Obama Doesn’t Think He’s Ready, Either

Check out this devastating new ad by the McCain campaign. It combines footage of various Democrats–including Barack Obama!–talking about his lack of preparation to be President with footage from Russia’s invasion of Georgia:

Also, watch for another new McCain ad that apparently will air tonight. From today’s “Morning Joe” show:

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Apparently the McCain campaign has an ad rolling out tonight. What’s it about?

JILL HAZELBAKER: Well, Mika, this is a historic ad. I think this is the first of its kind. Senator McCain is going to speak direct to camera to Barack Obama. I’m not going to give away many more details than that. But suffice to say it’s going to be a very exciting ad, and I think it’s going to get a lot of attention.

…

BRZEZINSKI: Jill, you’ve got to give us more on this ad. He’s speaking directly to camera, John McCain is to Barack Obama. If you say there’s news here, what’s the news?

HAZELBAKER: Well, I’m going to keep a lid on it. But I think it’s newsworthy to note that Senator McCain is going to have an ad that’s going to air in battleground states around the time that Senator Obama is speaking tonight. And he’s going to be talking directly to his opponent. So, I’m going to leave it there, but it’s going be very exciting and a lot of people are going to focus on it.

Finally, word is that McCain may announce his Vice-Presidential pick shortly before Obama is scheduled to speak tonight.

UPDATE: What does all this mean? I suspect that the McCain camp is trying to rattle Obama, somewhat like the basketball fans who yell and wave things when an opposing player is shooting free throws. Obama is good when he has a teleprompter and is speaking to a friendly crowd, but is surprisingly weak when he gets outside that comfort zone. I suspect the McCain camp hopes to throw him off his stride by distracting him with the Veep choice and the new ad.

One thing we can say for sure about this campaign: McCain is playing to win.

FURTHER UPDATE: The report that McCain will announce his running mate tonight, which Drudge headlined, may be incorrect. McCain says he still hasn’t made the choice. If that turns out to be right, and it’s only the ad that runs in opposition to Obama’s speech, it’s still a pretty aggressive posture by McCain, but obviously less so.

PAUL adds: An attack ad is fine. However, McCain should not announce his vice presidential nominee until Friday. To step on Obama by announcing it (or leaking it) today would be pretty disgusting.

ONE MORE: Here is the ad that will run on television tonight. It’s called “Convention,” and it’s a nice-guy approach: McCain congratulates Obama on his accomplishment in getting the nomination.

Seems mildly disappointing to me, but it may well be effective with swing voters.

PAUL adds: I like the idea.

To comment on this post, go here.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses