2008 Obama VS. McCain

"Ayers Response"

Transcript

Museum of the Moving Image
The Living Room Candidate
"Ayers," Obama, 2008

[TEXT: OBAMA, FOR THE CHANGE WE NEED]

OBAMA: I'm Barack Obama and I approved this message.

MALE NARRATOR: With all our problems, why is John McCain talking about the Sixties?

[TEXT: WHY IS JOHN McCAIN TALKING ABOUT THE SIXTIES?]

MALE NARRATOR: Trying to link Obama to radical Bill Ayers?

[TEXT: OBAMA DENOUNCED AYERS' CRIMES]

MALE NARRATOR: McCain knows denounced Ayers' crimes, committed when Obama was only eight years old.

[TEXT: BARACK WAS JUST 8 YEARS OLD]

MALE NARRATOR: Let's talk about standing up for America today.

[TEXT: WHO WILL STAND UP FOR AMERICA TODAY?]

MALE NARRATOR: John McCain wants to spend $10 billion a month in Iraq.

[TEXT: McCAIN: SPEND $10 BILLION A MONTH IN IRAQ]

MALE NARRATOR: Tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas.

[TEXT: McCAIN: TAX BREAKS FOR SHIPPING JOBS OVERSEAS]

MALE NARRATOR [and TEXT]: SELLING OUT AMERICAN WORKERS

MALE NARRATOR: John McCain, just more of the same.

[TEXT: JUST MORE OF THE SAME]

Credits

"Ayers Response," Obama for America, 2008

Maker: Obama Media Team

Original air date: 08/25/08

From Museum of the Moving Image, The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2012.
www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2008/ayers-response (accessed June 16, 2025).

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2008 Obama McCain Results

The 2008 election, which resulted in the selection of the first African-American president in the nation's history, was about change. Polls indicated that more than 80 percent of likely voters felt that the country was on the wrong track or moving in the wrong direction. For the first time since 1952, there were no candidates on either major-party ticket who have served as president or vice president.

As in 2004, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were important issues, yet foreign policy was strongly overshadowed by the economy when the credit and mortgage crisis hit full force in September. Other economic concerns included health-care costs, energy policy, gas prices, and rising unemployment. From the primary campaigns into the general-election contest, candidates positioned themselves as agents of change. Normally it is the party out of power in the White House that calls for change. In 2008, both parties claimed to offer “change,” as opposed to “more of the same.”

The candidates made these claims in an ad war that was unprecedented in its quantity and cost. Ads were created in rapid-response fashion, timed for the increasingly fast-paced news cycle. Also, as a reflection of the shift in popular culture toward the provocative tone of the Internet, which relies on bold statements and humor to inspire “forwardability,” the 2008 ads were noticeably sharper and more aggressive than that of previous elections.