If you think you’ve heard this line of attack before, there’s a reason.
Republican John McCain’s latest TV spot is playing off Hillary Rodham Clinton’s best-known ad against Barack Obama to heighten any concerns that Obama isn’t ready to take a 3 a.m. phone call that could signal a crisis demanding judgment and experience.
The McCain ad debuted Tuesday, just hours before Clinton was to address the Democratic National Convention in Denver. While she was expected to repeat her post-primary support for Obama’s candidacy in an effort to bring her supporters to his side, McCain’s campaign didn’t want voters to forget that she had once considered McCain to be more experienced.
Opening with a scene lifted from Clinton’s old ad, the McCain spot then switches to scenes of war, missiles and hooded gunmen as an announcer says: “Uncertainty. Dangerous aggression. Rogue nations. Radicalism.” Clinton herself is shown saying: “I know Sen. Mc Cain has a lifetime of experience that he will bring to the White House. And Sen. Obama has a speech he gave in 2002.”
The announcer adds: “Hillary’s right. John McCain for president.”
The 30-second spot was running in Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin as well as in Denver.
McCain ads using Clinton’s words against Obama drew the New York senator’s ire on Monday. She told delegates from her state, “I’m Hillary Clinton and I do not approve that message.”
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said Tuesday that Clinton laid the groundwork for making the case that Obama, a first-term Illinois senator, wasn’t ready to lead the nation. McCain will spend much of the fall campaign fleshing out that argument, Bounds said.
Clinton’s commercial, which aired as she struggled to stop Obama’s march to the nomination, was designed to reinforce the message that her years as first lady and in the Senate gave her the experience that’s needed to govern in a troubled world . The ad was stark and designed to be frightening, using the image of children asleep in their beds and a telephone ringing in the middle of the night.
“It’s 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep,” the announcer said. “Who do you want answering the phone?” In answer to that question, the ad ended with a shot of Clinton at work.
Actor Steve Guttenberg Returns To L.A. Neighborhood Now Charred By Devastating Wildfire
Steve Guttenberg awoke Thursday morning to a grim reality: The treacherous wildfire that tore through the Pacific Palisades had left his once-lush neighborhood charred and unrecognizable.
With homes smoldered, streets emptied and friends scattered by evacuation orders, Guttenberg counted himself among the fortunate. His property was miraculously spared. But the actor-producer still struggled to reconcile his relief with the haunting sight of his ravaged, once lavish community.
"Just this morning, I woke up and I was really conscious of my mental state and my mental health, because the last three days, I've seen so much tragedy," said Guttenberg, pacing through the ruins of his neighborhood. He said his home has electricity but no running water.
Guttenberg thanked God that his block was safe, but he said about 20 homes were burned "pretty bad" in his 80-home community after wind-whipped fires tore across Los Angeles, destroying homes, clogging roadways as tens of thousands fled as the fires burned uncontained Wednesday. He said the fires are the worst he's ever seen in his 66-years.
The wildfires have burned the homes of several celebrities including Billy Crystal, Carey Elwes and Paris Hilton.
Guttenberg said he never expected all of this to happen.
"It's like when someone dies suddenly," he said. "It's like when someone gets hit by a car. You never expect that to happen. That's how shocking it was."
During Guttenberg's stroll, it was an eerie scene with scorched palm trees, homes reduced to ash and rubble, and the daytime skies casted an ominous twilight over the devastation.
"I've seen people scared, people in wheelchairs, mothers and fathers trying to find their kids, people having anxiety and panic... Read More