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Small study suggests McCain ads lampooning Obama hurt
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Aug 02, 2008 10:27am |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Friday, August 1, 2008 04:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | By Finn Bullers and Mark Seibel | McClatchy Newspapers
John McCain struck again on Friday, releasing a Web video suggesting that his Democatic rival, Barack Obama is "The One," a semi-religious figure sent to save the world. The spot includes footage of Charlton Heston as Moses, parting the Red Sea.
The ad was the second released this week by McCain intended to make fun of Obama. Earlier, the campaign issued an ad that likened Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton in an effort to take the shine off the huge crowds Obama drew in Berlin during his European tour.
Friday's ad takes that theme one step further, lampooning Obama's soaring rhetoric and suggesting that the Illinois senator suffers from a Messianic complex. As the ad comes to a close, it shows Heston in his iconic role as Moses parting the Red Sea, then asks the question "Obama may be The One. But is he ready to lead?"
How successful the ads will be at turning what are widely perceived as Obama's strengths into weaknesses won't be known for some time. Experts have warned they could backfire on McCain, making him seem bitter and petty and emphasizing differences between him and Obama.
A small study of people's reactions to the Britney-Paris ad suggested, however, that while people don't like the ad, it caused them to doubt Obama, and small percentages who'd said before viewing the ad that they'd vote for him said afterword that they wouldn't.
Those declines didn't result in more support for McCain; doubting Democrats and Republicans instead moved into the undecided column. Independents who moved away from Obama did say they'd vote for McCain.
The study was conducted among self-reported Democrats, Republicans and independents by HCD Research and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion. |
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