527 ad: “Fighting”
posted at 8:55 am on October 6, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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A new group opposed to the bailout has released an ad discussing the origins of the financial crisis, and hailing John McCain as one of the few who sounded the alarm. “Fighting” hits Democrats hard, in a manner that many Republicans want to see Team McCain adopt:
How effective will this be? It depends on the resources Right Change has. This kind of message needs constant repeating to counteract the notion that “deregulation” caused this crisis. Deregulation didn’t create this crisis, but to the extent that regulators didn’t stop it from snowballing, it was Democrats who blocked them from doing their job, and Republicans who wanted stricter controls on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
John McCain has been very quiet about this, preferring to talk about greed on Wall Street as a cause. However, having watched Nancy Pelosi destroy a carefully-constructed alliance with a partisan attack just before the first House vote, McCain probably wanted to avoid throwing blame while negotiating a second package. Now that the bill has passed Congress, McCain can start telling the real story of the collapse — how he and a few other Republicans called for stricter controls on Fannie and Freddie, only to be blocked by Democrats using government to distort the lending markets while they called OFHEO regulators racist for blowing the whistle.
McCain needs to help himself on this issue. Barack Obama took more money from Fannie and Freddie sources over the last four years than any other member of Congress, then stood silent while they defrauded investors. McCain has to start making that case today, and every day for the next four weeks. Even outside of the election, the American people need to know what really happened — so that we don’t do it again.
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Keep the rounds coming, right up to election day.
rplat on October 6, 2008 at 9:00 AM
Unfortunately, BO is also claiming that he pushed for more oversight & reform, a claim that I find dubious, but no one has proved him wrong.
jgapinoy on October 6, 2008 at 9:00 AM
Chaingun
null on October 6, 2008 at 9:01 AM
This needs to be seen everywhere in light of the fact that Barney Frank is going to start his “investigation” this week.
ctmom on October 6, 2008 at 9:02 AM
This is where John needs to hit him- HARD!
Browncoatone on October 6, 2008 at 9:03 AM
For those with the resources, it should be easy enough to fact check. I heard him claim that too. I haven’t heard him say when or where he said it though.
BacaDog on October 6, 2008 at 9:03 AM
I keep thinking McCain and company has a plan, and they are holding back.
But I am afraid that is not the case, they just aren’t attacking.
The easiest case to make is that Barney and company failed, Obama has never, never gone against the democrat grain, the power, he has carried their water for these past years.
Obama sat silent as the democrats rammed this down our throat and accepted payola…the easiest case to make because it is on record.
And he (McCain) sits quietly by, he should be fighting for our country…and some in the senate and house are our enemy.
right2bright on October 6, 2008 at 9:04 AM
That ad was racist..
John Doe on October 6, 2008 at 9:04 AM
So far, I have been mystified at the lack of testicular fortitude coming from the McCain campaign when it comes to exposing the roots of this crisis. I, along with many others, are mad as hell and I, for one, am not going to keep my mouth shut about it.
oonly on October 6, 2008 at 9:06 AM
Relax, let the debate happen tomorrow and see what happens. It’s no coincidence that these ads are hitting right now, they are a portent of what Mac is going to hit Obiscuit with at the debate.
Bishop on October 6, 2008 at 9:11 AM
The McCain camp has treated The One with kid gloves. For it, they’re called racists. Guess what, it doesn’t matter what they do. So why the hell not throw the kitchen sink (i.e. the friggin truth about Obama) out there?
Sugar Land on October 6, 2008 at 9:11 AM
Good ad, but it has to go on air, repeatedly, to do any good.
james23 on October 6, 2008 at 9:11 AM
It’s tough to prove a negative (try proving Sasquatch does not exist).
He made the claim, so he needs to be asked specifically where and when he called for reform of Fannie and Freddie. If he claims he made unrecorded statements, then the follow up is “Why didn’t you sponsor legislation or go on record with your views”. That’s about it, but the media won’t do it.
forest on October 6, 2008 at 9:13 AM
Very effective ad, as have also their other ads I’ve seen — they have one wherein a guy is running across an open-top bridge while other people are walking around and across it, and the guy running is carrying a megaphone and yelling about “change” — then he jumps over the edge and the voice-over says, “change, careful what you wish for” or something like that (or, “change, know what you’re changing to before you leap” — to that effect).
S on October 6, 2008 at 9:13 AM
Three ninty second messages I’d like to see McCain send
1)
McCain - looking straight at the Camera. “I’m John McCain, and I approved this message - it’s about why I worked to get the bailout bill passed, and why it’s a bad bill.
The bill had to pass to protect the American home owner - this wasn’t about politics, it was about your mortgage, your bank, your credit card, and your money.
But this mess was created by politics - not by Wall Street, by Congress. We warned them it would happen, and it did - We tried to stop it, in 1999, in 2002, in 2006, and again last year but Democrats in Congress stonewalled us every time.
So the emergency happened, as it had to - and now we had to pass this bill; but make no mistake: it’s a bad bill putting the American taxpayer at risk to patch a broken system. An emergency action, not a fix.
At this point We could no nothing else -but I promise you that if Sarah and I are elected, we’ll go after the roots of this thing like you’ve never seen and clean up this mess so it’ll never happen again.
— 2) McCain - looking straight at the Camera. “I’m John McCain, and I approved this message - it’s about some of the things in the bailout bill that shouldn’t be there.
The bill responds to a real financial emergency - one with consequences that go far beyond Wall Street - to your bank, your mortgage, your credit. As passed, the bill is a compromise and to get even that passed I suspended my campaign, went to Washington, and did my job as a senator - while my opponent went to the gym and practiced his debate answers.
As a senator I sometimes have to do distasteful things. In this case, to get the votes needed to get a necessary bill passed I twisted arms, made promises, and agreed to letting Democrats put things in the bill that simply don’t belong there - like exemptions on carbon taxes and wooden arrows. But that’s the Democrat way: to them no pork means no progress, and they’re perfectly willing to screw the country to get what they want.
It has to end - but only you can end it. Take a good look at the democrats running in your district and your state: if they’re people who put themselves ahead of their country, - throw them out. Send people to Washington Sarah and I can work with.
My friends, if we work together we can fix this - Please. Do your part, vote them out - and I promise you this: we’ll do ours.
3) McCain - looking straight at the Camera. “I’m John McCain, and I approved this message - it’s about the blame game being played about the credit bailout.
I think you know I don’t agree with people like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid very often: both of them have been blaming President Bush and the Republican urge to deregulate for the credit crisis and they know that’s not right, but to them it’s not about the country, not about you: to them everything’s all about them, about politics, about taking partisan advantage no matter what.
But I’ll say this for them: when the president called a meeting at the Whitehouse, they were ready - my opponent in this election was not. When ordered to come, he came: when Pelosi and Reid gave him control of the meeting, he had nothing to say - he had to ask what the Paulsen proposal was. When he did speak, he spoke from deep ignorance - no knowledge, no depth, no understanding: partisan, leftwing, unthought through rhetoric you’d expect from his close friend and mentor Mr. Jeremiah Wright, not from a serious candidate for the office of the Presidency.
I know this sounds like a smear so I ask you this my friends: ask the other people who were there - ask Henry Paulsen, a man I think should be fired; ask Mr. Bush; ask Reid and Pelosi. Ask them what he said, how he acted - ask them if this is the man they really want answering that 3AM call.
Paul Murphy on October 6, 2008 at 9:13 AM
That ad was racist /sarc
Fixed it for you, JD
ManlyRash on October 6, 2008 at 9:14 AM
How sad.
This entire government is a sick joke.
rplat on October 6, 2008 at 9:14 AM
I certainly hope that an investigation is done and those responsible are punished.
mindhacker on October 6, 2008 at 9:15 AM
McCain needs to break out the whip for these ads the next couple of weeks.
DaveC on October 6, 2008 at 9:15 AM
Yes, I’ve heard this talking point also. Biden said it during his debate. But no one has provided any specifics. What is the evidence to back it up? We all know about Senate bill 190, the one John McCain co-sponsored with some other Republicans in 2005, to bring some accountability to FM/FM. But what was the number of Obama’s bill? Or was he just talking to himself at home in the mirror about the need for reform? Or was this just another one of Biden’s manufactured-in-his-own-mind “facts” about something that never actually happened?
It would be nice if the MSM was good for something. How about one of you MSM types getting off your duff and doing some research on this claim?
AZCoyote on October 6, 2008 at 9:16 AM
This is one of the few issues that can help explain why turning the economy over to a Democratic president and Congress is such a bad ideas. It’s a complicated problem to explain, but people care about the economy. It’s what is currently hurting McCain the most. If the true case is presented well, this can and should be a winnning issue. It plays so well into Sen. McCain’s reform agenda.
Jill1066 on October 6, 2008 at 9:18 AM
Then Palin needs to start doing the media’s job…
1. Dig in at Ayers
Go after Obama’s 2002 conference with Ayers “Intellectuals In Times Of Crisis” since they’re trying to question McCain’s judgment and call him crazy in times of Crisis… this was after the stomping on the flag incident and saying he was unrepentant about his bombing adventures
2. Bring to light CAC’s purposes and ridicule their results…
3. Pivot into the economy by hitting hard McCain’s proposal for reform in 2005… also talk about right regulation and wrong regulation… defend McCain on Keaton and bring up Rezko… bring up McCain narrative of reform after Keaton and compare it to Obama’s lack of record..
ninjapirate on October 6, 2008 at 9:19 AM
Wasn’t Obama the second highest recipient of contributions from Fannie/Fredie after Barney Frank? And why is Barney Frank leading the investigation? Shouldn’t he be the center of it?
Ann NY on October 6, 2008 at 9:23 AM
Another dubious claim by Obama is that Obama “is the future, while McCain is the past.”
It’s not as if anyone KNOWS what that even means, they just get the impression that they want tomorrow and not yesterday. No one can actually PROVE any of that — as in, what, exactly, does that even mean: “Obama is the future,” not like anyone can PROVE that or even define it. Same with the whole “change” bit — nothing’s actually said, no one can argue “it” because there’s nothing actually being stated.
This type of evocative language, sales pitches, works in product advertising because it appeals to the desire for innovation, “newness” and the unique experience (so “buy this and be ‘new’”), BUT, in politics, it’s reckless. It also reduces Obama to a product, which is why he’s mostly appealing to younger voters and/or, well, to “attitudinal” emotionally-driven socio-’pathic’ or counter-society interests (can’t prove anything, nothing’s ever specific, just that “it” has to be done away with, replaced, and this “new” thing done or implanted, etc.). In GOVERNMENT (not necessarily politics), this is reckless speech.
Which is more of why I say that Obama’s a cult leader….it’s the whole cult nonsense of being easily threatened when their “non reality” is questioned, so much as asked for anything specific, and the reliance on meaningless but emotionally evocative, inflammatory (and agitating) ploys.
S on October 6, 2008 at 9:24 AM
I think you answered your own question. How better for Frank to deflect blame than to run the “investigation” himself?
AZCoyote on October 6, 2008 at 9:25 AM
I do believe that inherent to the granting of this “rescue”/bailout/reprieve NEEDS TO BE the requirement of each and every individual up to now involved in all aspects of the “financial disaster” in Congress, to be relieved.
If not dismissed from Congress, then at LEAST required to be removed from all Committees that are involved in the financial/housing/banking/regulatory areas.
It really needs to be mandatory, that all these characters who’ve been supposedly managing but haven’t been, be prevented from further activity as we now, also allegedly, try to solve the problem.
That’d include Frank, Dodd, Waters, Obama, Pelosi, Schumer, Kerry, the whole cast of characters. If they remain in Congress, then at least the American people deserve to have them off every committee they’ve been on that’s been involved in this “crises.” But Barney Frank has got to go entirely.
S on October 6, 2008 at 9:29 AM
ManlyRash on October 6, 2008 at 9:14 AM
Thanks for the fix.
John Doe on October 6, 2008 at 9:30 AM
And why is Barney Frank leading the investigation? Shouldn’t he be the center of it?
Ann NY on October 6, 2008 at 9:23 AM>>>>
Same reason Clinton’s Deputy AG Jamie Gorelick was on the 9-11 Commission rather than indicted by it.
We knew about the 9-11 attackers ahead of time. A military data mining project (Able Danger)had used open sources to connect some very important dots, but the FBI was prevented from pursuing those dots supposedly because of “the Gorelick wall” - saying that government agencies couldn’t inform each other of counter-terrorism information.
In reality, the investigation was stopped by the DOD under Sec of Defense William Perry because additional Able Danger data suggested (rightfully) that Perry’s own company sold satellite technology to a company he knew was owned by the Chinese military.
The 9-11 Commission was a wash, as will be any Congressional investigation.
justincase on October 6, 2008 at 9:33 AM
Seems to me one of the holdbacks that McCain has is the “scandal” that “broke” on Steve Schmidt, one of the guys running his campaign, about his companies lobbying of Fannie.
Even though he’s not been working for the company he still owns, they’ve given him alot of money over the years. So hitting the Dems hard on this is easily countered by the Obama machine, to voters who don’t care to delve into politics beyond what’s seen in an ad.
hippie_chucker on October 6, 2008 at 9:34 AM
From the reports I’ve read, Senator Chris Dodd ranks as the person who has received the highest dollar amount from Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, John Kerry is ranked second and Obama ranks third BUT Obama’s only been in Congress for under four years while Dodd and Kerry have had more time in Congress to soak up the dollars. Thus, it places Obama at the top of the list of those receiving the most in the shortest amount of time — he literally took Office and started taking money and it’s continued in his short term in Congress.
That Barney Frank is even INVOLVED in any “investigation” is terrible, entirely unacceptable. Who supervises these people? If Congress is mismanaging (being kind there with that term), who pulls them up short and shows them the door? Anyone? Who in our nation has the authority and place to grab Frank and put him in a chair in a closed office somewhere until his term is up? I mean, there has to be oversite to this mismanagement and allowing Frank to even continue to be involved is nuts.
S on October 6, 2008 at 9:36 AM
McCain owes it to the voting public the truth behind not only the cause of the current financial crisis but Obama’s past associations.
He should know by now that the MSM isn’t going to print or verbalize anything that’s the least bit negative about Obama. If he’s worried about being labeled “rascist”, so be it. They’ll do it anyways regardless if it’s true or not.
Time for the gloves to come off.
iamsaved on October 6, 2008 at 9:38 AM
Not to mention that Bawney Fwank’s boy-toy was a bigshot at Fannie.
jgapinoy on October 6, 2008 at 9:41 AM
hippie_chucker at 9:34AM
Yep. Flood the airwaves with clutter so people give up on trying to understand and assume the politicians are all just as bad as each other.
What won’t be stated is that the people Obama surrounded himself with were people bent on INTENTIONALLY forcing a crisis to show that the free market doesn’t work - that communism is necessary.
Seehttp://www.dailymotion.com/video/x32cxf_yuri-bezmenov
for the overall plan.
And see http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/barack_obama_and_the_strategy.html for what a sociology professor at Columbia while Obama was getting his poli sci degree there was planning for the first 3 phases of the overall plan.
When Putin, Achmadinejad, Chavez, and now (today) Al Qaeda all jump up to point out that this financial crisis proves that the free market doesn’t work and at least Chavez (communist) also says that America should abandon its Constitution - right on schedule with Cloward’s plan - it all makes sense.
justincase on October 6, 2008 at 9:42 AM
Oops. That would be
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x32cxf_yuri-bezmenov
justincase on October 6, 2008 at 9:43 AM
Reverberations already being felt in banks and markets around the globe. Can’t wait for Europe to start liking us again.
Thank you, ACORN.
Thank you, Obama.
whitetop on October 6, 2008 at 9:49 AM
McCain needs to move immediately. In Ed’s first post, I explained how CBS’s 60 Minutes has already begun to lay the blame for all of this at the feet of the unregulated credit-fault swap market.
Sorry to say, McCain is sunk if he doesn’t provide a strong counterargument. He should and he must–as Ed does. Tough toenails if he has to step on the toes of bipartisanship.
Tell him to watch the Fox special from the weekend. I saw only hints of what Fox broadcast in the 60 Minutes piece. Criticize that program all you want and the bias of the network. The fact of the matter is that it’s what many in middle America watch between the second NFL game and Cold Case.
BuckeyeSam on October 6, 2008 at 9:51 AM
If I were McCain on Tuesday, I would directly ask Obama how the lack of ‘regulation’ by us evil Republicans led to a banking crisis in Europe.
Soon as we get him uhhing, he’s weak. McCain has to do the unexpected to Obama, once he’s off the talking points, he sucks. Hillary did that to him in their last debate.
hippie_chucker on October 6, 2008 at 9:54 AM
I would be surprised if Jamie Gorelick doesn’t end up on the team - after all, she got appointed to the 911 Commission.
whitetop on October 6, 2008 at 9:56 AM
Did the video get pulled? Says no longer available for me.
Mord on October 6, 2008 at 9:58 AM
Gee-
Didn’t I spend ALL DAY SATURDAY saying this exact same thing?
This issue will be far more effective than Obama’s Ayers connection. And I hope….I PRAY…that McCain is using the Ayers/Wright/Rezko/et al connections as a smoke screen so he can lauch on the Dems and Obama’s cozy relationship with the Housing Scandal in the debates Tues. Maverick has NOTHING TO LOSE and EVERYTHING TO GAIN by doing this!
FiveWays on October 6, 2008 at 10:15 AM
We’ve all been saying this for weeks. Why he’s not doing it? God only knows.
lorien1973 on October 6, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Mudcat Saunders looks worried, in this video, I don’t think Obama can Win Virginia.
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/10/obamas-rural-challenge.html
Dr Evil on October 6, 2008 at 10:24 AM
Not all of us lorien.
You and I, along with some other sensible minds, took some flack over this Sat. Remember?
FiveWays on October 6, 2008 at 10:25 AM
McCain needs to jump on this issue!!!
In the meantime–this ad is extremely effective! Are they running it on TV in swing states? If so, all HotAir readers should send this group RightChoice all they can afford!
Steve Z on October 6, 2008 at 10:32 AM
Keep em comin!
the next ad,get Maxine Waters in one,where
she says the mortgages for the poor is a
success,so,now she wants a lot more!!!
Oh ya,Maxine also says,that Raines has
done an outstanding job at running FM!!
canopfor on October 6, 2008 at 10:35 AM
It’s 100% bold faced lie. But if our electorate isn’t informed enough to know that, he may well get away with it.
And if Repubicans insist on spending their time cutting down McCain and bashing his campaign instead of focusing their energy on Obama and his lies, well….thanks “True Conservatives” for your ideological purity. Perhaps you guys believe that you will have positions saved for you in the Obamassiah administration, or that the crocodile will eat you last.
Good luck with that
funky chicken on October 6, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Oh–this is a 527 ad. If you like it, you have to send them money so they can afford to pay to run it.
Or sit back like liberals and try to figure out how to force other people to pay for it.
funky chicken on October 6, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Is the McCain part of the McCain campaign still suspended?
The only one more invisible on the campaign trail than McCain is Biden and at least Biden has a family emergency excuse.
albill on October 6, 2008 at 10:38 AM
We the American people voted these assclowns in and are the only ones who can remove them. If we don’t remove the majority of them on Nov. 4th then we’ll get exactly what the majority of us deserve.
DarkCurrent on October 6, 2008 at 11:00 AM
The American people want some heads. McCain needs to tell us tomorrow night that he will give them to us.
Name names. Tell us that his administration will go after Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, all other congressional members who actively received donations from FM/FM while sitting on committees that oversaw their banking practices. Bring them up on ethics charges. Then name Raines, Johnson and Gorelick and tell us that he will go after the incompetent and corrupt leadership of these two institutions.
JAM on October 6, 2008 at 11:14 AM
If we had an honest press in this country, folks would already know all this.
TheSitRep on October 6, 2008 at 11:37 AM
All McCain needs to do is pull out an index card and start reading the Dem/Frannie connections and corruption. And be sure to name everything, including Barney Frank’s former boyfriend.
I was with several (Dem) friends over the weekend at a college football game. All in the tank for Obama.
I asked them: “but what do you think about Ayers? Franklin Raines? Annenberg? Won’t release ANY of his college records? ACORN?”
To a person: THEY HAD NEVER HEARD OF ANY OF THIS.
Also, to a person: mocked Sarah Palin. “Why?” I asked. They had no clue Why….
.
These are people with multiple degrees…I was just amazed, but the media propaganda machine for Obama would do Goebbels proud.
Take off the freakin’ gloves Team McCain.
Let’s roll.
ex-Democrat on October 6, 2008 at 12:30 PM
McCain promised us that when he was president, he would veto bills that had earmarks and that he would name names. He let this one go by with no comment on the goodies it was loaded up with.
I was hoping that he would give us a preview of his presidency by giving us some straight talk about this current crisis, but so far it’s the Wall Street Greed meme - the same as Obama except that Obama has been emboldened to the point of blaming McCain for the crisis. And yet we hear crickets from the McCain camp.
It is certainly discouraging. Not just for the campaign, but as a preview of his presidency.
Queen0fCups on October 6, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Damn straight. And it’s high time Republicans stop waiting for McCain to make the case. If he doesn’t want to make the case against Fannie and Freddie, fine, he can take his loss in November like a man. But Republicans absolutly should not sit around and wait for McCain to make the case that the Dems blocked oversight on Fannie and Freddie - we should be making that case daily, and forcefully.
It’s our brand name that will suffer uncalculated damage if we don’t fight back on this, and if we just passively sit back and accept it, waiting for McCain to do the work we should be doing, than we deserve to be tarred with the narrative that the MSM will certainly put on us.
It’s time for Republicans to stop waiting for McCain to fight for them, and to start fighting for themselves.
thirteen28 on October 6, 2008 at 12:52 PM
I just saw Waxman on TV grilling the guy from Lehman.
That is why we have not heard more about the roots of all this, the people who are at the root of it all are the ones doing the witch hunt.
I like ads like this, but if the media refuses to report on any of it, and if all people hear about it is on political ads, I am not sure if they will believe it or not.
This whole thing just had to happen right before the election.
And Republicans should be making the case themselves, all most people know is that Republicans were running things for years, that is who they blame. McCain actually did try to do something about all this, but how much help did he get from a Republican Congress? Same with Bush, when he tried to do something Congress just threw it back at him.
So yeah, there needs to be ads like this, but Republicans need to explain why they waited until now to complain about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. All Democrats have to do is sit back and let the media shill for them.
Terrye on October 6, 2008 at 1:31 PM
If Obama takes the presidency and Democrats control the House and Senate, the American public will never know the truth of this financial meltdown.
Star20 on October 6, 2008 at 2:03 PM
I thought Obama was #2 on the list of cash recipients…
Midas on October 6, 2008 at 6:25 PM
What a shame, it Rained on Obombem’s party
MSGTAS on October 7, 2008 at 10:02 AM