Okay, question. Does this work for anyone?

[beachmom]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpyOSLZw8qo

I mean, does it make you want to vote for McCain? To me, it feels like a little history lesson, and unlike what some think, I didn't find it particularly anti-hippie. It was like here are the civilians at home, and here is the soldier who went to war, or something like that. You could have substituted Kerry's name for McCain, except that when he came home, he protested the war. The thing is, I love the 60s culture and the music; I also admire the men who went off to fight in Vietnam. Why does it have to be either/or?

But for those of you who remember the time, does this ad work? Because, frankly, I don't get it. One reader wrote into Andrew and said simply that it made McCain seem old and disconnected to today's world. It's also the fact, I may add, that we did Vietnam in '04. Then those Swiftboater jerks came along, and it got ugly. I wonder if I'm not the only one who is kind of not looking forward to Vietnam being part of a campaign again.

[karynnj]

1. I don't think it that bad and it is a strong ad, in the way

Keryr's biographical one in the primaries was. The Vietnam/summer of love stuff is short and in the front. It does show that McCain and others are hypocrites in terms of hitting Kerry on his mentioning Vietnam. Bit in both cases, you can't do what is essentially biography without mentioning it - it made each who they are. (imagine Kerry had eliminated both his service and protest - starting with becoming a prosecutor - it would be eliminating two critical parts of his life.)

The recurring themes in McCain's are not backing down, acting on principles, and serving his country. The pictures have every Republican iconic image I can imagine. Would I be swayed if I knew little about him and were more centrist - probably. It shows a strong man (one who would never be a Keating 5 guy) and it shows me why the Republicans had to do the swiftboats. The Kerry biography kind of did the same thing - creating an image of a strong, principled moral hero.

[beachmom]

2. Well it hits Obama, too, with the "beautiful" language part.

Some say that it is equating Obama with the '60s. Um, that doesn't work. To me it would only work if McCain was going against a fellow boomer who got out of the draft ... like George W. Bush. Then it is more powerful. However, it didn't work in '04, so why, with the parallels not there, would it work now?

[karynnj]

3. I didn't pick up ANY Obama connection at all.

You might be right about it not working in 2004- Clinton, who used every string he could find and wrote a letter to a ROTC leader who helped him when help was no longer needed where he said that some loathe the military, ran against GHWB and Dole, both WWII vets - a less controversial war.

The country was actually ok with Clinton and W who avoided Vietnam, while their opponents - GHWB, Dole, Gore and Kerry all fought. With McCain, though this is attempting to protect the image the media always granted him.

[beachmom]

4. Actually, I have a favor to ask:

By any chance, could you find quotes from McCain knocking Kerry for running on his Vietnam service?

This post on MYDD mentions one:

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/7/8/132847/0874#readmore

And how will voters react to McCain's use of Vietnam? It certainly did not help John Kerry in 2004 and there are obvious reasons it could backfire on McCain. For one, it reminds voters of his age, especially when contrasted with a youthful Democratic candidate who prides himself for not being part of the Vietnam generation. In 2004, McCain said he was "sick and tired of re-fighting the Vietnam War" but it is Obama who is promising to move past the Vietnam era. And how much can McCain invoke Vietnam without giving the impression he is exploiting his service too opportunistically?



I think he said much worse than that. Do you or anyone reading remember what he said, and could scare up a link or two?

[karynnj]

6. Her's one article

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-08-25-mccain-_x.htm

Rather a lot of chutzpah claiming that everyone knew he had been in Vietnam. I think everyone knew Kerry had as well and it was every bit as much a part of his life. (Also if it were UNKNOWN wouldn't that be more not less reason to mention it.

[beachmom]

5. Oh, God, and now he goes and undermines his ad:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/8/205357/5748/713/548477

Watch the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h41GAqFbjxI

McCain: Cigarettes are "a way of killing" Iranians

[karynnj]

7. How insensitive!

I can't believe he never gets hurt much by all these things.