Presumptive GOP nominee John McCain’s campaign is reaching out to the American pro-Israel community and the American community in Israel through ads on The Jerusalem Post website. The campaign has featured two advertisements that would resonate with the readers of the right-of-center The Jerusalem Post.
One advertisement features a photograph of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad facing a photograph of Barack Obama, next to the question, “Is it OK to Unconditionally Meet with Anti-American Foreign Leaders?” There are two buttons, Yes and No. The colors are ominous, black, white and brown. Regardless of which button one pushes, a page pops up reading, “Elect a Leader with Good Judgment. Sign Up Below.”
The other ad features a photograph of McCain and Joe Lieberman, over the words “Support a Leader We Can Believe In”. The colors are a patriotic red, white, and blue. This slogan is a swipe at Barack Obama’s “Change We Can Believe In”. The grammatical shortcomings of both slogans aside, McCain’s ad suggests that while Obama’s campaign asks the voter to believe in the message and words of their candidate, and not in Obama himself, McCain is the leader whose record and character are worthy of the voters’ trust. McCain as the proven, safe candidate, and Obama as the smooth-talking, risky choice.
A well-placed advertisement with an effective message by a campaign that has had far too few.
The web guys at McCain land are really stepping it up. Seems that since March they have gone from a basic portal to a really dynamic website. It gives some hope to that campaign.
Comment by Captain Yesterday — July 8, 2008 @ 2:51 pm
Dear Madam/Sir,
This is disgusting and anti-American “for a Presidential candidate advertises in a foreign Middle Eastern country for votes & money. He should be viewed as a traitor……
Respectfully,
Paul
Comment by Paul A. Pagnato, Sr. — July 9, 2008 @ 8:30 am
Paul-
I fail to understand the reasoning behind your reaction. Many Americans, Christian and Jewish, read the Jerusalem Post website for news about Israel and the Middle East. Why is it illegitimate to reach out to them? Additionally, Americans abroad have the right to vote. Americans in Israel read the Jerusalem Post.
I could see you having issue with the Obama campaign, for creating a hebrew language blog in Israel- that can hardly be said to be designed for American consumption.
http://www.tapuz.co.il/blog/userBlog.asp?FolderName=Obama
Comment by lazar — July 9, 2008 @ 9:34 am
It gives some hope to that campaign.
I a not hopeful. there is nothing to make mccain electable except obama’s utter failures, which seem to be ignored and obscured by the media and the public.
I fail to understand the reasoning behind your reaction.
you fail because there is none. this is pure and simple emotional anti-semitic reaction, in the absence of any knowledge and ability to reason. that he reacted this way only to mccain’s act, but not obama’s is clear confirmation.
Comment by oao — July 9, 2008 @ 11:17 am
[…] Another note in the same song — If you’re campaigning for the office of President of the United States, where do you place your online ads? Why, in the Jerusalem Post, of course…. […]
Pingback by Wanna Bet? « Suzie-Q — July 9, 2008 @ 12:33 pm
Who’s next by McCain: Syria, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, etc…..VERY DANGEROUS for America.
Respectfully,
Paul
Comment by Paul A. Pagnato, Sr. — July 9, 2008 @ 12:52 pm
Lastly, in regards to “he is anti-Semite”…..
Surprise, I am a Semite but 1st an American.
Respectfully,
Paul
Comment by Paul A. Pagnato, Sr. — July 9, 2008 @ 12:57 pm
Paul-
You’re all over the place here. What do Syria, Iran, etc. have to do with his advertising in an Israeli publication? You list a group of countries (and one that does not exist) that are dictatorial regimes, and, I assume, attempt to draw a correlation with Israel, a democracy and close ally of the United States. His efforts to attracts Jewish voters make McCain less likely to pander to your list of dangerous countries.
Regarding the anti-Semitism accusation- Without commenting on your particular case, one can easily be both Jewish and anti-Semitic. Bobby Fisher is a wonderful example. If by Semite, you mean something other than Jewish, then that is irrelevant to the debate. Anti-Semitism refers only to hatred of Jews, not other Semitic people. Perhaps it is a poor label, but it has a specific meaning.
Comment by lazar — July 9, 2008 @ 1:50 pm
[…] Campaigning in Israel Well, in the Israeli media at any rate. Though I am hardly original in bringing this point up, but McCain acts as if he were […]
Pingback by McCain Campaigning in Israel « Random Musings From An Enlightened Fundamentalist — July 9, 2008 @ 2:05 pm
Surprise, I am a Semite but 1st an American.
Not surprised at all. Semites are known for their capacity to internalize and reproduce anti-semitism i response to it. The instinct to appear more patriotic than everybody else in order to appease, out of fear is a classical response of jews to racism.
That you mix together israel with the arab countries is a dead give away.
and you had no answer to the rest of the criticism of your post.
Comment by oao — July 9, 2008 @ 3:13 pm
Anti-Semitism refers only to hatred of Jews, not other Semitic people. Perhaps it is a poor label, but it has a specific meaning.
Exactly, which is how I interpreted semite in this case.
His efforts to attracts Jewish voters make McCain less likely to pander to your list of dangerous countries.
note that paul sr. does not refer at all to obama panderings which is essentially all he does. and he never asks himself the question why are the jihadis — hamas, iran, even obl — for obama.
it’s only the israel connection of mccain that he sees fit to react to.
Comment by oao — July 9, 2008 @ 3:18 pm
[…] headlines. Politico.com ran a short piece on McCain’s ads in The Jerusalem Post (based on the Augean Stables post). The comment board, not surprisingly, featured the usual borderline anti-Semitic and blatantly […]
Pingback by Augean Stables » Walter Russell Mead: American Zionism Represents Will of American People — July 9, 2008 @ 5:30 pm
Bravo McCain! This hopefully marks the beginning of some excellent campaign work. One area where Obama should be vunerable is his links to the corrupt side of Chicago politics…
Comment by Richard — July 10, 2008 @ 7:50 am
It is so predictable…criticize the role of Israel in foreign policy and you will be smeared with anti-semitism no matter what the facts are.
You offer no defense of stealing wages from joe sixpack to thrown down the toilet in the mid-east. No defense of the puzzling idea that we should give billions to Sauds, Eygpt and Israel. We will get no defense of supporting theocracies and dictators, when hard working americans have plenty of needs regarding their own children. No we will only be told to shut up keep up the back door draft known as “stop-loss”. We will be told that we need to shut up and “sacrifice” pay for socialist theopcracies and keep funding the murders of innocent people throughout the middle-east Operation Ajax, Cia bombings of schools in Iran, berlin wall nastiness in Israel, curfews, checkpoints and “give me your papers” the things you support…if we bring this up we are called anti-semites…wheather we are jews, atheist, budhists, catholics or prodestants…it doesn’t matter, your screaching smears of “anti-semitism” are as thoughtless as they are predictable.
Comment by Gabe Harris — July 18, 2008 @ 12:54 pm