Pitch Perfect

Check THIS out:


Now that's the best thing to come out of this Scott McClellan book so far. This ad shows Scott's comments about the buildup to war in context. Then it shows in-context quotes from John McCain doing exactly what the white house wanted. It's just spot on. I don't even think it's a "negative campaign" per se. I mean it is designed to make people have a negative opinion of the candidate, but the quotes are accurate and in-context. Is it really negative to accurately display your opponent saying things explicitly intended for a public audience?

Another point here is that this shows a major strength of Obama in a general election race. Obama can credibly say "I thought that it was a dumb idea, and it was. My opponent loved this war so much he helped lead the PR campaign to convince you, the American people what a good idea it was. And he was wrong." Hillary as a general election candidate COULDN'T use this line because SHE VOTED FOR THE STUPID WAR. This line of attack is really powerful now that 70% of America thinks it was a bad idea, but it needs to come from a credible source.