This is the cycle's first presidential contrast ad....
Steve Schmidt, a McCain adviser, responded with a jab:
"With an ad like that, it's more likely that the call at 3:00 am is, "Senator, you've just lost another superdelegate."
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» Hillary Clinton Needs Melatonin from Liberal Values Comments (45)
An economic crisis at 3am? What are we talking about here, a 7-11 getting robbed? 
Who the f**k gets 3AM calls about the economy? There is a real deficit of ideas in the Clinton media wing.
"With an ad like that, it's more likely that the call at 3:00 am is, "Senator, you've just lost another superdelegate." Heh, that's actually pretty funny.
Also, are they putting this on the air? Cause that would be really dumb. With all of the 3AM parody ads, I was half expecting this to be a joke or something. I don't think it helps the Hillary camp to beat this horse, considering the fact that it's not just dead but has been dressed up like a ballerina and people are laughing at it and taking pictures.
And with this, self-parody is born.
Well, I managed to get a transcipt of that call: President Clinton: Hello? Tres Sec. Krugman: Madame President. There's a crises - Clinton: Hold on, I need to get dressed and adjust the lighting........ok, go ahead. Krugman: As I was saying, there's a crises in the financial markets which decided to stay open really late today for some reason. Clinton: Hey Camerdude, wake up...that angle is awful - Sorry, Paul, what were you saying? Krugman: There's a financial crises, Madame President. What do we do? Clinton: Chill out, Paul. The End of the Cold War and the Tech Boom will save us. We'll take the credit and declare victory. Krugman: Madame President, that was 15 yeas ago. Clinton: No, we need to shoot the video again, dammit. Oh, sorry, Paul. Listen, let's put Greenspan on a commission or something. That should work, right? Krugman: I told you how I feel about Greenspan, Madame President. Clinton: Right well. Listen Paul, I gotta go. I'm under sniper fire. You'll figure it out. And if not, we'll find someone to blame. Krugman: Madame Pres- Clinton: (click)
Bobby Knight? What are you doing in a Clinton commercial? BTW, love the Pattonesque trumpet at the end of the commercial. It's an IVORY-colored pantsuit!
I like it. I am an Obama supporter, and I like this ad for one reason: She's finally attacking McCain and not Obama. Her rhetoric has been less bombastic lately towards Obama, and more aggressive against McCain. That is all good because ultimately McCain is the real target for all Democrats and not each other. Good on Hillary.
Did the focus groups really like this one? It makes no sense to me. Economic crises don't come all of a sudden, they develop over days and even years. "Mrs. President, I'm sorry to wake you up, but a cell of bankers has activated and is foreclosing on millions of homes!"
I am an Obamaican. But I have to say ... Steve Schmidt, I like the cut of your jib.
They must really be short of cash. Media companies want to be paid up front, and here they are recycling as much footage as possible. Plus, it is sort of dumb. The Bear Stearns bailout came over a weekend, not at 3 a.m. At that hour its a burglar. And I'm really bothered that she sleeps in her clothes so as to be ready when called.
This is getting ridiculous!!! What competence does it take to just pick up a phone? It seems only Hillary can do that. I thought G. Bell invented the phone not Hillary! Even him wouldn't claim that he is the only one who knows how to pick up a phone! lol.
oh, Jeesus, this is pathetic. She mustn't have two cents to rub together. I'm a dem but the McCain guy really got it right here.
A couple of comments. First, anyone else notice that this time people of color are included? There's an African-American couple and (I think) a darker-skinned kid near the end. No doubt this is a direct result of the attacks on the last ad as subliminally racist. Second, what are Hillary's people smoking? If I had been McCain's spokesperson, I wouldn't have used the line he used (which admittedly is pretty good but VERY inside baseball). Instead, I would have said something along the lines, "When Hillary gets that call at 3 am, we now know she's going to be so sleep deprived she'll mistake the ringing phone for sniper fire." Talk about an opportunity to remind voters of the Bosnia gaffe....
This is an ad for a candidate who said that -- because of sleep deprivation -- she had falsely claimed that she had run from a plane to a car while under sniper fire. Her sleep deprivation also made her forget a welcoming ceremony with a little girl, handshaking with soldiers, and a photo taken with an entire seventh grade class. Oh, her lack of sleep also made her remember a corkscrew landing and sitting on armored vests, two things the pilot said never happened. Methinks this candidate should be sleeping through the night.
Great line from Schmidt. We need this sort of stuff to get through the monotony of this race. The best memo was the snark-filled annotated memo from Burton in response to some tripe from Mark Penn. The Clintons can't do funny, but it would be nice if both camps in a general were able to do so.
I agree with Mimikatz This ad tells us Hillary is bleeding red badly. It is good for Obama supporters in that she is not attackinghim but it really doesn't help her in the primaries. Folks probably are wondering why she has a phone ringing at 3 AM..for debt collectors to call? WTF They should ahve something about how folks can't sleep and wake up at 3 AM worrying about foreclosure not that Hillary would answer the call. It's not as though the consumer can call the WH and get Hillary at 3 AM. This ad is dumb.
Even for Hillary Clinton, this is shockingly lame.
RKA, you should have your own column, that script was priceless. Also, neil's line:
It's a vieled attack on Obama. The other 3:00 a.m. ad was so seared into our popculture, folks will translate it subconciously into an attack on both McCain and Obama. Two birds with one shot.
The video is blocked from work, but judging by your responses, I can't wait to see it... this has to be a tongue-in-cheek allusion to her mistakes. That combined with the fact she's attacking McCain makes me wonder if she really does acknowledge that her campaign needs to start winding down... ...or, more likely, she's adopting Obama's strategy of attacking McCain, which Obama is presumably doing to emphasize the fact that he's pretty much done with Hillary and his main opponent is McCain. Hillary probably felt left out from the lack of attention. That said, it would be nice if she gradually dropped out this way. Pay off her debts, throw a few ads out there attacking McCain along the way, and endorse Obama. I doubt that's the case, though.
Hillary likes that 3 a.m. time slot for phone calls. She's always up at that hour anyway, waiting for Bill to come home...
vicissitude - ROFL @ debt-collectors
It's official! Hillary Clinton can do no right by Obama supporters. You don't want her attacking Obama, you don't want her attacking McCain, either. You don't want her talking about health care, the economy, her experience (because it's all a lie, a lie A LIE, you all hysterically ramble)... what exactly could she do to please you except for simply drop out of the race? Except that wouldn't please you either, you'd continue to take childish pot shots at her all the while. You people are so tragically out of touch with reality. This is the kind of ad all Democrats should be pleased about, pro-Clinton, pro-Obama or neutral.
Tim K - Oh, shut the fuck up. Stop making scarecrows. Obama supporters have applauded Hillary's efforts to go after McCain. And of course we continue to also take pot-shots at her, because her chances at the presidency are virtually over, yet she still stays in. Anyway, I also think she put out this style of ad because it might get a good share of free airplay on the nightly news programs. I can imagine the producers drooling at another opportunity to slice and dice another "3 A.M." ad. It's very curious as to why she chose this type of ad, after her other one was pretty decisively frowned upon. That's why there's such interest, Tim K. Stop with your feigned "poor Hillary" comments and knee-jerk reactions.
No, Tim K., because for an ad to be effective, it cannot be horribly lame, as this ad is. This ad probably helps McCain.
socctty: Are you blind? Have you actually read the comments? I've seen maybe one applauding Hillary for going after McCain, and at least a dozen mocking her for the 3:00 AM ad format (which worked btw). As for her staying in the race, how about you choose to educate yourself instead of blowing smoke out your ass. Ted Kennedy stayed in the 1980 race all the way to the convention even though he was over 1000.... I repeat, ONE THOUSAND, delegates behind Carter. Gary Hart stayed until the end of the primaries even though he was so far behind Mondale there was no realistic chance of him catching up in pledged delegates. Jerry Brown stayed in 1992 until the end even though he had no chance of defeating Bill Clinton. Unlike Ted Kennedy, Gary Hart, or Jerry Brown (at least two of whom support Obama), Hillary Clinton is actually in a competitive race with the front-runner. Obama himself has said he thinks she's earned the right to stay until the end of the primaries. So you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.
Rolaids, Thanks for the compliment. I have a diary at DKos if you are interested.
OK Tim K, let me make it #2 applauding Hillary for going after McCain. I haven't seen the ad itself so I can't comment it, but I for one would be a lot less aggravated by this whole process if she were to stick to firing on McCain.
Hillary Clinton: Ready on day one to tell a hundred different lies in a thousand different ways
Talk about an opportunity to remind voters of the Bosnia gaffe.... Why would they do that? They WANT to run against Hillary. She's got bull's eyes painted all over her, and she doesn't even realize it. (I'm sure her new BFF Richard Mellon Scaife would be really nice to her if by some miracle she became the Dem nominee.)
They're slamming it because the 3:00 AM format makes no sense for a financial crisis. Dude, if you think this current ad "works", it's probably best if you avoid any work in sales, marketing, or advertising.
LFC: Are you suddenly advertising executive? Dude? The ad works because it's going to get attention and it hits McCain on a weakness. Not every advertisement needs to be slick and hip in order to have the desired effect. This isn't MTV, it's a presidential campaign.
I was half expecting this to be a joke or something. --Craig "Mrs. President, I'm sorry to wake you up, but a cell of bankers has activated and is foreclosing on millions of homes!" --Rolaids
Are you suddenly advertising executive? Dude? Consider me part of a focus group, dud. Because the 3:00 AM format makes no sense (it did make sense in the original ad), it detracts from the message. If you can't grasp that starting an ad with a dumb premise is not good, then yes, compared to you I an advertising guru. Wanna' see an effective anti-McCain ad? Try this one.
Tim K, Funny you mention Gary Hart and Ted Kennedy. I can't quite remember - how did the general elections go for democrats those years? And in 1992, didn't Bill Clinton win with just 42% of the vote, and his opponent got crushed so bad because some guy with big ears took 19% of the total votes mostly from his constituency? I think maybe Obama supporters, and a good deal of Democrats in general, are upset at the length of this thing because of the history of disasters it's caused the party. And whether it's 150 delegates or 1000 - an insurmountable lead is still insurmountable.
Sure Mrs. Clinton has a p[an. She also had plan to create was it 60,000 new jobs in Upstate New York. Wr're still waiting.
The only catch is, do you want those jobs paid?
TheSteve: I also mentioned Jerry Brown in 1992. How did the general election go that year?
The point is the Democrats won it. The Democrats quickly ended their process in 2000 and 2004 and lost both times. Much the same happened in 1988. And as for 1980, maybe if the Carter people weren't so acid with the Kennedy people the party would have been more united that year.
Sure, there were no mitigating circumstances to that election at all. As for the Carter/Kennedy thing - get over it. There's been undue vitriol on both sides of this nomination process. To claim that it's explicitly one-sided is disingenuous. Obama supporters have been called everything from cultists to naive crazies to arrogant kids. Not saying it doesn't go both ways - just pointing out that it is, in fact, a two way street.
Tim K has a good point that she is going after McCain, which people have been insisting they would be okay with. The top of the campaign hasn't been slamming Obama in the past few days. Now the series of howevers: •The ad isn't very good. Narrowly, economic crises don't arise at 3 a.m. Broadly, "It's 3 a.m. in America and your children are safely asleep" is no "It's morning in America." I thought Edwards' big problem this year was being angry when the electorate had moved through anger and wanted to join the parade to the new chapter in history. We might have reason to be afraid, but that doesn't mean people will vote for the candidate who tells them to be afraid. That's tailor-made for McCain's simple patriotism and straight-talk brand. •It's late. Being outraged at the other side has become a knee-jerk reaction after months of campaigning. If she sticks resolutely to this tone for another week, and Bill doesn't go off, and Carville doesn't try one last stab for the spotlight, etc etc, then the narrative could switch to "Okay, she's Huckabeeing. I guess she can hang around through June 4th." It will take time. I'm very curious to see what develops Friday in Grand Forks. I still suspect that Clinton's people heard about Obama's talk, got her on the docket, and realized too late North Dakota had already voted. But perhaps it's part of the "laying out a positive vision of my candidacy without attacking Obama" direction.
TheSteve: I never claimed it was one-sided. If you listen carefully it's really only Obama supporters who say it's one-sided. Obama and Clinton have both been called names and accused of absurd things, and there's been plenty of back and forth from supporters. I've done it and I've had it done to me. And just as Clinton has attacked a member of her own party (Obama) as unprepared to be president, Obama has attacked a member of his own party (Clinton) for being untrustworthy and divisive. He has not run any more positive a campaign than Clinton, he's just better at hiding it. Or in his words, better at "hood-winking" the media.
There's a holdup in the Bronx!
Brooklyn's broken out in fights!
There's a traffic jam in Harlem
That's backed up to Jackson Heights!
There's a scout troop short a child!
Khrushchev's due at Idlewild!
So, we call the White House
at 03:00AM? We call Hillary?!
Deborah,
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Notice anything missing??? The little girl sleeping in bed that now supports Obama isn't in this ad. Hmm...wonder why?
Posted by Stephanie | April 2, 2008 3:42 PM