Obama in Appalachia

The ad below has been airing in Western Pennsylvania. Let's analyze it. First, it bashes McCain and ties him to Bush. That's fine, except the two pictures they use of McCain are not bad looking. In the one where McCain is standing with Bush they're both smiling and look great. Come on! That's bad ad-making. You need a photo that makes him look old and tired. Goodness knows there's plenty of them. It's too much cognitive dissonance to be bashing him while people are staring at a becoming photo of him.

It makes one think that there's no attention to detail in this ad. So I hesitate to analyze the part where Obama is talking with a family, but what struck me when I first saw the ad on TV was that Obama really looks white. He's wearing a white shirt, with a tan background behind him, and talking to a darker Caucasian male. Who knows if it's on purpose, and these things can be over-parsed, but it is interesting if this was the intent of the ad.

In other Obama-in-Appalachia news, Jim Webb said he will not be Obama's Veep. This is a stunning development, because as I have argued here Webb is a perfect choice, and who would turn down the running-mate spot? Webb says he'd "get more done" in the Senate. Eleanor Clift swallows this explanation. There's also the angle that Democrats might lose a Senate seat as a result of Webb going on the ticket.

I am a little bit incredulous. HuffPo thinks no never means no, and that Webb will continue to be courted. I would say so. Perhaps this is all a ruse, and Webb will then come out and say "for the good of my country, I will serve," etc. I don't know.

Al Gore might be chosen Obama's veep, to which my co-blogger said, "Oh that'll win him lots of votes in Appalachia! And Tennessee too--Gore's mom, and a couple other relatives!"