Category: Obama

Last week, in an interview with CBS, Colin Powell endorsed Obama’s campaign for Presidency.

Powell, who was Secretary of State for Republican President George W Bush from 2001-05, made a series of warm remarks about Obama’s administration, but also made some damning criticisms about Romney’s failings as a candidate.

Obama’s team have decided to make an ad which uses only the positive comments, as opposed to an attack ad using the comments that were derogatory about Romney.

The President’s campaign thus far has been overwhelming negative, so this is quite a refreshing change in tack.

Obama has released a new ad that attacks Romney for raising taxes during his time as Governor of Massachusetts.

The extreme levity of the tone of this ad makes the attack quite grating.

It reminds me of a time when I first dropped my lunch tray in the dinning room at school the most annoying little brat in the class tried to lead the piss-taking. To my surprise and delight, everyone laughed at his eagerness to poke fun at me, rather than at my poor platter management.

At that exact moment I realised, as I cleared my plate of Pasta King spaghetti off the lino flooring, you can’t be really smug and annoying yourself and then expect others to follow you in mocking someone else.

 

I’m very late to this, but here is a video mocking Mitt Romney – Gagnam Style.

The video featuring a singing, dancing doppelgänger of Mitt Romney is a parody of what is the viral hit of the year (below).

The production values are high and the attacks – along the now-well-established lines of Romney’s wealth, big business agenda and derogatory remarks about the 47% – are very amusing.

It’s got 2 million votes so far and still very much growing.

Obama’s campaign have released an ad featuring children’s TV character Big Bird.

The reason for featuring the large yellow avian is that Romney has pledged to cut the funding to PBS, the station that produces Sesame Street.  Obama’s team believe that Romney is all too happy to be tough on the likes of Sesame Street, but won’t act against Wall St.

It has proven to be a bit of an own goal as the show’s creators have since made it clear that they hadn’t given permission to use their giant feathered friend for political ends and have asked the Obama campaign to pull the spot.  What a forehead-slappingly basic thing to forget to do.

And, in a week where Romney outperformed Obama in the opening candidates debate and has made significant gains in the polls, it comes across as churlish to release a spot on such a small issue when there are serious questions being raised about the President’s credentials for a second term.

I’m chalking this one up as an own goal.

In May of this year Mitt Romney held a behind-closed-doors fundraiser for high rolling supporters.  He spoke candidly and passionately about the challenges he feels he faces in opposing Obama for the position of President of the United States.

Very unfortunately for Romney’s electoral prospects, there was an undercover reporter in the crowd who video recorded the speech and then held the recording until the moment when it could cause the largest possible amount of pain for the Republican candidate.

There are a huge number of policy-related reasons as to why many people felt the comments were unfair.  And there are even more as to why it is devastating for Romney’s hopes in winning in November.

The above video was the first attack ad out of the blocks.  It uses the same ‘vox-pop with iPad’ technique as Romney employed in his ‘Build‘ set of commercials.  It’s a fairly ordinary ad but the speed at which it was created and deployed is incredible – it was on air within 24 hours of the 47% video launch.

Obama’s SuperPac followed shortly afterwards with the effort below.  I’ve got a feeling these two ads won’t be the only ones to use Romney’s 47% against him…

Team Obama have released an ad attacking Romney’s choice of Vice Presidential running partner – Paul Ryan.

The line of attack used is that Paul Ryan would take America back to a time before many issues of social justice were won; the ad sites policy positions around university fees, womens rights and medical support.

The ad uses a fairly lame creative treatment of ‘early-20th-Century-black-and-white-crackling-film’ to make the point that “Ryan’s from a bygone era” .

The ad is over-long and fairly boring.  I’ll be amazed if many people make it to the end.