Another Suggested Democratic Campaign Ad
I know no one is asking me, but in light of today's developments, here's another idea for a Democratic campaign ad (inspired by this post by Glenn):
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Opens with an image of a world map; North Korea, Iran, and Iraq are highlighted.
Narrator's voice: Almost five years ago, President Bush warned Americans that North Korea, Iran, and Iraq "constituted an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world."
Cut to audio of Bush's January 2002 State of the Union speech:
President Bush: I will not wait on events, while dangers gather. I will not stand by, as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons.
Cut to footage of 2006: North Korea testing its nukes, Ahmadinejad defiantly rebuking America, scenes of ongoing violence and chaos in Iraq, etc.
Narrator's voice: But under Bush and the Republican Party's watch, North Korea has developed nuclear weapons, Iran has grown stronger, bolder, and more determined than ever to seek nuclear weapons of its own, and Iraq has become a violent quagmire and breeding ground for terrorists. It's time for some competent leadership. It's time to change course. Vote Democratic.
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Opens with an image of a world map; North Korea, Iran, and Iraq are highlighted.
Narrator's voice: Almost five years ago, President Bush warned Americans that North Korea, Iran, and Iraq "constituted an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world."
Cut to audio of Bush's January 2002 State of the Union speech:
President Bush: I will not wait on events, while dangers gather. I will not stand by, as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons.
Cut to footage of 2006: North Korea testing its nukes, Ahmadinejad defiantly rebuking America, scenes of ongoing violence and chaos in Iraq, etc.
Narrator's voice: But under Bush and the Republican Party's watch, North Korea has developed nuclear weapons, Iran has grown stronger, bolder, and more determined than ever to seek nuclear weapons of its own, and Iraq has become a violent quagmire and breeding ground for terrorists. It's time for some competent leadership. It's time to change course. Vote Democratic.
15 Comments:
The ad would be much more persuasive if it demonstrated how the Democrats would provide competent leadership, and what they intend to do about those situations. So far, they haven't exactly been inspiring with an alternate vision.
I am quite frankly very happy I'm not American right now. Choosing a party would be almost impossible. I guess I'd have to look at local candidates to make a decision.
If fully fleshed-out alternative foreign policy visions could fit inside 30-second television commercials, we probably wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.
We could've just advertised our way out of it.
Great ad idea. It's hard to believe, given all of Bush's foreign "policy" failures that he's still viewed by anyone as tough on national security. The opposite is true.
One question though: Why'd you leave out Afghanistan, where the Taliban are returning?
One question though: Why'd you leave out Afghanistan, where the Taliban are returning?
Mainly because Afghanistan wasn't part of the "axis of evil" so it didn't fit with the theme of the ad. Also, raising the issue of Afghanistan is a little more tricky because most people (myself included) think that invading Afghanistan was a good idea. It's certainly true that Bush can be criticized for not devoting sufficient resources to Afghanistan (which is allowing a Taliban resurgence) but including Afghanistan in the ad might confuse voters and make them think the Democrats wouldn't have invaded that country either.
If fully fleshed-out alternative foreign policy visions could fit inside 30-second television commercials, we probably wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.
We could've just advertised our way out of it.
Agreed, but I think for too long the Democrats have just ceded this area to the GOP. All people hear is GOP demogoguery on these issues, so some effective counter-advertising would be useful.
The ad would be much more persuasive if it demonstrated how the Democrats would provide competent leadership, and what they intend to do about those situations. So far, they haven't exactly been inspiring with an alternate vision.
As Kagro pointed out, I think you expect far too much from a television ad. In an ad, you only have enough time to make one point, and a simple one at that. The point to be made here is that the ruling party's foreign policy has been an abject disaster.
That's what I was getting at.
Thankfully, saying the other guy sucks still fits nicely into a commercial break.
Surely, saying that Iran is "determined to seek" nuclear weapons is playing into the Rethug's hand, and very likely untrue. At the very least it is dishonest fearmongering, and as such, puts the Dems in the same bracket as the Bushies for mine.
Surely, saying that Iran is "determined to seek" nuclear weapons is playing into the Rethug's hand, and very likely untrue. At the very least it is dishonest fearmongering, and as such, puts the Dems in the same bracket as the Bushies for mine.
I don't know about that. I think Iran probably is seeking nuclear weapons. They claim to only want nuclear power, but for a nation drowning in oil, that's an odd priority. The fact is that Iran has been the primary beneficiary of the Iraq war. It replaced their chief enemy with an ally and it took away any real military options we might have had against Iran. As it stands, they have every incentive to develop nuclear weapons and almost no incentive not to.
How about an ad that points out failure in the Republican party and offers a clear direction for the Democrats? Someone else can fill in the images.
Do you want leadership that talks tough and fails to deliver?
Do you want leadership that promotes patriotism and abandons our citizens to drown?
Do you want leadership that plays directly into the hands of the enemy?
If you do, vote Republican.
If you want leadership that will negotiate a way to peace and safety, leadership that will protect our citizens and preserve our way of life, leadership that will adapt to a changing world, vote Democrat.
>*I don't know about that. I think Iran probably is seeking nuclear weapons. They claim to only want nuclear power, but for a nation drowning in oil, that's an odd priority. The fact is that Iran has been the primary beneficiary of the Iraq war. It replaced their chief enemy with an ally and it took away any real military options we might have had against Iran. As it stands, they have every incentive to develop nuclear weapons and almost no incentive not to.*<
Your last sentence is probably right, but there are incentives not to, postBush, if they can wait it out.The accusation, if based not on evidence, is a belligerent stance that can be seen to be justifying the fear mongering and demonization currently under way by the repugs.
The oil vs nuclear energy for electricity is a canard. Oil fired power generation is NOT an option for a populous country for 2 obvious reasons. Environmental catastrophe being one. The other being that oil is a finite resource and for a 3rd world country to squander the foreign exchange it so desperately needs would make little sense. It isnt an odd priority at all.
The fact is that Iran has abided by the NNPT and international law in general. If you wish the Democrats to follow the Bush policy of trashing international law for short term domestic political fodder, then good luck to you.
I'd have hoped that the outright excesses of the Bush admin would have caused some Democrats to scour their own consciousness on how America views the world.
As one of the 6 billion odd nonAmericans on the planet, these sort of statements by the opposition supporters in the US, fill me with a dread every bit as much as the Bush rhetoric.
You DO all need to read Noam Chomsky's book.
They claim to only want nuclear power, but for a nation drowning in oil, that's an odd priority.
Iran imports colossal amounts of gasoline every year. They're not just doing that for show; they simply don't refine enough domestically to take care of themselves. The major reason is that the majority of their refineries are over 30 years old.
Iran could very well be pursuing nuclear weapons, but the idea that they must be doing so because they have no reason to pursue alternative energy is pretty much a GOP canard.
Iran imports colossal amounts of gasoline every year. They're not just doing that for show; they simply don't refine enough domestically to take care of themselves. The major reason is that the majority of their refineries are over 30 years old.
I didn't realize that. A very good point. That said, I still think, based on our treatment of the other members of the "axis of evil," Iran has a very clear incentive to develop nuclear weapons.
"Choosing a party would be almost impossible."
No, it's trivial. It's trivial because the Republicans have promised to "stay the course". Come on -- when you have a record of collosally disastrous failure, and you *promise to do more of it*, your opponents have to be an improvement, no matter what they end up doing.
Anybody who's paying attention has to vote Democratic for Congress this year, just to stop the march of insanity. (Unless you're lucky enough to have a genuine anti-Bush Republican representing you, but Ron Paul appears to be the *only one*.)
Walrus, I can understand where you're coming from, but Democrats are the party that hasn't screwed up American foreign policy. Given how bad the Republicans have been, I think the Democrats need only say "We're the ones who didn't make this mess, and we're willing to try and clean it up." Or rather look at it this way; could they possibly be worse?
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