They don’t play widely; not much money is spent on them. They get picked up by the media because they are so blatantly distorted. The ads get played over and over on the news, and get seen by millions, for a fraction of the cost of what a generic ad would have cost.

The talking heads on the news discuss these ads, much like discussing a proverbial “how long have you been beating your spouse?” question. And in these days of bottom barrel tv journalism, they must discuss “both sides”.

As a secondary effect, it distracts the news, pundits, bloggers, and the opposition from discussing the real issues.

Unfortunately these are the tactics that are effective in today’s world.

It seems to early for a get out the vote tactic. My own guess is that there is more “opposition research” on untested in a political campaigner Obama that is going to come out, and the Obama campaign – having done research on itself – is prepositiong/smearing any future attacks as Rowe, swift-boat lies.

Even if you think it’s true, it’s not a good idea to tell voters or anyone that they make decisions because of hormones, they have been fooled, lied into it, they are stupid and so on.

Outsourcing Solution in BPO

Henry Braun

Outsourcing Solution in BPO

Henry Braun

The question is ultimately not whether it will convince any GOP partisans to change their minds (obviously it won’t, and is not designed to), but whether it engages swing voters in swing states.

As for its veracity, clearly McCain’s campaign is way further over the misrepresentation line these days, and this is a risky move for him, as it undermines his “straight talk” reputation, which is one of the mainstays of his campaign. This 527 is aiming to pull the rug out from under him, at least one more tug, using the ammunition he has, himself, provided.

Anyone who votes for McCain will be voting just as much with their hormones as anyone else. And take note: those hormones are in the brains, and that’s exactly what people vote with. The GOP has known this for a few decades now, specializing in getting people to vote against their own economic interests by activating their moral outrage; the Dems are just now finally paying attention and neutralizing this pernicious strategy.

Given the facts in front of us; Obamas lack of administrative experience, his Marxist education/ideology, his 20 year association with a racist organization, his close financial ties with a known terrorist, his good ol’ boy political choice for VP, his disregard for the unborn child, and his refusal to make certain documents about his past public should cause right thinking people to pause. I think anyone voting for him this November is voting with their hormones and not their brains

Why? Because unlike the rationalist ideals of the Enlightenment (and classical economics, while we’re at it), people are not “rational actors” in real life. Behavioral economists have demonstrated this over and over, over the last couple decades, and cognitive scientists have come to understand this over the last several years as well.

You run the campaign that will work, not the one you wish would work in an ideal world (and in this case, trying to “lead by example” will not in fact change anyone’s brains on the ground; that is self-defeating as Gore and Kerry discovered).

With this realization, Obama stands a good chance of not losing this election. McPalin has peaked, and the teflon is now starting to wear out, plus Palin’s polling advantage is concentrated mostly in the red-base states, and not so much in the more critical swing states, so this VP-choice strategy is actually working against McCain in terms of electoral college claculations (McCain has made himself the Gore of 2008 in electoral college terms). Obama remains basically even, even after the Rep convention bounce, and he’s just beginning to rev up the engines for the final stretch.

This will be a close election. If Obama continues to hit back, he has a good chance, in spite of latent racism in certain pockets of this country’s older culture. The younger voters are our savior this election cycle. And thank goodness for The Daily Show.