If you can't say something nice about your candidate...

This will only be the end of the US as a superpower if we continue to transfer our power to other countries in an effort to "go global". We can still wake up and end this nightmare.

I also like how it is an English writer that is predicting America's decline. Are they still hurting from our secession a few hundred years ago?

Oh, golly. Is McCain angling to get himself more SNL parodies or something? Humor in the campaign I like, but we're getting silly.

I actually agree with the HuffPo blog. At least once you get to the bottom where they list the questionable McCain positions.

>Are they still hurting from our secession a few hundred years ago?

That is funny!

I'm not sure I would mind if we weren't the most powerful nation anymore. It comes with a lot of responsibility that might be nice to share.

IMO, I don't see the power change as a result of our giving it to anyone...it seems that these countries are gaining power because of their economics. Russia has a ton of oil money, and China has a lot of people (aka consumers). I think the tide change has more to do with that than anything.

I do think that there are strategic manuvers the US needs to make over the next 5 years to keep us towards the top of the global power food chain, and I hope we make our decisions wisely.

Torg is right. I'm not sure I want America to be a successful, global leader either.

The ad was taken down from the page linked. Anyone else see it anywhere else?

Also, I'm just formally announcing my renewed efforts to ignore comments that, in my estimation, aim only to get a reaction and stir things up.

Thanks, torg! I changed the link. Should work now.

i agree with you torg... i think it wouldn't be so bad to be like spain or italy -- a former empire. too much pressure gets us into trouble.

also, if you read the guardian piece linked in that first story and also read the comments there are some from people in georgia who are saying that the US led the georgian troops to attack s. ossetia. if this is true... i'm horrified. that means we are instigating a conflict with russia. WTF. if this escalates beyond where it is at this moment, and it throws us into another war... just watch... it will come out that washington pulled this crap in order to keep a republican in office. jesus, i'm scurrrred.

Liberty-the link works, it takes you to the right Donklephant page. But when you hit play, it says the video is no longer available. Maybe it got taken off of YouTube?

"i think it wouldn't be so bad to be like spain or italy -- a former empire. too much pressure gets us into trouble." Exactly. It's time to relax and lowering our standard of living.

I changed the link to McCain's YouTube channel. It's still there.

Wow. Wow. I didn't like the concept, and seeing the actual ad is just...this is so stupid!

What utter nerve, for McAffairs to have an ad implying that women are attracted to Obama.
What if McFlirt's exwife made a campaign ad highlighting all the women who were attracted to her husband after she was disabled. Hmm.
If I were him, I wouldn't go there.

"there are some from people in georgia who are saying that the US led the georgian troops to attack s. ossetia. if this is true... i'm horrified."

Yikes!

i don't know organic... life in italy and/or spain sounds pretty darn good to me. maybe ill just bypass this whole end of empire thing and move now!

Is being repulsive now considered a strength?

jillness: HAHAHAH. amazing. if that were true i think a lot of guys i went to high school with would have led much happier lives.

yesteryear, I think that sounds like a good idea.

Haha. Seriously. The theme here seems to be that Obama is too well-spoken, well-known, and too attractive to get elected...hunh?

do i sense some animosity here?

I notice McCain does not say he approves the message at the end of the ad. But it does say he paid for it.

That McCain ad looks like it was made by a grade school kid who learned PowerPoint.

Is the ad running on tv? Or just online? Maybe he doesn't have to approve it if it's just for youtube?

this is seriously the lamest ad i've seen yet. someday these republican ad guys will get it right and be able to rise to the level of the great liberal comedians out there -- until then, i guess they can keep trying? SAD.

Honestly.... what is with this ad? I'm mad at myself for even clicking on the link because I already knew it would be - for lack of a better word at this moment - trash.

Just to make it clear...I wasn't saying McCain is repulsive, I was just saying that the opposite of attractive is repulsive, yadda yadda yadda.

McCain is so jealous of the charisma being emitted by Obama's intelligence and clarity and vitality, that he and his posse are actually trying to make it into a negative.

janneth - it's bizarre, isnt it? i dont think ive ever seen this before.

I do wish the Obama campaign was a bit better in their packaging of his ideas. I think the "hands" ad was really great, but I think they need to aggressively combat the misrepresentation of his policy that McCain (and conservative pundits) have been spreading. IMO, I think they need to VERY LOUDLY proclaim that the $42,000 tax raise ad is a complete lie.

Obama has really amazing, nuanced policy ideas, but they need to be packaged in easily digestable bites.

Jillness, I'm not sure what or how Obama says anything matters in this situation - if he starts proclaiming 'that's a lie' then he'll just be Mr. Celebrity Messiah Cranky Pants. With these ads, the other side is working hard to appeal to people who don't trust ideas and Obama doesn't need to fight for them.

obama should just make an ad that has a clip of every misrepresentation of him from a mccain ad and succinctly state how it's a lie. it's just so sad to me that at this point a candidate who has "amazing, nuanced" policy (as jill accurately described) is just painted as an elitist snob. didn't they try to do this to kerry too? i remember they said he was too stiff and used too many big words. we want a stupid guy for prez i guess. weird.

They did it to Kerry and Dukakis - Clinton and his team were always seen as policy wonks. Someone applauding your 'nuanced' policy is not a strong selling point in the modern U.S. - just flex your muscles and promise to cut taxes.

Sigh. Just makes me want to work harder to get the truth out there!

Maybe if Obama wore a muscle suit, with money popping out of it like straw, and his nuanced policies written out like a menu at a romantic restaurant, even more women would like him!

There-is-nothing-we-can-do-about-it. As Steph said, there are people who don't trust ideas. Crazy.
Here is how to win:
Belittle your opponent.
Promise to cut taxes (knowing darn well that your war is co$ting our grandchildren's future).
Talk big about terrorism and war.
Do NOT even consider giving any specifics about policy on any issue.

I agree Jillness. America is not loosing power, what we're loosing is certain elitisms in the world for the simple fact that other countries a couple who out populate us by millions upon millions are simply doing what we did, develop. They will be as economically and militarily as powerful as we are. Like I said before people make room at the table cause we got company coming. This is why America really needs to stop trying to administrate the world through aggressive bullying tactics and find a path to cooperative international relationships. There was a time when Washington said jump and we could hear the answer come back across the ocean; how high? Now, the answer is, make me and in some cases go the hell. It is time to adjust our approach. Not our core values, not our way of life, not our liberty, but we need to learn how to communicate in a new world order before our old fashioned tactics get the best of us.

"This is why America really needs to stop trying to administrate the world through aggressive bullying tactics and find a path to cooperative international relationships."

"It is time to adjust our approach. Not our core values, not our way of life, not our liberty, but we need to learn how to communicate in a new world order before our old fashioned tactics get the best of us."

LOVE IT!!
That was so well said.

Even with emoticons, I can not express how much I agree with these statements!

I have to admit, I don't love any of the McCain ads I've seen so far.

However, I think we need to be clear on what this ad is saying: It's not that women are attracted to him. It's that, when people are asked what they like best about him, it's rarely a substantive policy stance or concrete proposal. That doesn't mean he is lacking them, just that it often doesn't appear to be what attracts his supporters.

I've heard a lot of "on the street" interview segments asking people to name one commendable achievement of Obama's. The best they can do is "he's an excellent speaker" or "he's the first African American to run for President". Neither of which, or course, is an actual achievemeny.

...oops, achievement.

This is the saddest ad I've seen yet and so silly. I've defainately seen a lot more ladies swoon over young McCain than Obama at any age. So poorly done too. How much did the Mac campaign pay for that? $4.99?

BTW isn't it kinda sexist to imply that women like him because of his looks? Yet another ad that seeks to convert the ones it insults.

Lainetm, I don't think that reflects the majority of Obama supporters. It is kind of like how on the local news they always find the most eccentric person to interview...not because they will give good substance to the interview, but because they are entertaining or it fits the perspective of the segment.

On the street interview segments have agendas as well.

And what can McCain supporters point to as an accomplishment? He's been a politician for 30 years...he was a POW...he has a boatload of kids...

Not saying he doesn't have accomplishments, both candidates do, but that the average voter does not know enough to enumerate them specifically.

I think the point is Obama doesn't know anything about being in the federal government, and working with both sides. He's barely been a senator, and for the last two years he's been running for office. What groundbreaking legislation has he brought to the floor? Nothing.

But again, what groundbreaking legislation has McCain brought? I'm not aying he hasn't done good things, just that he's been running for president for longer than Obama and I still couldn't name a concrete accomplishment.

Further, here's a link to some information (I will put it in a separate comment since it may not post right away) about how experienced our past presidents have been. Among the least experienced? Abraham Lincoln
Franklin D. Roosevelt
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Theodore Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson
Harry S. Truman
Andrew Jackson
Dwight D. Eisenhower
James K. Polk
John Adams

That's a group I'd be happy to be among.

Here is that link:

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Info/experience.html

Disclaimer, at the top of the page you'll see the Vote From Abroad logo, a group that encourages U.S. citizens living abroad to vote but that also endorses the Democratic Party.

It would have been kind of hard for GW to have a lot of years of experience in the federal government lol.

So the McCain add is just silly. It's a recurring theme from his last few ads. I get that it's supposed to be funny, but he comes across as a teenager jealous of the popular kid.

Moving on to the decline of the USA. I'm not exactly ready to throw in the towel yet. I do think sometimes that we need to put our individual pursuits of empty happiness aside and make some sacrifices for our country.

And I'm not talking about sacrificing our rights. I'm talking about using less energy so we're less dependent, volunteering, being more civically minded etc. Seems like it's just easier to veg out and watch TV than take action. Or maybe people just feel like it doesn't matter either way.

As a side note, it really bugs me when people say "Nobama" instead of Obama, and to that end, it bugs me equally as much when people insult McCain by calling him McSame or whatever. It feels distracting to me.