better...............

Good, but needs to be tied into broader character issues more closely. John McCain talks a good game, but he's really just hot air. He likes to dramatize himself as a maverick, but when it comes time to act, it's all a hoax.

Are you kidding me? Ralph Reed? McCain lies and flip-flops up and down the dial and this is the best they can come up with? There is one four-lettered Republican that can sink McCain, but it's not Ralph Reed.

Also, watch for the response ad featuring Rezko any day now. The allegations will be BS, as usual, but they'll be more effective than this.

agree with Wapuche. who the hell cares or remembers jack reed. are they waiting till Halloween when we're down 10%, to start throwing some decent punches? come on.

They need to use this as a jumping point. Hit McCain on about four/five topics - hell they could do 100 but let's be simple - and then re-emphasize all of those hits into 'summary-type' messages come October.

Pound the rock.

Yeah. This is good.

More!

Wapuche, I think this is a targeted ad that will be effective with its targets: the many "evangelicals" who were angry and disillusioned when Reed's true colors were exposed in the Abramoff scandal. Many Bible thumpers saw (accurately and for the first time) that Reed was just a cynical manipulator, not the virtuous Christian crusader he'd pretended to be. They felt betrayed. Bringing attention to McCain's relationship with Reed is a smart move because a significant number of "evangelicals" appear willing to consider crossing the fence.

It's no accident that the campaign is releasing this ad in Atlanta, smack in the middle of the southern Bible Belt. It's likely just the start of a series of aggressive ads to be targeted at particular demographic groups.

You missed the point..Ralph Reed is a crook..a right wing Evangelical crook....and McCain cut him loose...Abramoff although a crook himself, took the fall for Ralph Reed...its the GOP way..dangle a small fry and let the big, the real master mind continue....give you Scooter instead of Cheney, give you Monica Goodling instead of Alberto Gonzales, give you Feith instead of Bush/Cheney/McCain, give you Connell instead of Rove...and the Democrats fall for it every time

So is Obama. Looks like another 4 years in the White House for the Republicans.

Barack Obama's new ad is a good Ad. John McCain CANNOT afford to be "Jack Abramoff"ed! OsiSpeaks.com

The fact of the matter is that O is still running against HRC and McCain. They see him the same way.

If not, then why doesn't she come out and say that McMofo is running a dirty campaign and call him on it? Cuz she did the same damn thang.

Cuz they be frinds. Partners is power.

If O pulls this off it'll be the greatest campaign ever.

This ad is a start but O can hit him so much harder w/o taking a cheap shot.

He's been in the race since '96 for chrissake. But is he the same candidate? Not even close.

He cannot be trusted.
He'll say and do anything to get elected
He is worse than Bush
His own party doesn't like him
Vietnam vets don't like him
POW's don't like him
and yet, he is on YOUR side?

THINK AGAIN.

That Maverick has one side: his own.

The Dems need to be RUTHLESS this time around. Pussies need not apply. There is way too much at stake here. The Repubs will do ANYTHING to get elected: they will lie, cheat and steal. That's a fact. They must be countered with very strong arguments about all the things Repubs are doing wrong - and there are many, many things.

Hardball is the only way. The meek shall inherit unemployment.

Maybe the Ralph Reed story line is more familiar in the South, but I feel like this ad is not that helpful.

First, I think it's hard to follow--the connection to McCain requires a decently lengthy explanation and is possibly too long for a 30 second spot.

Second, Does Obama really want to open the door to associations with people of questionable moral integrity?

Lastly, as others point out, isn't there better arguments against McCain that haven't been exploited by the Obama campaign? His flip-flopping on off-shore drilling, the Christian right, Bush's tax cuts; his coming into line with every major Bush initiative; his campaign run by lobbyists (there has been some of this).

Why can't they run ad saying, "The original Maverick? John McCain votes with Bush 95% of the time. He opposed Bush's tax cuts for millionaires, but now he supports them. He wants to continue failed policies of the Iraq War indefinitely, spending billions of dollars a month there and nothing for hard-working families here suffering from a faltering economy. The original maverick? John McCain is just more of the same," etc.

More, I guess I can't resist.

You've got to attack "America First." It's so @#$#$$^ easy. John McCain put himself first over his first wife. He put himself first over the Naval Academy rules. He put himself first over the shareholders of Keating, and the American taxpayers. Now that he wants to be president, he'll put money over people every time. He puts Colombian coal companies over working Americans. Tax cuts for the rich, drilling for the oil companies, and money for his bagmen. He called the Georgian president the day his friend got $200,000 from the Georgians. What did he promise? Why is he selling us out to Foreign Agents?

John McCain is about John McCain first. Attack that. Attack it! Attack it! Don't falter if it bothers Howard )($(&%&#$*%*^* Fineman! Don't stop if it bothers Bob Schiffer! You lost them long ago, you need to win white folk in Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio! Only them! Only them!

It's soooooo damn simple.

This ad ought to go national. In Georgia, Reed is a crooked pol. Nationally, he is known to the religious right as somebody that burned them. There will be enough problems getting the religous right rooing for McCain. Tie Ralph Reed in and doubts about his sincerity turn into doubts about his honesty.
Hmmm... was he cheating during that last 'debate'?

Obama MUST take back foreign policy from McCain, or at least raise some serious doubts about McCain's judgment. Now that the Bush Administration is set to agree to Iraq withdrawal timetables, it is the perfect moment for an Obama foreign policy blitz: a speech, followed by some major media runs. Obama is right about Iraq and has been all along. McCain is wrong and has been since the beginning. Judgment. Dismiss The Surge™ as the insignificant tactical maneuver it was: we are still leaving Iraq to an uncertain fate, notwithstanding our dead and wounded, our trillions of dollars, and the weakening of America throughout the world. By any measure, Iraq is a collossal failure. And McCain's jibberish about "victory" and "defeat" must be cast as the semantic nonsense it is. From Iraq, move to Russia/Georgia, then to Pakistan/Afghanistan and bin Laden (remember him?). The material is there; the biggest problem should be paring it down to American-voting-public-sized bites and delivering those bites with the proper seasoning. After that, all domestic, all economy, all oil, all the time. (One can always dip into foreign policy as needed since everything is connected anyhow).

That's the morning briefing. Now, go get 'em, O-Man!

Audio from the spot is up here. But will it work? Does the average voter even remember who Abramoff is or why he's a bad guy?