Down and Dirty Political Ads

The most memorable ads from the left and the right.

GOP Congressional Candidate Compares the Obama Administration to a Slave Ship - In “Turn This Ship Around,” a bizarre election campaign video released on Jan. 24, 2012, by Mark Oxner, a Republican congressional candidate from Florida, President Obama is at the helm of the U.S.S. Obamaship, and a cruel overseer with whip in hand threatens “enslaved” children as they steer the boat toward the edge of a waterfall. “Let's not enslave our children with debt," Oxner says in the campaign spot. "It's time to turn this ship around."
Rick Perry: Strong - In Strong, Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks out against gay rights and what he calls President Obama’s “war on religion.” The ad has also inspired more than 700,000 dislikes versus 23,465 likes and dozens of faith-based parodies that have gone viral on the Web. —Joyce Jones(Photo: Courtesy rickperry.org)
Ron Paul Wants to Know What’s Up With “Sorry Politicians” - If nothing else, a Ron Paul campaign ad entitled “Big Dog,” released in December 2011, shows that the GOP presidential candidate has charisma! Despite the disorienting array of animations in the video clip, which looks like something cooked up in a college dorm room using iMovie, Paul’s campaign takes aim at “sorry politicians” who fail to deliver and details how cutting $1 trillion from federal programs, including the U.S. Department of Education, will solve the country’s debt crisis. “That’s how Ron Paul rolls,” the narrator says at the end of the ad, for added comedy.
Florida Families - Before Florida voters choose their preferred Republican presidential candidate on Jan. 31, Mitt Romney launched an ad on Jan. 22, 2012, lambasting GOP rival New Gingrich for his ties to Freddie Mac, the lending giant most associated with causing the housing crisis. “While Florida families lost everything in the housing crisis, Newt Gingrich cashed in. Gingrich was paid over $1.6 million by the scandal-ridden agency that helped create the crisis,” the narrator says in the ad entitled “Florida Families.”President Obama Talks Energy Accountability  - On Jan. 19, 2012,  the president released an ad — his first of the campaign season — going on the defensive against conservative groups who had slammed his administration for its bailouts to energy companies, among other claims. The ad, entitled “Unprecedented,” touts that the administration has created 2.7 million clean energy jobs while reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil, calling Obama's record on ethics "unprecedented."

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Rick Perry Goes After Obama’s “War on Religion” - Before Texas Gov. Rick Perry ended his presidential run in January, he released a slew of ads attacking his rivals, including one that questioned President Obama’s faith and managed to take a jab at the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policies in the U.S. military. “As president, I’ll end Obama’s war on religion,” a content Perry says in the spot, released in December 2011. “And I’ll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage."

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