Is it just my imagination, or does the latest batch of Republican presidential commercials running on radio and television seem rather weak?
According to the media, the players with enough money to begin advertising on television this early are Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Karl Rove and the Koch Brothers. As every voting-age American should know by now, Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, and Perry, the current governor of Texas, are both candidates for the GOP presidential nomination (although many are beginning to question whether Perry can stage a comeback from his single-digit poll numbers, no matter how much he spends).
Rove, the former White House political guru for George W. Bush, is one of the co-founders of a group called Crossroads GPS, which reportedly has spent upwards of $20 million so far this year bashing Obama. The Koch Brothers (inevitably referred to in derogatory terms by The New York Times as “the billionaire industrialist Koch Brothers”), have tossed in several million more. (Their favorite advocacy group is the fiscally conservative Club for Growth.)
It is the candidates' spots that strike me as particularly lame. In an effort to make Barack Obama look as if he believes the American people are lazy, one of Perry’s commercials takes the president’s words concerning the need to attract foreign investment out of context. Meanwhile, a pro-Romney ad purports to show Obama stating that he cannot win if he discusses the economy. In truth, the video clip was of Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign, expressing the thought that John McCain, not himself, held that sentiment.
Really?
With total expenditures for this election cycle expected to soar past $3 billion — that’s right, three billion dollars! — it is to be expected that candidates and advocacy groups would want to get an early start. But the question must be asked: Are these the best shots the overpaid consultants of the Republican Party can think of to run against this president?
Considering the absolute cornucopia of redistributive socialism, cowering foreign policy and corrupt crony capitalism over the last three years, is this really the best they can do to criticize the most radical president ever to sit in the White House? The GOP can’t come up with something better than lame, out-of-context, “gotcha” video clips from four years ago?
Why tap dance around the real issues when there is a treasure trove of political ammunition at your disposal: Bailouts for General Motors, Chrysler, failed “green energy” companies and public sector labor unions. Mega-multibillion dollar slush funds to reward the president’s friends and punish his enemies. An immigration policy that gets border patrol agents killed — with our own guns! A policy of not prosecuting clear voter intimidation by the New Black Panthers because it was black thugs intimidating white voters. Weakness in dealing with the tyrants of the world who see him for what he is: a shallow little man whose only ideas come from the tired writings of Karl Marx and Saul Alinsky.
These are the hallmarks of Barack Obama’s presidency, and anyone who chooses to run against him will have to remove the gloves and engage in bare-knuckle, toe-to-toe politics with the man. Otherwise, with all the money he will have at his disposal, he will beat the eventual Republican nominee senseless in the General Election arena. Obama is dangerous, and those in the GOP with the funds and the ability to take him on must do so. To do less is to let down your country.
Whichever Republican candidate takes the fight to Obama without fear of being called a racist will win not only the nomination, but also the election. Based on what we are seeing on the airwaves now, that person has not yet begun to fight.
Doug Patton was s a freelance columnist who has served as a political speechwriter and policy advisor to conservative candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations.
