Does anybody else see the disconnect in McCain's "hippie love" ad?..

[Virginia Dare]

he contrasts scenes of "hippies" seemingly practicing free love Woodstock style with his concurrent experience in a POW camp. But yet, he practiced his own brand of "free love" when he returned from VietNam didn't he?

How is he considering himself above all that? Because he wasn't dropping acid and attending rock concerts at the time? Nobody under the age of say 65 would even begin to get that line of reasoning.

Didn't we rehash VietNam ad nauseum when both Clinton and Kerry ran? Obama is too young to have served there, he's too young to have been at Woodstock, it's a non-issue and it's time to move on, but I'm certainly overjoyed that the troglodytes in the GOP can't see that.

[zanne]

1. He is superannuated.

He's still living in the 60's and he thinks that dissing hippies is still "cool".

[flakey_foont]

2. Haven't seen the ad

what is McCain jabbering about this time?

[zanne]

3. He's going on about how hippies were having "free love"...

While he was a POW. That should resonate with the over 70 crowd.

[flakey_foont]

8. so it was the hippies

who shot him down?

what do hippies and their 'free love' have to do with the 2008 Presidential campaign, I wonders

[LisaM]

15. Nothing and IMO, Obama's campaigning against them too!

Given that he was about 7 or 8 when Woodstock occurred, he can't personally be McCain's target, and he (Obama) has directly rejected some things about the 60's anyway.


Is NO ONE for the hippies? Oh, the humanity.

[flakey_foont]

17. I am for the hippies

:hippie:

What's so funny 'bout Peace, Love and Understanding anyway?

[LisaM]

18. I love hippies

When I was little our friends' parents went to Broadway and saw "Hair", and they showed us the album cover. For years, all I wanted was to be 18 so that I would be old enough to BE in "Hair" (not that I can sing, dance, or act - I was just intrigued). Sadly, it never came to pass. The show closed long before I was 18.

[AllentownJake]

22. See my post below

Other than the voice over I think the visuals were designed for a different opponent.

[Marrah_G]

4. I haven't seen the ad but it sounds really stupid............

[mtnester]

11. It is stupid, but it is playing like gangbusters in Ohio

as a swing state, it is non-stop political advertising, and we gets ads that many parts of this country do not ever see....including the Summer of Love hippies are evil implication ad (insert the word LIBERAL anywhere you see/hear the word hippie) and I was a shot down war vet...WHO WAS BAYONETED (they say that)...while everyone was dancing around and free love (damn evil liberals) he was getting shot down and bayoneted....there is more, and it is a LONG commercial.

He...is...completely...out...of...touch

[liberal N proud]

5. The one where he glamorizes war and being shot down

The one where they superimpose Ronnie on the screen.

They are appealing to people like my brother who think that if you didn't serve you don't deserve to hold office or participate in politics.

[sandnsea]

6. And criticized Kerry for talking about Vietnam

That's the thing I find really appalling.

[hedgehog]

7. I never knew or saw a single hippy back then. I did know a lot of young

men facing the draft. One of my cousins went to Viet Nam, but the others were kept on hold. Reading the biographies in They Were Sailors to the End broke my heart, because so many on the Forestall were youngsters who joined the Navy to stay out of the jungle.

[otohara]

9. "Hope"

that's the part that pisses me off!

How stupid to put down hope.

[sufrommich]

10. It's a rather blatant attempt to paint Democrats as the hippies

of the sixties,along with the baggage that goes with that narrative in the minds of conservatives(supposed spitting on returning soldiers,Jane Fonda,SDS,etc.)While John McCain was playing John Wayne in Viet Nam.I don't expect any less from them, it makes very little difference to them whether Obama is old enough to be a part of that era,it's an attempt to paint ALL democrats as the hippies,republicans as the true patriots.

[OwnedByFerrets]

12. Most of those "hippies"

were more "HERO" than he was or ever will be. FU you old senile MF.

[zulchzulu]

13. Former Vietnam American POWs think he was a pretty good singer

They don't call him Johnny Songbird for nothing...

[sandyj999]

14. I hate that damn ad! And here in Michigan it plays a lot and he is here a lot.

I wonder why???:sarcasm:

[polmaven]

16. Um, I agree

with the whole premise of your OP, and everything in it except one thing.

Please change the age of understanding to - oh, say 50? I remember the era very well, and I am not anywhere near 65 years old.

[Virginia Dare]

20. I'm nearing the half-century mark as well..

and do remember much of that era, however, my point was, I think people of our generation understand the hippie culture, we brought it to pop culture, and we don't easily fall for the stereotypes. In other words, we don't get the whole "us vs. them" argument.

[cbc5g]

19. That ad pissed me off...it's like watching a preview of The Passion

John McCain was shot down! beaten! bayoneted! tortured! when told to go home he said no!


And he has some tough guy actor reading it.

And notice near the end they have a subtle slam on Obama. They can't even get through a positive ad without attacking Obama.

[AllentownJake]

23. They even stole the slam line

From a Margaret Thatcher ad in the 70s.

It was on Hardball about a week ago.

[AllentownJake]

21. I think parts of the ad was made months ago

At least the Hippie part of it.

I don't know what he's after Obama for seeing he was 6-10 during the era that he's talking about.
I guess we could send 6 year olds to war but I don't know what kind of soldiers they would make.

I stole that from MSNBC analysis last night but I agree with it.

I think it was orignially going to be a contrast ad for Hillary and they changed the voice over to throw some hits on Barack.