You sit back down as it dawns on you. Hillary Clinton really is so desperate to beat Barack Obama that she's willing to resort to the grossest fear-mongering on a level with Johnson's Daisy ad. She's so obsessed with winning the primary that she can't see the obvious implications of her ad for the general election. If the election really is all about protecting our children from terrorism as the ad implies, and if that means we're too afraid to elect Obama, then since she's only marginally more qualified than Obama is, why on earth would we vote for either of them when the alternative is John McCain?
If this is what Clinton is reduced to at this point — if she can't do better than suicidally playing into the hands of the Republicans — then maybe it's time for her to reassess her priorities and get the hell out of the election before she does any more harm to her own reputation and the prospects for her party in the general election.
Desperation doesn't win elections and this kind of an ad isn't an example of the quality of leadership the country needs. If this is all Hillary Clinton has left, then it's 3 a.m. for her campaign and the phone call ought to be reality telling her it's time to call it a night.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Lumpy
I saw the ad too and had a similar reaction. I can't imagine what possssed her to think that her supposed experience was something worth running on.
2 - REMF
"...it's such an over-the-top orgy of fear-mongering that..."
- Dave Nalle
So is it worse than Karl Rove's and Dick Cheney's fear-mongering in the 2004 election?
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"It sure isn't Hillary Clinton with her one term in the Senate or Obama with his half Senate term and handful of years in the state legislature."
- Dave Nalle
And how does that compare to GW Bush's permanent grounding in the Guards for skipping a mandatory physical, or his subsequent 2 years of Desertion?
3 - Clintonfatigue
Hillary picks the phone and quicly hung up and shout"Bill,tell your girlfriend never to call this number again!".IT'S 3AM!!!
4 - Baronius
REMF - It compares perfectly. PERFECTLY.
5 - Baronius
Dave, isn't Hillary's scorched earth strategy fun to watch? I always considered that to be Bill's trademark: get what you want, with no consideration of the collateral damage. But it turns out that Hillary is just as bad.
Like that muslimy picture of Obama. It must have come from McCain or Clinton. But McCain gets very little benefit from it now. It only makes sense if Clinton was banking on an anti-Arab reaction in Texas. (You know, Texans are all rubes anyway, even the Democrats.) She and her staff just don't care that the photo might damage Obama down the road.
Anyway, you reminded me of a bumper sticker in 1992 that read "A Heartbeat Away: Quayle or Gore?". I always thought it was a good argument for Bush.
6 - crat3
"Maybe Hillary should call it a night" is pro-Obama biased media against Hillary Clinton that undermines the Democratic nomination process.
Hillary Clinton is about the future of America; she is the qualified, experienced, visionary leader America needs to make change real and restore America to prosperous times and restore our good standing in the world.
Cult leader Obama's attack ad gives an irrelevant response to Hillary Clinton's perfectly legitimate ad. His counter ad is no response to Hillary Clinton's legitimate ad.
Cult leader Obama's ad is slamming and disparaging the military that is serving in Iraq. Instead of hitting at Sen. Clinton with his misrepresentation on her about the Iraq war, he is bashing the patriotic military that is serving in Iraq. Cult leader Obama is unqualified to be commander in chief when he is skewering the military in Iraq with his false attacks on Sen. Clinton.
Cult leader Obama should do the patriotic thing and pull his unpatriotic ad that batters the military in Iraq.
7 - Dr Dreadful
Here's another take, Dave:
One the face of it, yes, you're right - it is a terrible ad.
...Or might it be extremely subtle and clever?
"It's 3 a.m... Who do you want answering the phone?"
"MOMMY!!!"
Hmm?
8 - Lee Richards
1. Clinton's campaign demonstrates and confirms why her type of "leadership" wouldn't take us very far toward finding solutions to our problems.
2. Bush has 7+ years of experience. Isn't helping us much, is it?
3. Yes, McCain has the most experience of any candidate. The trouble is, he's had it too long and nobody's real sure what he'd do with it if elected.
9 - Bennett
Big question: Who will McCain have as his running mate?
Who would be a heartbeat away from replacing this venerable man should the worse come to pass?
It is something that may effect the independent votes, should they decide to pass on whoever get the nod from the democratic electorate.
10 - Colin
The cliche is 'each day I wake up and thank the lord that I am Welsh', but, I am so glad I am not American and I am so glad I don't have to put up with this shit. And, I fear it is coming our way.
God bless every fucking one of us.
11 - Condor
"I always considered that to be Bill's trademark: get what you want, with no consideration of the collateral damage." - Baronius
Good point; I wonder if Hillary could also be considered collateral damage from her tenure as co-president?
I didn't appreciate the 2 for 1 approach taken during the Clinton administration, so much so, that I would really hate to see a repeat performance. The only value that I can see is that late-night monologues would continue to be entertaining.
12 - Dave Nalle
Big question: Who will McCain have as his running mate?
Who would be a heartbeat away from replacing this venerable man should the worse come to pass?
I've been planning an artilcle on the possibilities.
I thinbk it comes down to which he needs more, someone to shore up the conservative base or someone to show his dedication to diversity.
Either way, I think it's an enormously important decision. It could well win him the election.
I'm pulling for J. C. Watts.
Dave
13 - troll
Brother Jeb
14 - Zedd
Dave,
I think that what we need to explore this campaign season is what does experience in Washing do for the nation?
Since this is going to be the message that will be over buzzed (no the point of meaninglessness), its important to look at what experience really means.
What role do staff and advisers play in a President's leadership?
What difference does experience make if one is not right for the time; if their manner or style is not what will lead the country to prosperity?
At the end of the day, we are talking about a position where one needs to be smarter than most people, able to communicate effectively, persuasive, a motivator and likable. The position itself comes with the clout that one needs to get people to perk up and listen when you speak. (Unfortunately our current President missed that notion and felt the need to tell everyone how important he was. Perhaps it was because he was lacking in all of the qualities that are listed above.)
What George Bush proves is that experience is not the criteria that we should be looking at, it is the person and their skill level.
15 - Doug DeLong
#6 crat3...
Maybe I'm just dense, but could you explain to me exactly how an Obama ad that points out that he showed excellent judgment in opposing this war from the beginning is "disparaging" "bashing," or "skewering" "the patriotic military that is serving in Iraq."
And oh yeah, knock off that "cult leader" crap. That's just stupid.
Democrats will send Hillary a message on Tuesday:"Thanks, but no thanks." Obama will win in Texas and Vermont, win or be close in Ohio and he's even closing in on her in RI, a state that was supposed to be a lock for her. Hillary will have no choice but to step aside and support Obama. It'll be interesting to see how enthusiasm she and Bill can muster up
in supporting him after they invested so much in savaging him. Democrats, however, are figuring out that they need to wrap up this primary season so they can start to focus on the general election.
16 - Bennett
Troll: Brother Jeb
Yeah, wouldn't that be the kiss of death.
17 - troll
literally
18 - missy
Ironically you say this benefits McCain. I am suprised the MSN hasn't posted the ad from youtube that was posted in January by a youtube McCain supporter. It has plagiarism all over it. Check it out here and get this in the MSM immediately.
Perhaps the Obama campaign shouldn't have responded with another 3 am ad but could have had a huge effect by using this as an ad in response to the fear monger clinton.
19 - bliffle
8 years ago McCain may have been the best candidate for president and we probably would be better off domestically, financially and in foreign affairs. But the relentless W campaign half-destroyed McCain and he destroyed what remained by his acquiescent submission to the Republican Party. It was unwise to show such loyalty to an organization that had shown no loyalty to him.
The neocons, to achieve their goals, had to destroy McCain and his military record to elect the dummy they had fashioned. As a result they destroyed his 2008 platform. But they didn't care because they hoped to achieve all their goals by 2008 and leave town.
20 - Doug DeLong
Missy,
That's pretty interesting. It sure looks like Clinton copied that first video for her ad. The question and the situation are the same, and even the time is almost the same (3:00am vs. 3:03am). You're right about the second video, too. It would make a great Obama ad.
21 - Bennett
"they hoped to achieve all their goals by 2008 and leave town"
And have, and will.
22 - Dave Nalle
The original ad the Clinton 3am ad is based on is actually a Walter Mondale ad directed at Gary Hart in the 1984 election, and it set up pretty much the same scenario. When asked who they wanted manning the red phone between Mondale and Hart the voters resoundingly chose Ronald Reagan for a second term.
Dave
23 - Matthew T. Sussman
Voice Mail/Call Forwarding '08
24 - Douglas Mays
Oh geez, knock it off with this 'quit now' crap...What a bunch of f-ing losers.
Yeah, that is no different than saying that Boise State should just walk off the field in the 3rd quarter against Oklahoma. Until it is mathematically impossible, STAY IN THE GAME!!!!
Geez, this loser mentality is showing what the USA is all about at this time in history. Losers. Geez, the Air Force just hands over a huge military contract to some French company, not our own Boeing? We are handing billions over to the French....
Obama using "hope" as a catch phrase? Give me a break! Hope is for suckers. "Take action" are the only words that apply to a democaracy!!!
The bottom line is this: CAN OBAMA BEAT McCAIN? NO. CAN CLINTON? OH YES SHE CAN.... in a landslide.
geezus USA!
DM
25 - Douglas Mays
by the way, Hillary on Saturday Night Live last night was awesome. Talk about someone who is not too hung up!
Look people!!! Obama would get Obomba'd by McCain. Hillary would give McCain a run for his money and kick his rear end while he was running...
Get it straight USA!!! We are at a point in history where it is do or die. On a world level! Right now all I see out there is an idiot culture. Being run by idiots. Politics, corporations...look people, we better get our hands back on the wheel. We fell asleep and let someone else drive.
Isn't Hillary suddenly looking like a better choice? She is a tough bitch. Bill sure learned not to mess with her. And he was the toughest guy on the planet. And survived. But the USA hands it all over to a wimp, who took our country from trillions of dollars in surplus to that amount in debt.
AND HILLARY COULD BEAT McCAIN IN A CAGE DEATH MATCH. Wow, wouldn't that be quite a showdown on election day... Stretch pantssuit?
get a grip,
DM