Decency, truth "Passed Over" in new McCain attack ad
Holly Shelves
August 24, 2008

John McCain released a new ad today titled “Clinton Passed Over,” in which an announcer wonders out loud why Barack Obama didn’t choose Hillary Clinton to be his running mate. McCain’s announcer decides that it was because Clinton “spoke the truth” about Obama during the primary race, and “the truth hurt.”

I guess McCain forgot about the ad released the day before, which highlights similar criticism from Joe Biden, who was not “passed over.”

McCain also seems to have forgotten that the Clintons very often did not speak the truth during the campaign, like when she claimed she dodged sniper fire in Bosnia, said she criticized the Iraq War before Obama did, said Obama called Canada to assuage their fears about his NAFTA policy, and when Bill said Hillary never complained about media coverage in the campaign. Did McCain consider that maybe the reason Obama "passed over" Hillary was that she does not tell the truth?

I was struck by this ad, because I have never seen an ad like it before. I’ve never seen a political ad that is purely speculative. McCain has been putting out ads for weeks now that are vaccuous (Obama's face on the hundred dollar bill, Britney and Paris, Moses, Obama forgot the Latinos), not true (the media loves Obama, Country First) and hypocritical (Obama is so rich he doesn’t have to worry about budgeting for his family).

But now he’s just making stuff up. He can't possibly know what the reasons are for Obama's choice, but he's spouting off his own reasons as though they were facts. I’m sure his base, the press, will let him get away with it.