You knew this was coming. For most Americans, this latest advertisement from McCain attacking Obama will be seen as deep irony, morphing Obama's political celebrity into a matter of audacious vanity and narcissism. But for many Evangelicals, there is probably a second meaning to this ad. Indeed, the signal is not just one of vanity, but one playing on the theme of Obama as anti-Christ. Not only is he not one of us, but his coming should invoke Biblical fear. See for yourself above.
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Matthew C. Nisbet, Ph.D, is a professor in the School of Communication at American University where his research focuses on the intersections between science, media, and politics. E-MAIL: nisbetmc@gmail.com
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New McCain Ad Portrays Obama as the Anti-Christ
Category: 2008 Election
Posted on: August 1, 2008 2:39 PM, by Matthew C. Nisbet
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Comments
Cheese's crust got all muddy!
The last we heard, Obama was a drunken blonde girl with a Brazilian wax. And now he's Jebus Crisp, or else the Andy Crisp?
Flip-flop, flip-flop, they can't even hold onto a theme for one week.
Obama must really be getting their goat. In the next for months, I hope they get bleeding ulcers, coronaries, and strokes. And boils.
Posted by: Malocchio | August 1, 2008 3:52 PM
Okay, if you say so.
Posted by: Brian | August 1, 2008 3:54 PM
What McCain's team seems to be counting on is that journalists will feature in their news stories whatever they are saying in their ads. McCain's people are finding they can control the media agenda this way -- one provocative ad after another.
I doubt McCain's Paris Hilton ad and this one are even getting much paid airtime anywhere -- my guess is that they are produced and then shown a few times in a few places to get the attention of journalists. They are designed to get a lot more viewership embedded in the news, cable news and talk shows, and others who do political commentary.
Why do media allow themselves to be used in this way? They may feel a certain rough justice since Obama's overseas trip dominated much of the news last week.
Posted by: Jerry Kosicki | August 1, 2008 4:09 PM
I would have seen that as mocking Obama's supposed presumption...taking quotes out of context of course. But you're right, for evangelicals that probably would make them think of Revelation.
Posted by: andythebrit | August 1, 2008 4:12 PM
What a ridiculous ad. Almost makes me wish for more "3AM" ads.
Posted by: Doubting Foo | August 1, 2008 4:20 PM
Yup. The righties will see it as a warning, or at least as having strong undertones of prophecy. What's bizarre about that is it should actually convince them to vote Obama, since they (the righties) in general want to hasten Armageddon so their sky papa will come for them.
Posted by: Warren | August 1, 2008 4:21 PM
Obama worship should really worry you. It worries me.
Posted by: Joel | August 1, 2008 6:12 PM
... but it doesn't have the, "My name is John McCain and I approve this message" bit at the end. (Plus at a running time of 1:13 seconds, it will likely cost him a lot of money to run... Yay?)
Posted by: Umlud | August 1, 2008 9:28 PM
*sigh* Election commercials are always so dirty.
Posted by: raiko | August 2, 2008 5:38 AM
Reason why this country is screwed? Obama +antichrist in google: 630,000 hits from crazy, no-nothing religious wackos!
Posted by: iRobot | August 2, 2008 8:13 AM
The line "We are the ones we've been waiting for" is a well-known quote by poet/activist June Jordan.
http://www.junejordan.com/byjune
Posted by: RfP | August 2, 2008 8:49 AM
My partner had a good point. This post needs a bit more explanation in light of the title, because a lot of people (your average christian, for example) are not going to understand why you think it means what you say it means. If a visitor reading this post is not aware of the "Left Behind" series and fundie nuttiness, it may well look simply like a sarcastic attack on Obama's supposed arrogance. The typical reader of this blog probably will get it straightaway, but your audience is not limited to them and this post would benefit everyone if it was more informative.
Posted by: Moody834 | August 2, 2008 3:10 PM
I particularly like the world horizon in the first scene, right out of the covers of the "Left Behind" series.
For those who don't know, "Left Behind" was/is an incredibly popular series of fiction books about the rapture; a mythological disappearance of all good christians into heaven.
In the series the antichrist, Nicolae Carpathia seizes control of the UN cures the world of famine, brings a promise of peace, and then becomes the iron fist of Satan.
The image in the first scene of this commercial was literally used as the cover to one of these books.
Posted by: Rodrigo Neely | August 3, 2008 9:22 AM