McCain has understood that the MSM is licking his ass

[Hope And Change]

Claim: Ad Attacking Obama For Canceled Troop Visit Mainly Intended For Media

By http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/profile/sargent">Greg Sargent - July 28, 2008, 1:55PM

Okay, this is interesting: It looks as if the http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/mccain_ad_obama_isnt_there_for.php">new McCain ad falsely attacking Obama over his canceled troop visit may not really have a lot of money behind it, suggesting that its real purpose isn't getting it before voters directly.

Rather, the real target audience may be the media -- meaning that the McCain camp's goal is largely to get the ad debated in the press and to drive the conversation that way.

Evan Tracey, who tracks media buys at the Campaign Media Intelligence Group, took a look at the McCain buys and discovered that an http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/mccain_camp_rolls_out_brutal_n.php">earlier McCain foreign policy attack ad, as well as the troop visit attack spot launched this weekend, http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0708/Tracey_Small_buy_for_two_negative_ads.html?showall">are running in almost no battleground-state markets, with the new spot only running in Denver and Washington, D.C.:

"They're probably one part ads and one part press release," he said of the two spots. "I don't think these are in any part cornerstones to his message these days -- I think they're really designed to get in the press."

So, the bogus troop-visit attack ad's primary goal is to get reporters and pundits to talk about it. The McCain campaign is counting on the media to amplify the message for them.

Maybe that alone could persuade media folks to gear up those fact-checking skills and start calling out the ad as false?


http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/ad_attacking_obama_for_cancele.php">Link

[mrreowwr_kittty]

1. That's what happened with the Swiftboaters. nt

[AtomicKitten]

2. McBush is flailing about like a jilted lover tossed aside for the guy with the new car smell.

[Alter Ego]

3. Why do you think this new ad of his has no money behind it?

It's because he knows he can count on the bobble-heads to run it for free on their shows.

[americanstranger]

4. Someone at TPM brought up a good point.

We should send friendly emails to the cable nets' ad departments cluing them in that McThuselah is getting the equivalent of a big-ass ad buy when the news department runs a limited-buy ad over and over and over...

- as

[TwilightGardener]

5. Worked for Hillary, and her stupid-ass 3 am ad.

[ProSense]

6. McCain tries to throw election, Media won't let him

McCain tries to throw election, Media won't let him