2008 Obama VS. McCain

"Alaska Maverick"

Transcript

Museum of the Moving Image
The Living Room Candidate
"Alaska Maverick," McCain, 2008

[TEXT: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL]

MALE NARRATOR: The Journal says Governor Palin's credentials as an agent of reform exceed Barack Obama's. They're right.

FEMALE NARRATOR: She has a record of bipartisan reform.

MALE NARRATOR: He's the Senate's most liberal member.

FEMALE NARRATOR: She took on oil producers.

MALE NARRATOR: He gave big oil billions in subsidies and giveaways.

FEMALE NARRATOR: She's earned a reputation as a reformer.

MALE NARRATOR [and TEXT]: His reputation? Empty words.

Credits

"Alaska Maverick," John McCain 2008, 2008

Maker: Foxhole Productions

Original air date: 09/04/08

From Museum of the Moving Image, The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2012.
www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2008/alaska-maverick (accessed March 29, 2025).

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2008 Obama McCain Results

The 2008 election, which resulted in the selection of the first African-American president in the nation's history, was about change. Polls indicated that more than 80 percent of likely voters felt that the country was on the wrong track or moving in the wrong direction. For the first time since 1952, there were no candidates on either major-party ticket who have served as president or vice president.

As in 2004, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were important issues, yet foreign policy was strongly overshadowed by the economy when the credit and mortgage crisis hit full force in September. Other economic concerns included health-care costs, energy policy, gas prices, and rising unemployment. From the primary campaigns into the general-election contest, candidates positioned themselves as agents of change. Normally it is the party out of power in the White House that calls for change. In 2008, both parties claimed to offer “change,” as opposed to “more of the same.”

The candidates made these claims in an ad war that was unprecedented in its quantity and cost. Ads were created in rapid-response fashion, timed for the increasingly fast-paced news cycle. Also, as a reflection of the shift in popular culture toward the provocative tone of the Internet, which relies on bold statements and humor to inspire “forwardability,” the 2008 ads were noticeably sharper and more aggressive than that of previous elections.