Every time I turn on the television lately, I'm barraged by negative ads about Barack Obama by the McCain camp. Ads full of inflammatory terms, personal accusations, and little about McCain's policies. I sure know what McCain thinks of Obama and what he plans to do but very little about what McCain plans to do himself.
(Those who were intrugued by the title of this post, stay with me here - it's not a red herring...)
While the economy is in the pooper and people are losing their jobs and their homes, what I'm seeing very little of is anything from McCain about what he plans to do - not just about that but about almost anything. Yes, I've seen a ton of ads prior to the polls changing in Obama's favor that talk about what McCain has done - I think we can all talk about the last 20 odd years as if it was just yesterday - but aside from his health-care plan, I don't know much about what he plans to do in the future, if President. At least not from the ads - of course, I can go to his website and wade through that - which, yes, I have done. I wonder how many others will or have, however? So, for the remainder, Mr. Joe Six-Pack and your Alaskan pitbulls with lipstick, the tv is most likely their primary source of information on the candidates.
So, it is in this context that I'm asking my friends who are either undecided or decided for McCain, what you think of these ads. Do they really help McCain's cause or do you think it's a case of "those who sling mud, lose ground?" Are you really proud of the way that McCain is running his campaign? Wouldn't you much rather McCain come out with a series of ads about his plans for the future? Aparently he does have them, whether I agree with them or not because they are, indeed, right there, hiding 2 levels in on his website.
You see, I believe that those of you who disagree with my political views hold, just a deeply, a set of your own. We may disagree on the issues but ultimately we debate for the same reason - because we care. So, aren't you frustrated that McCain's not out there pushing the policies you believe in and instead is running around slinging personal insults at his opponents? Or... not?
Maybe, at the end of the day the ads don't matter to you? Maybe your issue is just taxes or abortion and you're going to vote for the Republican ticket no matter what. I get that - it would take one heck of an interesting Republican candidate for me to vote for him/her - but you're down in the polls and I'm sure you do want McCain to win, so aren't you frustrated he doesn't change tactics? I'm honestly curious.
Here's an example of the ads I'm talking about, by the way, if you have not seen them. And, if you're worried that commenting will result in a long rebuttal from yours truly, I pledge that I will not respond on this one. I truly am very interested to hear some unfettered opinions about what you think of the ads and the way McCain has run his campaign.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONfJ7YSXE5w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBsE8GbLM8U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjEKRIBDv6Q
Have at it!
6 comments:
I'm not a politician believer, and I'm the kind that will always vote for republican canidates because of a couple of essential beliefs. Bottomline is, I believe God will let whoever He sees fit win (may or may not be republicans, as history shows us), and my job is to vote for the one/party that does not believe in things He disaprove of. I hardly watch any TV and I don't believe a thing on those ads anyway.
It's a passive and ignorant way to vote, yes, but I honestly don't like any politicians. I like it better when I couldn't vote...
Still...between the both of us, we cancel out each other though you're so informed and opinionated and I'm so, you know, not...
Does what I say even make sense? I'm not sure ...
Joy,
I appreciate you taking the time to share your beliefs. You shouldn't devalue your own opinions, however. You are just as entitled to them as I am to mine - even if we sometimes disagree.
Thanks for being the first to comment!
I do have one question, though. Does your church encourage you to vote a certain way or do you make a determination on who to vote for independently, based upon your belief of who best represents God's values? (That sounds a bit ignorant and awkward, but I know you know what I mean)
I'm not the first to comment, I'm probably the ONLY one to comment here. Most around me that I think knows you are voting against republicans.
That being said, most of my families (Christian or not) are republicans (one even ran something....forgot what haha...) and are befriended with republican politicians. On top of that, my church just explained to us what some basic beliefs are for each of the parties and left us to draw our own conclusion. If I don't have these "influences" in my life, I wouldn't know the first thing about who to vote for!
Jenson was just saying last night that ALL he sees on TV is how everyone makes fun of Palin. So....back to my "perspective is everything"...
Well, my beliefs are what I would call "crunchy conservative". I have social and financial values that are more aligned with the conservative party but, I am a serious treehugger (environment, animals, education/child protection. So, I don't really subscribe to one camp - I follow the major issues impacting our Country and cast my vote accordingly based on the person best equipped to deliver solutions to the important issues. This time, I'm in a political pickle. I do not support Palin's platform at all and think she is misplaced in the VP candidate spot (I don't want to be mean, but she lacks the intellect, social skills and knowledge). I see somewhat eye-to-eye with McCain but his decision to "attack" charecter at this stage makes me question his judgment, I think Obama will be good for International relations and potentially on some US economic issues BUT too lenient on terrorist regimes, thus risking our security. Each time a democrat is in office, our Armed Forces and Global intell. are stripped down in favor of $$ going to special programs. I also am very distant from his super-liberal social beliefs, not at all a fan of "healthcare for all" and MUST question his judgment on the very close company he keeps. I like a lot of what Biden is PERSONALLY, but, his values are also too liberal for my taste...mini-obama-senior. So what do I do? As an American, I just cannot use my vote if I don't support someone...in all honesty, I had this issue in the last election too. I am without a solution. At the start of this race, I supported Guiliani....then later, Huckabee supporter. Even thought about Ron Paul. That's the long and short of it. I hope that Americans THINK about what they are doing. It worries me that women who want a woman in power will blindly give MC/Pal the vote just as much as blacks who want a black man in power will vote solely on race. I wish we could have a do-over!
Thanks for sharing, she-prior. It's heartening to hear that, while we don't always agree on how or who to tackle the issues, we can at least agree that character asassination and inflammatory language will not take us in the right direction.
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