deliberate 'realism' can be. So the voiceover choice makes perfect sense.

Another interesting (confused) thing about the ad: when mister voiceover says 'the summer of love', he says it *fondly*. Presumably that's for the benefit of those voters for whom headless rock stars were/are heros.

McCain: he doesn't want things *both* ways...he wants them *more* than both ways.

Posted by jonnybutter | July 8, 2008 1:52 PM

Isn't running against hippies today like Democrats running against Hoovervilles in 1980? The only people you're likely to reach are those already solidly against the opposing side; more immediate contemporary ills are the responsibility of your party; and, as someone said above, to anyone under 40, it makes you seem like you're from another planet.

Posted by demtom | July 8, 2008 2:13 PM

This is McCain's best ad yet...which isn't necessarily saying much, but it his first major league spot, the others all being minor, if not little league.

The spot is also pretty irrelevant to young people, but does cater to hippie-haters like Andrew Sullivan -- middle-aged conservatives who were rebelling against the style of liberalism even more than the substance.

It is effective in hitting Obama's message, but really, do you want to run against hope?

Posted by Naveen | July 8, 2008 2:44 PM

Now I remember what the line 'McCain believes...our economy is in shambles' reminds me of [hit it, Whitney]: 'I believe the children are our future'. I believe too!

I hope someday to see us wake up out of this sad, weird bubble-world, with its post-modern emphasis on belief over knowing or observing, or of 'believing' something which is patently obvious and thinking you deserve some sort of credit for your sheer belief. The world of St. Ronnie. 'My heart tells me it's true, but, sadly, the facts tell me otherwise'. I guess it makes sense that, having run out of willpower, we fetish it.

Posted by jonnybutter | July 8, 2008 3:00 PM

Damn, I was hoping the fighter jet was going to bomb the hippies.

Should have gone:

1. images of hippies cavorting
2. image of Vietnam era fighter jet flying about
3. image of bombs exploding on the ground

Posted by Peter K. | July 8, 2008 3:23 PM

I love this site. What an alternative world you all live in, and are so proud of it. So proud you can think of something other than reality or what you consider conventional wisdom! That always means you are better than everyone else. Great for amusement. Then to think you might actually believe the nonsense. Well, so much the better. I understand your anger, the rest of the world doesn't see things like you do! Group hug to you all, time for a time out! Redefine math or something, so the US falls behind more and you feel better.

Posted by mallenv | July 8, 2008 4:18 PM

Hold on, hold on. Doesn't this ad open the door to raising McCain's own one-maverick free-love movement upon returning from Vietnam? Why isn't McCain disqualified from engaging in this particular facet of the culture wars?

Posted by Pasota | July 8, 2008 4:58 PM

Another kind of love, of country.

"I really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company."

He took on presidents, partisans, and popular opinion.

Too bad we aren't in a Global War on Alliteration.

And am I the only one who notices the goddamn whistling when McCain talks?

Posted by croatoan | July 8, 2008 5:02 PM

Matt: "Surely whether or not that's true should be a within-bounds issue for political debate."

Oh, c'mon, Matt! Grow up!

There's absolutely NO chance that the MSM OR Obama will challenge McCain's "war hero" crap. "It just isn't done."

As a result, McCain is going to be the next President.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | July 8, 2008 8:47 PM

I think the narrator is Powers Boothe, who played Tolliver on "Deadwood."

Well, McCain does have a craps addiction.

Posted by Marc | July 9, 2008 9:47 AM

I agree with demtom on the ad. For most voters the 'Summer of Love' is ancient history. Why not show an old silent movie clip of the fall of Rome? They use them all the time on the History Channel. Better a more generic and contemporary clip of people enjoying themselves - backyard barbecues, baseball, etc. That would convey what McCain was protecting. He wasn't in Vietnam to fight hippies. He was there to protect America. The use of the Summer of Love is mean-spirited, and lost on any voter under age 50. If McCain runs against hippies he will lose.

Posted by John | July 9, 2008 10:25 AM