Down and Dirty Political Ads

The most memorable ads from the left and the right.

Fighting Words - Nobody said the road to the White House would be easy. Take a look back at some of the most memorable political campaign ads waged this election season.—Britt Middleton    It’s not typical for the opposing party to run an attack ad that coincides with the sitting president’s State of the Union address, but the Republican National Convention seized the opportunity when it released the ad “The State of Our Union” online on Jan. 23, one day before President Obama’s televised address. The ad featured images of chaotic rioting in the streets and the message that Americans weren’t “better off” than they were before President Obama took office, “a direct result of Barack Obama's failed leadership,” the organization said. The ad also aired on television networks in Charlotte, North Carolina; Norfolk, Virginia and Grand Rapids, Michigan, three key markets fo...

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Fighting Words - Nobody said the road to the White House would be easy. Take a look back at some of the most memorable political campaign ads waged this election season.—Britt Middleton    It’s not typical for the opposing party to run an attack ad that coincides with the sitting president’s State of the Union address, but the Republican National Convention seized the opportunity when it released the ad “The State of Our Union” online on Jan. 23, one day before President Obama’s televised address. The ad featured images of chaotic rioting in the streets and the message that Americans weren’t “better off” than they were before President Obama took office, “a direct result of Barack Obama's failed leadership,” the organization said. The ad also aired on television networks in Charlotte, North Carolina; Norfolk, Virginia and Grand Rapids, Michigan, three key markets fo...

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."

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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)

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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."

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.

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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.”

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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.”

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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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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."

Best Buddies - “Think you know Mitt? Think Again.” These fighting words are featured in an attack ad created by Winning Our Future, a super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich. In the ad entitled “Best Friends,”  the narrator labels Mitt Romney as a progressive whose own advisers worked with the Obama Administration on drafting the president’s health care overhaul. Romney and President Obama’s policies are so similar that if Mitt Romney won the general election, it would make President Obama “very happy,” according to the ad, released on Jan. 24, 2012.

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Best Buddies - “Think you know Mitt? Think Again.” These fighting words are featured in an attack ad created by Winning Our Future, a super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich. In the ad entitled “Best Friends,”  the narrator labels Mitt Romney as a progressive whose own advisers worked with the Obama Administration on drafting the president’s health care overhaul. Romney and President Obama’s policies are so similar that if Mitt Romney won the general election, it would make President Obama “very happy,” according to the ad, released on Jan. 24, 2012.

The State of the Middle Class - In an online attack ad entitled “Middle Class,” released Jan. 24, 2012, conservative group American Crossroads asserted that President Obama’s handling of the “middle class” has led to the nightmarish levels of unemployment, home foreclosures and poverty, among other ills. The ad’s narrator closes the video on an equally ominous note: “Four years of speeches. The government got richer, and the middle class got poorer — that’s the state of the middle class under Barack Obama.” 

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The State of the Middle Class - In an online attack ad entitled “Middle Class,” released Jan. 24, 2012, conservative group American Crossroads asserted that President Obama’s handling of the “middle class” has led to the nightmarish levels of unemployment, home foreclosures and poverty, among other ills. The ad’s narrator closes the video on an equally ominous note: “Four years of speeches. The government got richer, and the middle class got poorer — that’s the state of the middle class under Barack Obama.” 

Rick Santorum Takes the High Road…Sort Of - Rick Santorum fired back at television attack ads from super PACs supporting Mitt Romney — including one that that alleged the former Pennsylvania senator voted to "let convicted felons vote" among other claims — with a mailer that claims to offer “the truth” about Romney’s record. The literature went out in South Carolina just days before the state’s primary on Jan. 21, 2012, and painted Romney as a moderate who “bragged he was even more liberal than Ted Kennedy on social issues,” the mailer said, adding, “Romney’s health-care plan includes taxpayer-funded abortions. Romney refused to end gay marriages in Massachusetts.”

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Rick Santorum Takes the High Road…Sort Of - Rick Santorum fired back at television attack ads from super PACs supporting Mitt Romney — including one that that alleged the former Pennsylvania senator voted to "let convicted felons vote" among other claims — with a mailer that claims to offer “the truth” about Romney’s record. The literature went out in South Carolina just days before the state’s primary on Jan. 21, 2012, and painted Romney as a moderate who “bragged he was even more liberal than Ted Kennedy on social issues,” the mailer said, adding, “Romney’s health-care plan includes taxpayer-funded abortions. Romney refused to end gay marriages in Massachusetts.”