A student group calling itself ND Response, released a well produced video in an attempt to give voice to their disagreement over Notre Dame University’s decision to have President Barack Obama deliver this year’s commencement speech.

Yes, now “Joe the Plumber” is a household name.  I actually had friends of mine, not in politics, texting me all day about “Joe the Plumber.”

It’s really quite amazing how one man can wake up one day, meet Barack Obama, ask him a question about taxes, and then instantly get shot onto the national stage of presidential politics.  Joe, the plumber from Toledo, instantly filled the role of average American worker perfectly for both candidates, as their poster child on a range of issues from taxes to healthcare and everything else in between.

But in my book you really haven’t made all the history books until you’ve been immortalized in a political TV spot.  Well, Joe the Plumber” did that one too.

As soon as the first Presidential debate was finished the phantom ads started.  It’s as if each campaign keeps a voice talent and an editor on staff 24 hours a day.

McCain beat the Obama campaign to the punch with this spot:

Obama countered with this one, released this morning:

But – not on youtube yet – so click here to view.

This one hits hard. A spot titled “Tiny“, was just released by the McCain Campaign in perfect timing before Obama’s big nomination speech.

For decades, foreign policy, military and security issues have been a perceived weakness for national Democrats – an achilles heal, if you will.  Also, national security and dealing with outside threats of terrorism or war have been a largely solidifying issue for religious conservatives and more fiscal libertarian Republicans.

The Cold War under Reagan and Bush’s unmovable determination to root out terrorism kept Republicans together under one issue they can all agree on.  After the Cold War ended Republicans began to splinter.  Social Conservatives and small government Capitalist Libertarians woke up and decided they didn’t have much in common with each other anymore.  

Under Bush 43, Republicans began to unify again in perfect harmony, first for their mutual abhorrence for Bill Clinton, then with their shared belief that, after 9/11, terrorists would not be tolerated abroad under any circumstance.

As the the war in Iraq began to wane in media exposure, as a result of better military leadership and more pressing domestic issues, we began to see grumbling within the GOP by fiscal libertarians, who were outraged by the notion of Republican members of Congress spending like drunk sailors and the perception that social conservatives had more weight within the party.

Now, as John McCain has found his voice, gained momentum, and as he begins to to make his case to the voters of the United States, we are seeing the makings of a foreign policy appeal within the framework of-  ”is Obama ready to lead?” – theme.

McCain can keep Social Conservatives and Fiscal Republicans on board together, against Obama, if they see him as weak on Iran, the next perceived threat to America’s existence.  This will allow McCain to maintain and grow his base, driving up overall Republican support, while also appealing to Independents and soft Democrats that turn to Republican candidates in times of threat and crisis.  

The McCain camp has vigorously, and successfully, set-up the argument within the framework of the ongoing questioning surrounding Obama’s experience and leadership skills through a series of hard-hitting spots and web videos.

Now the McCain campaign releases this spot, titled “Tiny.”  Which takes the message to a new more critical level – effectively striking into the key emotion of fear.

A must read  from this past Sunday’s New york Times is a piece by PAUL VITELLO titled, How to Erase that Smear.  Vitello reminds readers that attack campaigns, enlisted by politicians seeking office, have been around since the days of our founding fathers.  Below I have included excerpts of Vitello’s piece and sprinkled in some of my commentary and analysis.

When Thomas Jefferson found himself accused of planning to burn all Bibles and legalize prostitution if elected president in 1800, he was ready with a counterpunch that might make today’s most vitriolic campaign operatives stop short, if only to gape upon the greatness that once was presidential campaign slander.

Jefferson’s rival, President John Adams, was endowed with a “hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman”; and if re-elected he would crown himself king; and, by the way, he was “mentally deranged.”

The author of the attacks was not Jefferson himself, of course, but a master poison-pen pamphleteer named James Callender, who, historians have since determined, was bankrolled completely by Jefferson. (For his efforts, Callender spent nine months in prison under the Sedition Act for saying those things about a sitting president; Jefferson pardoned him immediately after defeating Adams and taking office.)

Essentially, negative smear campaigning is as Americana as apple pie and is arguable an older past time than baseball.

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What are America’s “fictional Everyman couple” doing now? The stars of the famed 1994 TV ad, Harry and Louise are back for some more – 14 years later to be exact.

The original spot centered around two actors, who effectively portrayed an average working class couple, distraught by the flawed healthcare system which was then being touted by first-lady Hillary Rodham Clinton .  The spot became the focal point of the opposition’s message, which effectively derailed Clinton’s socialized healthcare reform agenda.

This time conveying a somewhat different message, the couple engages in another discussion on healthcare, this time encouraging John McCain and Barack Obama to make healthcare reform a center of their message for America:

The spot will air through both conventions on a variety of cable and broadcast media. It is intended to influence both party’s leaders and policy makers expected to visit Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul media markets over the next three weeks.

See the original Harry and Louise spot after the jump

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The 1988 Willie Horton “Weekend Passes” ad will forever be remembered for its effectiveness at driving home a negative message against Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis. The ad was written by Floyd Brown, then a consultant to the National Security Political Action Committee.

Twenty years later, hard at work in Seattle, Brown is working to produce an Obama version of the Dukakis ad. He was interviewed last week by the Seattle Times. 

“I’m going to go dig up the information that the mainstream media is scared of, the McCain campaign finds difficult to deal with, and may make some people feel uncomfortable,” Brown said.

Brown is releasing an ad on his Web site and YouTube every other week and is spreading his message through mass mailers and phone banks. Galleys of his new book, “Obama Unmasked,” are stacked in the barren office he’s renting through November.

Despite modest funding, mainly from online donors, Brown’s efforts have been singled out by the Obama campaign as a prime example of the dangers the candidate faces from attacks by independent groups. 

While the ‘88 Horton ad cost $100,000, Brown is producing everything today on his laptop. While controversial, here are two of his spots that would have the ability to move poll numbers : (more…)