Unsubtle

Yes, I'm slightly side-tracked this Friday. I'd intended to continue our sojourn through the pages of the World's Worst Books, but I find myself distracted by the fact that those books and their awful ideas have become an issue in the presidential campaign.

This ad from John McCain's campaign is a disgrace. Brian Rogers, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, claims that the spot was conceived as "a light-hearted ad that pokes fun at [Obama]." Brian Rogers knows that's not true.

The point of the ad -- the entire and only point of the ad -- is to suggest that Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate for president, may be the Antichrist warned against in the pages of Left Behind. Take that message away and you're left with nonsense. Without the Barack Obama = Nicolae Carpathia subtext, the ad would consist only of something like "he's a famous leader ... but is he ready to lead?" Hunh?

That steaming pile of spin from Brian Rogers is quoted in a Wall Street Journal article that also includes commentary from Tim LaHaye himself:

The End Times, a New Testament reference to the period surrounding the return of Christ, were popularized in recent years by the "Left Behind" series of books that sold more than 63 million copies. The Rev. Tim LaHaye, co-author of the series, said in an interview that he recognized allusions to his work in the ad but comparisons between Sen. Obama and the Antichrist are incorrect.

"The Antichrist isn't going to be an American, so it can't possibly be Obama. The Bible makes it clear he will be from an obscure place, like Romania," the 82-year-old author said.

Let me repeat the key part of that:

"LaHaye ... recognized allusions to his work in the ad."

LaHaye recognized those allusions in the ad because those allusions are in the ad. They were put in the ad.

They were put in the ad by the very same campaign people now insisting that the ad doesn't contain such allusions, or that they were coincidental, or unintentional, or intended only as jokes. Or maybe all of the above -- maybe those non-existent, unintentional allusions were intended as jokes.

And there are a lot of those allusions. The whole look of the ad is taken from the cover art of the Left Behind series. Eric Sapp of The Eleison Group has documented many more of these visual cues and allusions to Left Behind in a memo excerpted by Steve Waldman on BeliefNet. Sapp notes that:

... Numerous parts of this ad that make no sense in a high-budget presidential ad unless they are understood for what they really are: attempts to scare people with contextually bankrupt scriptural and Obama quotes and imagery tied together to send messages of fear that Obama is somehow the Antichrist.

Here's how that memo concludes:

If the McCain camp was trying to spoof Obama as Messiah, they missed a number of more obvious images and did a very poor job with this ad. If they were trying to draw parallels to Obama as Antichrist, they nailed it.

Yep. And note again that both Tim LaHaye and I agree with Sapp's take here. I think it's safe to say that we're both fairly familiar with the text and subtexts of the Left Behind series, and that it might count for something when we both say we see those texts and subtexts inserted into this ad.

But then you might also argue that Tim LaHaye and I are a bit too familiar with the motifs of Left Behind, and that maybe both of us are just obsessively reading too much into this and seeing things that aren't really there. So what do other viewers think?

At Crooked Timber, Henry Farrell says that the ad is "so staggeringly bad at achieving its purported aims that it doesn’t make sense except as a dogwhistle* video" and links to Scott McLemee's take. McLemee says the dogwhistle for the Armageddon faction is unmistakable, but slightly off-key. McCain's people speak Crazyfundie, but they don't speak it fluently:

The people who created the ad know that most of the public won't pick up on any of this.

But as someone who grew up in the 1970s listening to a rock opera called It's Getting Late for the Great Planet Earth! (not reissued on CD, alas) I have no doubt the message will be received loud and clear by the audience it's aimed at, which otherwise might not feel that enthusiastic about McCain himself as a candidate.

On second thought, this might not help the campaign very much. If you are waiting for the Rapture, it's not like preventing the rise of the beast with seven horns and ten crowns etc. is a huge priority. (You sort of want to get it all over with, ASAP.)

The RNC panders to these folks, but it doesn't actually consist of them. The ad's makers know their audience but not quite well enough to grasp how it really thinks.

He in turn also links to Maud Newton, who says the ad:

... is designed to galvanize a very specific group: Evangelical Christians of the End Times, Rapture-Ready variety. It is designed, more to the point, to scare the shit out of these people by insinuating that Barack Obama is the Antichrist.

This is a particularly nefarious and crafty argument to make because it is the one context in which all the candidate’s strengths — his smarts, his articulateness, his contagious smile and way with people — can become evidence against him. All these traits are associated in the Bible with the charismatic, popular, well-spoken man who is supposed to become the leader of the world and bring about the Tribulation.

Newton is right about the way this accusation turns Obama's assets into supposed grounds for suspicion, but it's not quite true that "the Bible" describes an Antichrist with Obama-like characteristics. Folks like Tim LaHaye have long insisted that the Antichrist will be "charismatic, popular, well-spoken," but the association of those traits with the Antichrist isn't easily found "in the Bible." That association arises, rather, from Antichrist Check Lists.** The current extra-canonical canon of such Check Lists is the formulation concocted by Hal Lindsay back in the '70s. Lindsay, it turns out, has also weighed in on Barack Obama as a candidate for Antichrist, deciding he's not the Beast itself, just its opening act.

Lindsay's pop-heresies were, of course, re-popularized 20 years later by LaHaye and Jenkins. Like Lindsay, L&J praise Obama with faint damnation in their official statement declaring that Barack Obama Is Not The Antichrist:

Authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins don't think Obama is the Antichrist. ...

LaHaye and Jenkins take a literal interpretation of prophecies found in the Book of Revelation.*** They believe the Antichrist will surface on the world stage at some point, but neither see Obama in that role. "I've gotten a lot of questions the last few weeks asking if Obama is the Antichrist," says novelist Jenkins. "I tell everyone that I don't think the Antichrist will come out of politics, especially American politics."

"I can see by the language he uses why people think he could be the Antichrist," adds LaHaye, "but from my reading of scripture, he doesn't meet the criteria. There is no indication in the Bible that the Antichrist will be an American."

The reference there to "the language [Obama] uses" reinforces what Maud Newton said about Obama's assets being used against him. LaHaye is talking about what we have repeatedly seen as a recurring, emphatic theme in Left Behind and throughout the entire premillennial dispensationalist sect: Those who seek peace and pursue it might be the Antichrist; those who speak of love, peace, unity and brotherhood might be the Antichrist.

So beware the peacemakers, recoil in horror from Middle East peace talks, fear the United Nations, wet the bed over nightmares of a One World Government and keep a terrified, watchful eye on anyone who suggests that international relations might consist of anything other than hot and cold war.

That's the message of Left Behind, and that's the message of John McCain's Left Behind ad.

And that message is getting through. The dogs hear the dog whistle. Here is a letter to the editor, published in yesterday's paper:

Those who ignored the many warning signs and are still swooning over Barack Obama should read John Bolton’s excellent column of July 31 dissecting Obama’s Berlin speech.

Despite his opportunistic shift to secure swing votes, Obama emanates from the Democrats’ left wing. His core beliefs are forced redistribution of wealth and formation of a world government, to which the United States will be subordinate. His “one world” platitude is typical of idealistic dreamers who made up the party before him. His willingness to dismiss inherent evil is reminiscent of the left’s acceptance of coexistence with the murderous communists of the 20th century. ...

OWGOMG!

The point of the ad was to rally the fringe and at least one fringe-dweller was rallied enough to write that letter to his local paper. The problem for the McCain campaign, of course, is that he may not stick around to vote in November, having instead headed for the hills with the rest of his local Tribulation Force militia and their stockpile of canned goods, ammunition and krugerrands.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

* It's a very clumsy kind of dogwhistle, though. When torture-apologist Michael Gerson inserted evangelicalisms into President Bush's speeches he did so seamlessly. The intended evangelical audience understood the dogwhistle message, but it was embedded within a coherent message addressed to the larger audience. McCain's ad works as a dogwhistle, but there's no larger message for the larger audience. The Left Behind readers will understand his coded message, but the larger audience will just see him standing there, growing red-faced from blowing into a whistle that appears not to work.

** Those Antichrist Check Lists are culled from the Bible, but not in any kind of systematic, logical or repeatable way. It's worth pointing out again here that the word "Antichrist" appears in only one book of the Bible, in plural form, and that book is not Revelation. "The Antichrist" is an extrabiblical character who can be read back into the text, but you won't find him there unless you're careful to bring him with you.

*** No, no, a thousand times no. There is nothing literal about their reading of the Book of Revelation. They interpret that book through a convoluted and contradictory allegorical scheme that treats it as a secret, coded mystery understandable only to the initiated. For decades, Tim LaHaye has insisted both A) the Book of Revelation must be read "literally," and B) the Book of Revelation is impossible to understand correctly without the help of experts like himself. Getting away with that is a neat trick.

Comments

[infernalserpent]

For me, these two posts have been just as good as LB Fridays. Thanks, Fred.

It's just a shame it's, y'know, happening in real life.

[Jim]

"I've gotten a lot of questions the last few weeks asking if Obama is the Antichrist," says novelist Jenkins. "I tell everyone that I don't think the Antichrist will come out of politics, especially American politics."

How the hell does Jenkins think Romania chooses its presidents if not through politics? How could you choose a president any other way? That's the definition of politics.

[lonespark]

Obviously, Romanian presidents are appointed by Satan. Duh.

[Drake Pope]

Jim -- to these people, everywhere except for North America and Britain are just sources of ridiculous racist stereotypes. Romania is an "obscure nation" populated entirely by mind-controlling vampires. It doesn't have any internal political processes, which is why its President can hang out in New York for seven years without drawing any criticism, resentment, or even confusion.

[Chris]

Catch McCain's other ad. "Grand", I think. It's staggering in its own way since it contains naked lies that don't even pass a laugh test. I guess his campaign has decided that the people who actually, you know, watch the news or read newspapers and know it's full of it are already a lost cause.

Anyway, at the end of the ad is a glowing shot, literally, of McCain looking towards the heavens. Or towards Heaven. Great view of the underside of his chin. It's a profound contrast to the earlier one with a slightly demonic Obama looking slightly downward. Towards Hell, I guess.

I'm beginning to wonder if this is a deliberate scorched earth policy by some of his advisors. At best he'll eek out a win and his base will be energized to fight a much bluer Congress. At worst the Democrats will be forced to fight to prevent the country falling into a religious civil war (perhaps literally in some areas) instead of pursuing the agenda the voters have supported.

[Rob Rodger]

A coworker of mine said she couldn't support Obama because he was Anti-Christ-like.

I almost flipped out. I couldn't even respond because there was no way I could remain civil.

I guess I grew up sheltered, because I really didn't think these people exist.

[J Neo Marvin]

I'm just marveling at the idea that "the Bible makes it clear that the Antichrist will not come from America". Aside from the sheer nonsense that is Pre-Millenial Dispensationalism, why would the Bible say ANYTHING about "America", a nation that didn't exist then and a continent that was completely unknown to almost everyone in the Eastern hemisphere?

[Kayte]

Neighbor caught the subliminal massage just fine, used it as her latest clinching proof that we're on a banana peel to Armageddon.

Good Lord.

[Kayte]

Neighbor caught the subliminal massage just fine, used it as her latest clinching proof that we're on a banana peel to Armageddon.

Good Lord.

[Jim]

Drak Pope-I'm not too sure about Britain. It was apparently unaffected by The Event, after all.

And, speaking of popes, am I imagining things, or does the ad actually refer to him as "Pope Barack"?

[Dorothy]

This topic is in desperate need of comic relief.

(mildly NSFW)

[Randy Owens]

It just occurred to me.... Aside from the question of whether these are an adequate substitute for a proper LB Friday fix... did we completely give the Thursday Flamewar a miss? Fred's thrown us off our stride!

[Dorothy]

I think "Change the Rules" was some pretty good Libertarian flame-bait.

[Ms. Anon E. Mouse, Esq]

@Dorothy
Best opening ever. You may owe me a new keyboard.

@John
Another dog whistle. For many of the RTCs that I know, the main question now is will the Antichrist be a pope, the head of the UN, or the head of the EU? So, using the phrase that can be alternately heard as "To quote Barack," or "To Pope Barack" is fascinating.

[Drake Pope]

At worst the Democrats will be forced to fight to prevent the country falling into a religious civil war (perhaps literally in some areas) instead of pursuing the agenda the voters have supported.

Not really. I mean, it's pretty bad in some areas but it's not exactly Afghanistan. Don't get the impression that "culture warriors" are brave enough to do more than write smarmy letters to the editor and go on CNN to bitch about how Jews and liberals are destroying the country. If you look back in history, you'll learn that this cowardice is a common trend; "Culture Warriors" in the early 20th century couldn't even stage a cross burning in a black family's yard without hiding behind masks.

[quote]Aside from the question of whether these are an adequate substitute for a proper LB Friday fix... did we completely give the Thursday Flamewar a miss? Fred's thrown us off our stride![/quote]

Whenever there's not a LB Friday, I visit a methadone clinic. It's almost the same effect except the guy at the clinic doesn't make me think about religion and politics.

[Amaryllis]

Direct quotes from a RaptureReady thread, charmingly titled "Will This be the 'Obamanation' of Desolation?"

So, what could lead to the downfall of this country?
*An Obama presidency
*A severe economic downturn, which we appear to be settling into at this time
*Continued social, spiritual, and ethical rot from the inside
*Nuclear terrorism or nuclear war
*the Rapture of the Church

And:

I have been reading on this board about Obama possibly being the Antichrist or close to it??? or maybe a precurser to the Antichrist?? I was going to vote for him, but I am now having second thoughts. Everytime I see him on TV or read or see a video on him I get a icky twinge in my stomach!!
And:

With a man like Obama in the White House to help things along, what better time for the Antichrist in Europe and his henchman, the False Prophet, to take over the world?

Yeah. Unsubtle. And it's working.

(Though to be fair, those posts were made last week, before this particular video was released. But, on the other hand, obviously this wasn't the first time the theme was hinted at.)

[The Ridger]

But what I really, truly do not understand is: why aren't these RTC's looking forward to the Antichrist? Isn't that not only God's Will, but won't they all go to Heaven?

Every time I read about somebody screaming about this or that being a sign of the Apocalypse - like a national ID - and so we must fight it!, I wonder why...

[cjmr]

Aside from the question of whether these are an adequate substitute for a proper LB Friday fix... did we completely give the Thursday Flamewar a miss?

It only got slightly heated on the MH threads. And we did argue about what pralines actually were. (Besides delicious)

[Ryan Ferneau]

There is nothing literal about their reading of the Book of Revelation. They interpret that book through a convoluted and contradictory allegorical scheme that treats it as a secret, coded mystery understandable only to the initiated.

All I can say is not everyone uses the word "literally" literally.

[Dene]

How the hell does Jenkins think Romania chooses its presidents if not through politics?

Well, you know...it's an obscure place. They'd have some obscure way of choosing a president.

[hf]

J Neo Marvin: In fact, the Seventh-Day Adventists seem to view America as the false prophet because somebody once described the USA as coming out of the earth. (They think our government will take the Pope's side on the really important controversy, and force people to worship on Sunday rather than on the Sabbath.) I think this makes Young-Earth Cretinism Creationism anti-American.

[hf]

The Rome-like Antichrist, meanwhile, comes out of the sea (I think). This can only mean one thing: Pope Sidious is a Deep One.

[Morninglight]

Holy snapping duck doo-doo.

Just. Wow. McCain would make for a better Antichrist candidate in my eyes.

[Ms. Anon E. Mouse, Esq]

@The Ridger

But what I really, truly do not understand is: why aren't these RTC's looking forward to the Antichrist? Isn't that not only God's Will, but won't they all go to Heaven?

They may be looking forward to the Rapture, but they're all vaguely afraid of God thinking they're on the wrong side. It's very paradoxical: Salvation's by grace not works, but if they're seen to be too pro-Antichrist, they might lose out even after saying the magic words.

[Mike Toreno]

Do you think the Rapture happened today? (It's still Friday here.) I mean, 08/08/08 is an extremely auspicious day, and what could be more auspicious than getting the Pat Robertons and the Tim LaHayes and the John Hagees out of here? I told my wife that maybe the Rapture already happened and Hagee was the only one taken, but he was so fat that he couldn't achieve liftoff.

[Me!]

Was this ad officially approved by McCain? I didn't see a "I'm John McCain, and I approve this message" in it. Just wondering, because whether or not he approved it is a bit important.

[Nerem]

Considering that the Youtube account is the official Youtube Account of the John McCain campaign? You betcha its official.

[Caravelle]

Was this ad officially approved by McCain? I didn't see a "I'm John McCain, and I approve this message" in it. Just wondering, because whether or not he approved it is a bit important.

On the one hand there wasn't an "I'm John McCain and I approve this message", but on the other there was a "paid for by McCain campaign 2008" at the end. So what, are they trying to have their cake or eat it too, are there legal reasons behind it (kind of like marketing departments going into contortions to say their product contains chocolate or cheese or fruit when legally it doesn't), or what ? I'm not sure what the point is supposed to be.

[Ecks]

OMG, I just did a literal reading of revelation and you won't believe it!

"I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus"

So clearly here's a John saying that he will be a companion in SUFFERING (which will clearly happen AFTER the rapture, meaning he will still be there then), and that he's in "patient endurance", which is totally peace maker talk. John here is clearly an antichrist figure. You know which modern political candidate is also called John...

And of course, "Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him"

Hm, that would be John the *aviator*, right, now seen by all eyes on TV...

"16In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance."

ok, so seven stars - y'know, like military medals, and a sword in his mouth - someone who would speak of war, obviously. The Iraq war, no doubt, because, y'know Iraq is totally a biblical land... And doesn't McCain have a round face always beaming smiles at us on teevee...

What? I'm just being literal here.

[Praline]

The Bible makes it clear he will be from an obscure place, like Romania," the 82-year-old author said.

Allow me to say, on behalf of Europe: fuck you, LaHaye, you ignorant, provincial moron.

[Praline]

On a more cheerful note, there's something positive in this. The fact that they're calling Obama the Antichrist means two very encouraging things:

1. They're having difficulty attacking him on the grounds of policy or personal history. These people will do anything they can to make him look like a bad candidate; if the worst they can come up with is this nonsense, it suggests Obama's pretty Teflon about actual political stuff.

2. They see him as a serious threat. They didn't bother to get this worked up about Gore and Kerry; that, I believe, is because they looked less likely to win. Acting as if Obama's the prophesied One whose inexorable rise will bring about the End Times (they want the End Times, of course, but I've noticed a distinct preference for it kicking off in other countries where it won't cause them any pre-Rapture inconvenience) suggests that they believe, on some level, that his rise is inexorable.

The people who actually believe in the Antichrist were never going to vote for Obama anyway. Perhaps we should see this as a scream of fear rather than a major danger. Perhaps for once they're more scared of us than we are of them.

[Jim]

THe candidates only have to make those statements on ads that appear on radio or televsion, not on the internet.

[Jim]

That last statement was in response to

Was this ad officially approved by McCain? I didn't see a "I'm John McCain, and I approve this message" in it. Just wondering, because whether or not he approved it is a bit important.

[Wesley Parish]

Just. Wow. McCain would make for a better Antichrist candidate in my eyes.
Morninglight

Actually, Morning Light, you're wrong. The real, genuine Anti-Christ is Tim La Haye. He's only suggesting that the Checklist is valid, purely and simply to throw us off the scent. ;)

Just read the relevant passage in the Christian Bible, 1 John Chapter 2, verse 18. How someone could read that and NOT immediately think of Tim La Haye, I'll never know - it's a wonder that Pope Gregory never mentioned it, nor did Torquemada, nor did Loyola, nor did Saint Augustine, nor did John Calvin, nor Knox, nor Marcion, nor Shabbetai Zevi, nor Balder, nor Maimonides, nor Ravana, nor Baal Shem Tov, nor Husain, nor Toutatis, nor Ali, nor Kung Fu Tze, nor Lao Tze, nor Karttikeya, nor Sun Tzu, nor Maui Tikitiki a Taranga, nor Kilibob, nor Tawhaki, nor Cakobau, let alone Pemulwoi - but then, a lot of writings have gone missing over the millennia in suspicious circumstances. ;)

And the proof is that in spite of Jesus' own words declaring that baptism (water) is as essential a part of becoming a member of the Christian Community as is the Spirit, LaJenkins have Buck becoming a Christian - without any baptism or lustration of any sort. (In spite of the well-attested fact that the ceremonial bath was and is an essential part of becoming Jewish for converts. And Jesus had therefore not changed anything.)

John, Chapter 3, verse 5:
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

BTW, I found the following on the 'Net:

1,260th Day

Midweek. Antichrist from America has been resurrected from the dead. Armies of America and Western Europe have invaded and now occupy Israel and the Middle East.

You see! The AntiChrist is Tim La Haye! ;) And I've got a bridge, and a nice allotment of land in Florida to sell you, together with some snake oil for the snakes that infest the property ...

[Elmo]

Not without good reason is the McCain campaign disturbing. Once more we are witness to a campaign of fear and innuendo -- issues be damned! Once more we see that both halves of The Money Party will continue the failed policies of the past driving us further into debt, poisoning the air, water, and out children's future. Even the so-called "liberal" candidate of the D branch is taking huge contributions from the Wall Street crowd who have pocketed millions of dollars while the companies they head are slumping.

There is no moral leadership.

WE know what needs to be done. What we need is leaders who will admit it. But no one ever got elected by telling the truth. All you have to do is support magical thinking. Wave your hand and tell the people that "these are not the Droids you seek" and the smoke and mirrors will hide the rest. You will make enough to buy your retreat and retire on it while the rest of us eat Soylent Green.

[Tonio]

The people who actually believe in the Antichrist were never going to vote for Obama anyway. Perhaps we should see this as a scream of fear rather than a major danger. Perhaps for once they're more scared of us than we are of them.

I hope you're right. My concern is that their fear may make them more dangerous, and that this election be the tipping point for a complete RTC takeover of the GOP.

[Praline]

My concern is that their fear may make them more dangerous, and that this election be the tipping point for a complete RTC takeover of the GOP.

I don't see how it could tip any further; we've already had a fundamentalist President. Let's not fall prey to the liberal 'don't let's succeed too much or it'll make the conservatives mad at us' reflex...

[Tonio]

I don't see how it could tip any further; we've already had a fundamentalist President.

That's different from the fundamentalists being in full control of the GOP agenda. Certainly the level of control has increased greatly over Bush's term. But the classic small-government conservatives are still a powerful force in the party.

Let's not fall prey to the liberal 'don't let's succeed too much or it'll make the conservatives mad at us' reflex...

I wasn't suggesting that - I was simply expecting the worst possible outcome from the ad. I can imagine McCain becoming an impotent puppet ruler with someone like Dobson as a shadow theocratic dictator.

[Sarashay]

Something tells me this particular tactic isn't going to have the same impact as Swift Boat Veterans For Truth did against Kerry. (And it's effect wasn't as large as people seem to think--yes, Kerry lost, but it was, as I recall, a damn close race to tip each state into the red.)

Conceivably, it could backfire in a huge way. The reason the conservatives are so panicked is because the pendulum is starting to swing back in a liberal direction. Courting the fringe right will not endear him to the middle, I don't think.

[Karen]

This post reminds me why it's so very important to expose the errors in the Worst Books in the World. Lots and lots and lots of people get their ideas of the Bible not from actual scholars, or even from actual reading of the printed words, but from popular nonsense like Left Behind. I'm sure you all have discussed this at great length, but it bears repeating: the danger in these books is that the authors put their own bad ideas into God's mouth and persuade millions that it's really God speaking. LaHaye created Nicky K2 out of his own ignorant prejudices as a way to manipulate his followers into a particularly wicked political philosophy.

The beauty of it is, for him, that novels work very subtly, by suggesting patterns rather than making specific statements. Thus, if LaHaye's Man of Sin is a good speaker, all good speakers are now suspect. (I read somewhere that Americans fear speaking in public more than they fear dying of cancer. Anyone who's good at it must be weird.) If LaHaye's Man of Sin wants peace, all peacemakers are cursed. Presenting such bad ideas in a novel allows the authors to sneak them in before anyone notices and once someone does it's terribly difficult to argue against them. (How many people analyze this month's output from Harlequin for reactionary political themes?) Finally, the ideas put forward in the novel get just enough mainstream for someone to use them in a political ad like this. The really scary thing to me is that the next time, the ad-maker will be more careful, and no one will notice the problems until it's too late.

[derek]

In presidential elections, "lost" is the largest effect there is.

If Kerry's loss was by a large margin, it would make sense to say the Swift Boat Veterans did not have a significant effect. The fact that it was close makes it more likely that the swiftboaters made the crucial difference, not less.

[Tonio]

The RNC panders to these folks, but it doesn't actually consist of them.

Perhaps the ad isn't an attempt to pander, but a subtle message to RTCs by the McCain camp that he can't win the White House without them and that he's willing to give them whatever they want in exchange for their support.

[Monkay]

For me "The One" will always be Neo.
Hint for enjoying the Matrix series: there is no plot!

[Ian Thorpe]

When you say:

"Without the Barack Obama = Nicolae Carpathia subtext, the ad would consist only of something like "he's a famous leader ... but is he ready to lead?"

you miss the fact that ready in this context has several meanings, one of which is "equipped." Clearly there are genuine doubts about Obama's experience so there isn't much wrong with that.

On the question of religious allusions, it was actually Obama who cast himself in a Messianic role by presenting political rallies in a way modelled on the presentation of evangelical preachers. As as Revelations tells us, the antichrist will present himself as a messiah.

Thirdly, lke most non Americans I do not want to see another Republican in the White House, but it seems a small cabal of Politically Correct fascists have decided that it was the ideal time to run a Black candidate. Wrong. America is not ready for a Black President. Taking this into account, if Obama is to have better than a snowball in hell's chance he and his campaigm managers need to realise that whining unfair every time the opposition start to act like politicians and crying "racist" every time somebody challenges them is not the way to win hearts and minds.

As for the ad; comedians point of view, its a damn good piece of satire that makes Obama look like a self aggrandising fool. Mind you the GOP don't need to help him do that.

[Gorgias]

I don't know, I think that there is a significant message without the antichrist subtext, though that's certainly present. A lot of people don't want a hubristic, messiah-complex addled president.

[Kirala]

I dunno. I think the Obama/Messiah connection was done so much better here that this Obama/false Messiah thing falls flat. Maybe because outrageous claims work better in a satirical setting.

I wonder how much effect this ad will have, though. I myself sometimes fear that Obama seems too good to be true; what are his real flaws? I could see it being easy to exacerbate that fear into a "better the devil you know" kind of thing. (McCain does have a much longer-standing reputation in America at large.)

Of course, now I'm inclined to go for the candidate who's done the least mudslinging. If Obama can make it through this campaign without stooping to the lowest denominator, my nebulous fears will turn to celebration.

[not_scottbot]

Ian Thorpe -
you know, there might actually be a coherent thought somewhere in what you wrote, but somehow, I doubt it.

[Me!]

Incidentally, has The Daily Show or The Colbert Report made any reference to this ad yet? Because I'd love to see their take on it. Also:

Wrong. America is not ready for a Black President.

...huh?

[Kaiser]

Allow me to say, on behalf of Europe: fuck you, LaHaye, you ignorant, provincial moron.

Amen.

My concern is that their fear may make them more dangerous, and that this election be the tipping point for a complete RTC takeover of the GOP.

Republicans aren't stupid. They actually want to win elections in the future.

[realityfighter]

The point that gets lost in all this taunting is, Obama really does represent hope, change and redemption for a lot of Americans. The idea of his presidency is so attractive because our government, our rights and our economy have been abused so badly for eight years. We know he isn't a saint, but we don't need a saint right now. We just need someone we can trust not to screw us over again.

In other words, this Obamania is a direct result of Republican screw ups, and now that they've figured out we're resolved to break ties with them, they're taunting us for thinking we can walk away. It's the last refuge of a party that knows it's lost. Just keep walking.