Wright-the-ABC-Obamacan was back at it today. GMA ran a segment featuring Casey Knowles, whose image as an eight-year old was used in Hillary's ad. Knowles has since grown up to be an active, 17-year old Obama supporter. To set up the interview with Knowles by Bill Weir and Juju Chang, Wright narrated a segment about the ad itself.
Wright spoke as a brief clip of the ad played in the background.
Story Continues Below Ad ↓
DAVID WRIGHT: Thirty seconds, designed to scare millions of voters.Cut to clip of Obama: "We've seen these ads before. They're usually the kind that play on people's fears and try to scare up votes."
That's when Wright, echoing Obama, wrung his hands.
WRIGHT: The trouble is, they work.Wright's clearly upset that Hillary's ad was successful. He ended his segment on a cautionary note.
WRIGHT: How did [Knowles] end up in a Clinton ad? The same way the factory worker from Al Gore's ad in 2000 ended up in a John Kerry ad in 2004: file footage, available on the cheap. The lesson for voters: advertising, and reality, are sometimes two very different things.But was Wright's warning fair game, or simply an attempt to undercut Clinton? After all, the ad certainly didn't suggest the sleeping girl was a Hillary supporter, nor that the scene itself was anything but a dramatization.
Then it was on to the interview with Casey Knowles, who showed herself to be a bright and articulate young woman. Knowles has been working as an Obama precinct captain in her home state of Washington. Weir ended the interview by offering her some equal time to counteract Hillary's 3 AM ad.
BILL WEIR: So since she used your image to give this message that she's much more experienced and would be the better person to answer that dangerous call, why is she wrong? Here's your equal-time opportunity. Why is Hillary Clinton wrong in what she said in that ad?Now, not to be too tough on a 17-year, and gosh knows I'd like to have a Casey Knowles on my side in a political campaign. But since she has put herself out there, is an Obama precinct captain, and above all because her message sounds so much like that of older people who should know better, let's examine it.
CASEY KNOWLES: Well, what I don't like about the ad is fear-mongering. I think it's a cheap hit to take. And I really prefer Obama's message of looking forward to a bright future where there aren't crises, you know? I think that's much stronger message, is hope. And that's getting criticized, that hope isn't real, hope isn't practical, but what more could you want in a leader?
My first thought was that her pitch sounded like Rush's parody of an Obama ad, filled with frothiness about "hope" and "the future." I'd focus on this line:
I really prefer Obama's message of looking forward to a bright future where there aren't crises, you know?We do know. We'd all prefer that bright future where there are no crises, that future of champagne wishes and caviar dreams. Of course there's only one little problem with that . . .
It's one thing for an idealistic 17-year old to imagine a world free from crisis; altogether another for David Wright to decry the intrusion of reality into the campaign. Whether or not Hillary's the right person to pick up that phone, for an all-grown-up MSMer like Wright to decry an ad that acknowledges the reality that every American president has and surely will face at least one serious crisis is nothing short of . . . the Obamification of ABC.
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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17? All grown up? This
March 9, 2008 - 08:46 ET by DontFeedTheTrolls17? All grown up? This young lady doesn't sound grown up with her idea that if Obama is elected there will be no more crises. She sounds more like the child she is.
P.S. On the positive side, at least with Obama we wouldn't have him being awakened by any 3AM bimbo eruptions.
D
Keep the ILLEGALS out, join NumbersUSA to send free faxes to your reps.
Hmmm
March 9, 2008 - 08:47 ET by allanfSo an advertisment which asks people to reflect is "fear mongering"? Sorry its just good campaigning
I know, how DARE she imply
March 9, 2008 - 09:05 ET by motherbeltI know, how DARE she imply that she is best equipped to handle a
crisis! She should be criticizing Obama's wardrobe, or arguing that she
was better on SNL than he was!
The nerve!! Making this election about who could do the best job!!
That poor girl
March 9, 2008 - 08:49 ET by Mica the MagnificentAnd I really prefer Obama's
March 9, 2008 - 09:09 ET by motherbeltAnd I really prefer Obama's message of looking forward to a bright future where there aren't crises, you know?
I think that's much stronger message, is hope. And that's getting
criticized, that hope isn't real, hope isn't practical, but what more
could you want in a leader?
Uh, competence, for starters?
Does she think that just because the Obama is elected, there won't be any crises?
This is the poster girl for why 18-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to vote.
The ads work because they make people think with thier brain
March 9, 2008 - 09:56 ET by c5theninstead of their emotions. Just as most people would rather have Hillary Clinton answer the phone at 3AM instead of Obama, so would most people want John McCain to be the one answering the phone instead of Hillary Clinton.
a 17 year-old confusing fantasy and reality is not surprising, but it is certaintly NOT the way to make important decisions for the country.
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Alan Keyes '08.
In a column at The Hill,
March 9, 2008 - 10:19 ET by motherbeltIn a column at The Hill, today, Dick Morris tell's HRC "It's Over."
He also has a suggestion for Obama, if she doesn't quit:
The next time Hillary uses the recycled red phone ad, counter with one of your own. When the phone rings in the middle of the night, have a woman’s voice, with a flat Midwestern accent, answer it and say, “Hold on” into the receiver. Then she should shout, “Bill! It’s for you!”
Because with Hillary’s complete lack of any meaningful experience in foreign affairs, and her lack of the “testing” that she boldly claims, she’ll be yelling for Bill.
Of course, she could make one with a male voice saying: Hold on, now, let's have a conversation about this; as long as we have hope, we can change things....
Hillary's 3 am Girl Grows Up To Be Obamabot
March 11, 2008 - 03:30 ET by L.N. SmitheeBILL WEIR: ...Here's your equal-time opportunity. Why is Hillary Clinton wrong in what she said in that ad?
CASEY KNOWLES: Well, what I don't like about the ad is fear-mongering. I think it's a cheap hit to take. And I really prefer Obama's message of looking forward to a bright future where there aren't crisises (sic), you know? I think that's much stronger message, is hope. And that's getting criticized, that hope isn't real, hope isn't practical, but what more could you want in a leader?
And, folks, there you have it, in a nutshell. Given a chance to give an unimpeded substantive response, a typical Obama supporter finds a way to talk yet say ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. I'm surprised she didn't make reference to "U.S. Americans."
"What more could you want from a leader" than "hope?" Gee, I dunno -- A grasp of real issues? Something resembling a track record of leadership or accomplishments? More than two years in national office? Li'l Casey probably doesn't know we are in uncharted waters -- nobody as inexperienced as Obama by ANY measure has come this close to the White House. I wonder if Ju Ju Chang wasn't choking back a more critical response as she called Casey "articulate." I'm pretty sure Ju Ju knows plural for the word "crisis" is "crises" and not "crisises."
Casey didn't talk in the Hillary ad. Unfortunately for her, as the old Lincoln/Twain quote goes, she spoke out and removed all doubt. And if you're reading this, Casey, and wonder what I mean by that, Google it -- that is, if you can tear yourself away from BarackObama.con -- uh, com.
"Well, I've got nothing against the press...they wouldn't print it if it wasn't true..." -- Joe Jackson, "Sunday Papers"
LN -- loved your last
March 11, 2008 - 05:17 ET by Jack BauerLN -- loved your last screenplay.
More reasons for raising the voting age to the qualifying age to run for President. 35.