Here Is An Ad That Obama Needs To Run

OK, so Hillary goes negative and it keeps her in the race. I think we can expect more of the same from her in the coming weeks. That means that Obama needs to go on the attack, not merely counter-attack when he gets attacked. Here's an ad I think he should run:

[The ad begins with images of the Trade Towers burning, people jumping 80 stories to their deaths, the towers collapsing, etc.]

[VOICE-OVER]: "September 11, 2001 -- nearly 3000 Americans were murdered when terrorists based in Afghanistan -- and supported by the Taliban -- attacked the United States. So we attacked them back."

[Show images of U.S. troops heroically going into Afghanistan]

[VOICE-OVER]: "But then something tragic happened -- George Bush, John McCain, and Hillary Clinton decided to take their eyes off of Afghanistan and instead direct the bulk of our Army's combat forces against Iraq, a secular Muslim country that had nothing to do with the 9-11 attacks."

[Show films of McCain and Hillary speaking in the Senate in favor of the Iraq War resolution].

[VOICE-OVER]: "Well, we all know how that turned out -- 4000 American troops killed with another 30,000 suffering life changing injuries, a half a million Iraqis dead, a trillion of your tax dollars spent, and no end in sight."

[Show a montage of images of brutal combat in Iraq, the charred bodies of American contractors hanging from a bridge, electrodes stuck to a hooded Iraqi prisoner, flag-draped coffins being loaded on planes, an IED going off on an Iraqi street, a headline showing that oil is now over $100 a barrel, and finish the montage with footage of McCain claiming that we'll be in Iraq for a hundred years followed by an image of McCain and Hillary together at some event, like the image at the bottom of this post].

[VOICE-OVER]: "In fact, security experts agree that the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has actually made America less safe. And if that isn't bad enough, our enemies in Afghanistan -- the same ones that killed 3000 of our fellow citizens on 9-11 -- are now strong again."

[Show headline reading something like "TALIBAN RESURGENT -- U.S. MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN IN JEOPARDY," like this one].

[Cut to image of Barack speaking at a podium with American flags waiving patriotically behind him and patriotic music crescendo-ing].

[VOICE-OVER]: "Barack Obama had the courage and wisdom to oppose Bush's Iraq invasion from the start. Unfortunately, John McCain and Hillary Clinton did not feel that way, and America is now paying the price for their incompetence. If you are truly concerned about the safety and security of your loved ones, shouldn't you vote for the candidate who doesn't have an enemy identification problem?"

The end needs a little work, but you get the idea. I don't think Barack should go on an all-out attack -- that's just not his style -- but he should run a few ads with the tone of the one set out above, and the key to such ads will be to always mention McCain and Hillary together. This would be a fair tactic to use, given that Hillary recently praised McCain's security credentials while at the same time attacking Obama's, which was despicable in my opinion.

Also, if fear is going to be the dominant theme in this year's election, then Obama needs to really hit the one big truth of this campaign, namely, the Republicans want Hillary to get the nomination because they know that she is beatable.

Obama's people should produce an ad featuring Rush Limbaugh telling Republicans to "cross over" and vote for Hillary in the Democratic primaries. The voice-over for such an ad could simply say, "Why is Rush Limbaugh of all people encouraging Republicans to vote for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries? Because he can read the polls and he knows that McCain would beat Hillary in a general election."

Obama might also want to consider running a humorous ad against Hillary with regard to Iraq. One such ad could start with the question, "What would have Hillary done in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941?" The ad would then cut to a scene where President Hillary Clinton (her back to the camera) is informed on December 7, 1941 of the Pearl Harbor attack. The ad then depicts her responding to the attack by ordering an invasion of Mexico.