It's running in New Mexico, statewide.
"John McCain: The American President Americans have been waiting for."
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McCain's First General Election Ad
28 Mar 2008 09:35 am
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Comments (13)
@D: Most of the Hispanics in NM can trace ancestry back to the time of Conquistadors. IOW many have ancestors who were here when other European settlers started arriving. Unfortunately the indigenous peoples didn't require green cards when your people got here.
I will point the obvious here. The implication of that tagline is that Obama is not really an American which plays nicely into the narrative that the right has been feeding and fools have been falling for. Sad to see McCain stoop so low but then again his pals in the national elite press will give him a pass on this too.
Oh, just do an ad complaining about foreign born candidates who should be banned from being President under the constitution!
Tag line about Panama as a mosquito infested hole of drug lords, Manuel Noreiga, etc...
I live in New Mexico, and in a military town actually (makes sense since I'm in the military). Republicans are demoralized here big-time. They've conceded the election for the most part. It has been trending Dem (despite 2004) for a while, too.
It initially puzzled me that McCain would try to target this state, but I guess it makes sense: it's next door to Arizona, advertising is cheap, and probably most importantly, there's a large military presence here, as reflected on wikipedia's New Mexico article:
Federal government spending is a major driver of the New Mexico economy. The federal government spends $2 on New Mexico for every dollar of tax revenue collected from the state. This rate of return is higher than any other state in the Union. The federal government also a major employer in New Mexico providing more than a quarter of the state's jobs. Many of the federal jobs relate to the military; the state hosts three air force bases (Kirtland Air Force Base, Holloman Air Force Base, and Cannon Air Force Base); a testing range (White Sands Missile Range); an army proving ground and maneuver range (Fort Bliss Military Reservation - McGregor Range);national observatories; and the technology labs of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). SNL conducts electronic and industrial research on Kirtland AFB, on the southeast side of Albuquerque. These installations also include the missile and spacecraft proving grounds at White Sands.
I can't really gauge the Hispanic vote here very well. In Las Cruces (2nd largest city here), I'd venture to guess a large portion of them are Democratic. Where I'm at, though, a lot of the Hispanics are illegals or deeply impoverished and unlikely to vote. I'm in the reddest Congressional district, so it's hard to say.
Oh, also another point. There's two media markets here: Albuquerque/Santa Fe and Las Cruces/El Paso. The latter is dominated by El Paso, which is of course in Texas, so I doubt McCain is advertising on there. I live in this market, and I haven't heard anyone mention the ad (it probably JUST started though).
The reddest parts of the state are the parts bordering the Texas panhandle, which is the Lubbock media market, I believe.
What I'm getting at is, the media market in NM that reaches the most people and is actually based in New Mexico is the Alb/Santa Fe one, and that's the most liberal part of the state, and contains a large part, in not the majority, of the state's population. Not sure what you could read into that.
I don't think the ad mentions America enough. I'm left wondering if McCain wants to be president of Canada, or maybe Mexico? I think the ad should have been clearer: "The American president Americans have been Americanly waiting for in America."
The American President Americans have been waiting for
Gee, that's not too much of a ripoff of BHO's "We are the ones we have been waiting for..."
"we are the ones we have been waiting for" is not an original line by Obama Dairy, its from MLK I believe.
This isn't copying its deliberately meant to challenge Obama. McCain has used some of his words before as a shot across the bow. I find it ironic and funny whenever he does so.
I also wouldn't read too much into this playing off of Wright. McCain has been running ads like this against Mitt Romney the entire primary.
Its not that Mitt doesn't love this country (or Obama) its that nobody loves it AS MUCH as McCain. That is the proper context from which to understand this commercial.
The ad actually makes two "American" claims:
1. McCain is American. They other guy is not.
2. If you you haven't been waiting for McCain, then you are not an American.
@Brian: too true. And consider the original version:
"John 'America' McCain: The American president Americans have been waiting for, in America, unlike Barack Hussein Obama Mbutu Mohammed bin Laden, foreigner, alien, and antichrist."
"John McCain: The American President psychotic warmongers have been waiting for."
Fixed.
"John McCain: The Old Guy Old People Have Been Waiting For."
Doubly fixed. McCain has the ideas of a very cranky, somewhat disengaged old person, and the generation gap in this election is going to be huge.
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And it is not running in Spanish?
Or does the Spanish version promise green cards for everyone?
Posted by D | March 28, 2008 9:41 AM