Great wailing and gnashing of teeth has arisen, in response to the above MoveOn.org Ad, which engages the centerpiece of John McCain's politics.
Papa Bear O'Reilly, for example, had this to say about it.
In his own mind, O'Reilly really nails it here:
My question is this: Who on earth would take that message seriously? What kind of voter is that supposed to reach?
Good point indeed, Papa Bear. Harrogate has stressed his brain to the outermost limits, and he has yet to come up with a relevant or identifiable audience for such an ad. Nothing to see here. Keep 'moving on.'
UPDATE: Just found this little entry on the Ad by Townhall blogger Carol Platt Liebau.
Her condemnation is almost as indisputable as Papa Bear's:
no mother wants to think of her son (or daughter) going off to war. But has it occurred to Alex's mommy that -- if other mothers had adopted her "not my baby" attitude -- little Alex might be in much more jeopardy from terrorist attacks right here in the United States of America? Or for that matter, he might be speaking German . . . or even be an English subject?
Too pathetic for words.
Weeellllll. There's no arguing with that logic. The Ever-Mounting body counts are Noble, Necessary to American Safety.
The Ad is too pathetic for Words.
2 comments:
When I first saw this ad, I found it interesting but largely ineffective because it misses the audience and relies on such two straw arguments, if they could be so lucky to be called straw arguments.
The far-left is largely anti-war. There is no need to reach them as they already accept the ad's position. The far-right will do as Republicans do; there is no need to reach them as they will oppose the ad.
The target group is the middle, especially the "security moms." While this ad attacks the "100 years comment" about Iraq, it misses the concerns of the security mom (or the moderate with Iraq that knows it is bad but fears the consequence of an early withdrawal- what happens if we leave Iraq? This is the debate we need to have and this ad does not answer this.
Unfortunately, we see an appeal to pity, where by the emotion is to overtake us. However, thinking about the ad, the emotion may not overtake us because the makes a straw argument of the modern nature of the all-volunteer military. If baby Alex chooses to fight, then he does so regardless of whether or not his mom wants him to go or not. The backing for the claim, that we need a military draft is so far removed from the ad it may not even register.
I would rather see an ad attack the substance of McCain's 100 years comment- having troops in Iraq is not like having troops in S. Korea, Germany, or Japan because of the religious conflict in Iraq, a conflict that has not been solved since 632 AD. An almost 1400 year religious and theological conflict will not be resolved by keeping American troops in Iraq.
solon,
Right on. What you said.
It never ceases to amaze Harrogate, the disconnect where politicians refuse to recognize the differences you are identifying. The religious element makes it different, yet a guy with a lot of stroke like McCain, with a straight face can get on national television and compare it to Korea, and the journalist is too gelded to challenge it. And people buy it, seemingly.
Sadness. Melancollie and the infinite. Etc.
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