Attack!

Oh, it's been a long and winding road to the Presidential Election, but one of our unalienable rights is now only a month and a half away. So break out your bunting, pop some Orville Redenbacher, and plant yourself in front of the old HDTV – it's political attack ad season.

The primary elections were already historic, but the many differences between the presidential candidates make their ads all the more interesting. We have Change vs The Same, Multiracial vs Uniracial, Hip vs Hip-replacement. A couple months ago it seemed like the election might be a formality, but polling shows McCain essentially even with Obama. When things get tight, the feces flinging begins.

McCain was first to make waves with his claim that Obama is a bigger celeb than Britney or Paris and is apparently unfit to run a country because of this. Obama, a universally liked and respected black man running for president of the United States of America, is definitely a celebrity. But, obviously, so is McCain. Weak stuff if you ask me, especially when Obama has been adamant about running a positive campaign.

"Celebrity" ad


Obama is now responding with negative ads in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Florida which air simultaneously with national ads that are much less biting. It's always fun to see what the public (though it's mostly the media) responds to and whether it affects their voting.

Luckily for us, there's a website that has collected every presidential ad since the very first was created for Dwight Eisenhower’s campaign in 1952. The Living Room Candidate lets us compare Reagan to Mondale, Nixon to McGovern, and Clinton to Bush to Perot. It's a great reminder that political mudslinging has been around as long as politics itself.

Make sure to check out the site to get yourself in the mood. Since I can't find out how to embed their videos, I'm leaving you a YouTube clip of George H.W. Bush's famous "Willie Horton" ad. Feel the hate.