New Obama Ad Hits McCain on the Economy

This new ad for Barack Obama comes out swinging. As it notes that John McCain admits he doesn’t understand the economy, it asks who advises him. Then it answers that questions with three names: Carly Fiorina, “the fired CEO who got a $42 million golden parachute”; Phil Gramm, “the ex-Senator who pushed through deregulation, and called Americans hurt by this economy ‘whiners’”; and George Bush “whose disastrous policies McCain wants to continue.” The ad concludes with two messages: “They think the economy is fundamentally strong. We know they’re fundamentally wrong.”

The ad is interesting because it attacks McCain in areas where the Republicans are weakest. There is a goodly amount of resentment in the country against CEOs who screw up their companies only to reap multimillion dollar severance packages. There is a sense that the Republican Congress's abandonment of responsibility led to the current crisis. And we all know how all of us feel about the clown who has pretended to president the last eight years.

The ad justly but ferociously ties McCain to each of them.