2008 Obama VS. McCain

"Dear Mr. Obama"

Transcript

Museum of the Moving Image
The Living Room Candidate
"Dear Mr. Obama," Michael Brown (Testimony Pictures), 2008

JOE COOK: Dear Mr. Obama: Having spent 12 months in the Iraq theater, I can promise you this was not a mistake. I've witnessed firsthand the many sacrifices made by the people of Iraq. Those sacrifices were not mistakes. The Iraqi people are just like us: they want a chance to live in a secure world, free from tyranny, free from terrorism, free to prosper, free to raise their children and pass on a future. Are they better off today than they were in 2002? You bet.

I've seen many men sacrifice their lives for the Iraqi people. They died for a purpose, not a mistake. They died giving hope. They died promoting freedom. Do you rescue a fireman just as he's about to save a child? When you call the Iraqi War a mistake, you disrespect the service and the sacrifice of everyone who's died promoting freedom. Freedom carries with it a price. Because you do not understand nor appreciate these principles, sir, I am supporting Senator John McCain for President. He, too, made a huge sacrifice promoting freedom.

(Music fades in: "I'm Proud to Be an American" by Lee Greenwood)

Because he understands a fundamental truth: Freedom is always worth the price.

[TEXT: JOHN MCCAIN FOR PRESIDENT. THE DAY WE LOSE OUR WILL TO FIGHT IS THE DAY WE LOSE OUR FREEDOM]

Credits

"Dear Mr. Obama," Michael Brown (Testimony Pictures), 2008

Maker: Michael Brown (Testimony Pictures)

Original air date: 08/27/08

Video courtesy of Michael Brown (Testimony Pictures).

From Museum of the Moving Image, The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2012.
www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2008/dear-mr-obama (accessed May 18, 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.