Hot Air News

THE ADS THAT AREN'T
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Paul Farhi]
When Democrats turned their attention to national security themes at their
nominating convention last month, Sen. John McCain's campaign was ready. In a
withering TV commercial called "Tiny," McCain claimed that Sen. Barack Obama had
called Iran a "tiny" country that "doesn't pose a serious threat." As reporters
scrambled to vet the claims -- which, it reportedly turned out, distorted
Obama's comments -- few noticed something curious about the commercial itself:
"Tiny" appeared almost nowhere on the air except in news accounts. Since
introducing the much-discussed commercial two weeks ago, in fact, McCain's
campaign has bought airtime for it just 10 times. The McCain ad, in other words,
wasn't really much of an ad at all. In political parlance, "Tiny" was a "vapor,"
or "ghost," ad. The goal of such spots is to stir up news-media interest rather
than to reach voters directly through the purchase of expensive TV time.
http://benton.org/node/16751 [64]
Comment on this Headline [65] ok...

[So, I know I'm feeding into the whole cycle intended by the McCain camp by posting this ad on my blog, but the circularity of that - my attention is (we should all note) NOT on any electoral issues as I post this - is an irresistible illustration of human circular mundanity.]

[This is today's version]

[In contrast, Drill Baby Drill is a valuable metaphor - a political cartoon of sorts. Tony, you know I already think you're a fucking genius.]