The first ad is the "Hands" that is airing during the Olympics:
Nice. Refreshing. Positive. Makes me actually not hate this election. Amazing.
And now, to paraphrase (or more precisely, to quote) John Cleese, for something completely different:
Now here is something that I actually disagree with the Barack Obama on. Vehemently. Of course, it is only airing in Nevada. If you asked the average non-Nevadan what his position on Yucca Mountain is, you would probably get a shrug.
I can only assume we are to leave the waste in the rapidly filling containment pools that they are currently in indefinitely? Perhaps we shall wait until a foolproof way to launch the waste into space toward the sun in a space vehicle that cannot possibly fail during launch and spread radioactive waste across the Atlantic Ocean and beyond before we deal with the problem. Indeed he has NO long term plan. From a letter to the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
I want every Nevadan to know that I have always opposed using Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository, and I want to explain the many reasons why I've held that view.
In my state of Illinois, we have faced our own issues of nuclear waste management. There are some who believe that Illinois should serve as a repository for nuclear waste from other states. My view on this subject was made clear in a 2006 letter to Sen. Pete Domenici, who at the time was chairman of the Senate Energy Committee. "States should not be unfairly burdened with waste from other states," I wrote. "Every state should be afforded the opportunity to chart a course that addresses its own interim waste storage in a manner that makes sense for that state."
That is a position I hold to this day when it comes to both Illinois and Nevada.
After spending billions of dollars on the Yucca Mountain Project, there are still significant questions about whether nuclear waste can be safely stored there. I believe a better short-term solution is to store nuclear waste on-site at the reactors where it is produced, or at a designated facility in the state where it is produced, until we find a safe, long-term disposal solution that is based on sound science.
In the meantime, I believe all spending on Yucca Mountain should be redirected to other uses, such as improving the safety and security of spent fuel at plant sites around the country and exploring other long-term disposal options.
There is no doubt that this is a difficult issue. But I believe our approach must be based on sound science above all else. I do not do the bidding of any special interest or industry, including the nuclear industry, which has a major presence in my state.
In my own campaign, I have not accepted donations from political action committees or Washington lobbyists. In fact, I've often taken positions at odds with special interests. When I learned that radioactive tritium had leaked out of an Exelon nuclear plant in Illinois, I led an effort in the Senate to require utilities to notify the public of any unplanned release of radioactive substances.
All Nevadans should know that as president, I will bring to this issue not just independent judgment and careful deliberation, but a personal appreciation that comes from my own experience of living in the back yard of hazardous nuclear materials. The safety and security of Nevadans and all Americans requires nothing less.
Barack Obama
WASHINGTON, D.C.
You see. NO long term plan. Just let's not put in all in one safe place. 50 different not as safe places is much better.
Continuing on, we have our most recent ad:
Not bad. A little negative early on. Got a little less negative as it when on.
I would like to see Barack Obama's campaign hold fire on the "George W. Bush Guns" until the final weeks of the campaign. You know the "Do you really want another four years of George W. Bush?" stuff to push the undecided independents, if not into his column, at least out of John McCain's column.
Using this stuff with nearly three months left will lessen the effect it might have at the end. Obama isn't desperate yet is he? If his campaign is, well, that is a real problem. I personally think they are just unintentionally desensitizing people by using this stuff at this point.
Overall the commercials are definitely less negative than that which his "I won't go negative" opponent's campaign has been spewing of late. Still, I would like to see more of the "Hands" type commercials.
Of course, that's what we all say. What we actually respond to is the negative. Or at least that is what all the research shows. I wish they were less correct.
Comments welcome,
Pat McGovern Sphere: Related Content
