North Carolina Republican Party, Democratic Candidates Attack Ad

On April 24^th the North Carolina Republican Party released an advertisement attacking two democratic candidates running for Governor of North Carolina. The 30-second commercial sparked national media coverage due to its use of presidential candidate, Barack Obama and his relationship to controversial ex-pastor, Jeremiah Wright, to portray the North Carolina Democratic candidates as “extreme.” Much of the criticism has resulted from the questionable “guilt by association” tactics that appear to cast both Obama and the North Carolina candidates in an unfavorable light. Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, who has rebuked the use of these divisive tactics, requested the ad be pulled immediately. North Carolina Republican Party Chairman, Linda Daves has refused to comply with McCain’s request. The ad is currently available on the North Carolina Republican Party’s Web site, www.ncgop.org and will begin running statewide on Monday, April 28^th a week before the state’s primary. (NCGOP spokesperson, Brent Woodcox)

 

The Ad

 

The advertisement is a 30-second commercial paid for by the North Carolina Republican Party Executive Committee. The ad begins by tying Barack Obama to his controversial ex-pastor, Jeremiah Wright. The female announcer reads, “Barack Obama sat in his pew for twenty years listening to his pastor” while a photo appears on screen of Barack Obama smiling as he stands with his arm around Wright. The ad cuts to a video of Wright passionately preaching a sermon while wearing his traditional African dress. His words become clear, “And they wants us to sing God Bless America? No, no, no… Not God bless America, God damn (censored by beep) America!” Beneath the visual is a caption that reads Obama’s “spiritual mentor” of 20 years. The ad doesn’t give any context to the statements or elaborate on Pastor Wright’s views or position in any way.

Next, the ad ties the two North Carolina Democratic candidates, Beth Perdue and Richard Moore to Obama with the words, “Now, Beth Perdue and Richard Moore endorse Barack Obama.” Simultaneously, a photo appears of Obama with his arm around Perdue smiling at the camera along with a photo of Moore and press clippings of newspaper headlines announcing the two candidates’ endorsements of Obama. Cut to the announcer saying, “They should know better. He’s just too extreme for North Carolina,”

The ad ends with Linda Daves, NCGOP Chairman, addressing the camera saying, “The North Carolina Republican Party sponsored this ad to oppose Beth Perdue and Richard Moore for Governor of North Carolina.”

 

Fact Analysis

 

The tie between Obama and Jeremiah Wright: real or created?

 

Barack Obama attended Trinity United Church in Chicago, IL for 17 years, which is less than the 20 years claimed by the ad. (MSNBC.com) Jeremiah Wright was his pastor and Obama has repeatedly acknowledged Wright as his spiritual mentor. Obama is quoted as saying, “Wright is a man I’ve known for 17 years who helped bring me to Jesus, helped bring me to church.” (MSNBC.com) The caption that appears beneath the video intentionally reminds the viewer of the connection between Obama and Wright. The photo of Barack Obama smiling with his arm around Jeremiah Wright is intentionally used to convey the close relationship that exists between Wright and Obama. This type of a photo in which two people are smiling at the camera with arms around each other is a cultural symbol that communicates “intimate relationship” or “friendship.” Furthermore, the opening phrase “Barack Obama sat in his pew, listening to his pastor” implies that Obama diligently absorbed everything his pastor had to say and incorporated it into his own thinking. All this is done to try and equate Wright’s perspective and radicalism with Obama. However, this is not accurate considering Obama has publicly denounced a number of Wright’s views and claims made about race and politics in America. Obama is quoted as saying, “I strongly condemn Wright’s statements, but I would not repudiate the man.” (MSNBC.com) With regard to the sermon presented in the ad, Obama said in an interview with MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann that he “did not hear such incendiary language personally either in conversations with him or when [he] was in the pew.” In the same interview Obama said that Wright was “like an uncle who has talked to me, not about political things and not about social views, as much as about faith and God and family.”

 

The excerpt from Wright’s sermon

 

Sometime after the 9/11 terrorist attacks Jeremiah Wright preached the sermon depicted in the ad. (MSNBC.com) Wright is characteristically known for his controversial views on issues of race and politics. However, the excerpt chosen is arguably a misleading one. It implies that Wright spoke out critically against America in his sermons on a regular basis and that he is a political extremist. While partially true, this particular excerpt is unrelated to any relevant issue and was selected to inflame audiences in an abstract way rather than to communicate information about Wright in a complete manner. It depicts one of the more controversial and offensive excerpts from Wright’s sermons that would cause unease among a large audience. It does this also without providing any context concerning Wright’s character and views. The video footage also conveys Wright as extreme because of the clothing he is wearing. His traditional African dress elicits feelings of “foreignness” which serves to reinforce the message behind the ad.

 

The tie between Obama and Perdue, Moore

 

Beth Perdue and Richard Moore have endorsed Barack Obama. The press clippings appearing in the ad announcing the endorsements, were real headlines from newspapers. These clippings were used as symbols of credibility and serve as means to substantiate the endorsement and connection between Obama and the candidates. The use of the photo of Obama smiling with his arm around Perdue, again, elicits feelings of close connection as a symbol of friendship and intimacy.

 

The tie between Wright and Perdue, Moore

 

The subjective claim that the candidates are “too extreme” is unsubstantiated. The claim is made in reference to the two candidates apparent ties to Pastor Jeremiah Wright, however no concrete ties exist between either of the candidates and Wright. The implication of the ad is that anyone who endorses Obama also endorses Jeremiah Wright (and ultimately endorses his comment about “damning” America). However, both Moore and Perdue have claimed no such endorsement of Wright.

 

Final address by Linda Daves

 

            Lastly, the final portion of the ad features a direct address by Linda Daves, NCGOP chairman, who says that the NCGOP sponsored the ad “to oppose Beth Perdue and Richard Wright.”  Arguably, this statement omits an underlying dual purpose behind the ad- namely to attack Barack Obama. In the ad, Barack is clearly tied to Jeremiah Wright and his controversial comments and is cast in the same “extremist” light as Perdue and Wright.

 

Ethical Analysis

 

The values held by the producers of this ad are not entirely clear. In a public interview, Linda Daves claimed that alerting the North Carolina voters of troubling issues was the highest value. However, the value of informing voters on the facts doesn’t, in actuality, appear to be the true value at play here. An overriding value seems to be the NCGOP’s commitment to winning voters for the Republican Party. The value of creating persuasive advertising seems to win out over creating truthful, informative advertising. A NCGOP representative was contacted with no response concerning the nature of the ad and the purpose behind it.

 

While this ad does not make any overt claims that can be proven false, the ad is deceptive in that it omits information and is framed in a way that misleads viewers. Sissela Bok defines lying as having the following characteristics:

 

·        Intent to mislead

·        Must be stated (commission)

·        Done to gain power

 

Many ethicists would extend this definition of lying to include omitted truths and lies of framing, which Bok defines as “deception.” In any case, the ad was produced with the intent to mislead and done to gain power for the Republican Party. Bok would agree that this ad uses people as a means to an end, something that is deemed unethical in all cases according to Kantian philosophy. Kant states in his categorical imperative that individuals should act in such a way that they could will it to be a universal law. Clearly, we would not want people to lie universally; otherwise the basic fabric which makes communication possible would begin to unravel.

The issue with this ad lies in the deceptive framing and editing of the ad. Modern technology allows media professionals to craft stories using words and images in a way that makes a certain point or communicates a specific message. These professionals must be careful to edit in a way that conveys the story truthfully. This ad does not convey the story in a truthful way. There are two major places in where this occurs in the ad. First, the particular sermon excerpt selected to portray Jeremiah Wright was irrelevant and chosen specifically for its offensive and radical nature to scare voters. The second major problem is the use of indirect links to falsely connect the two democratic candidates to Jeremiah Wright. And by tying Obama to Wright through words and pictures, Obama is also portrayed in a negative light. By omitting Obama’s rejection of the specific view expressed by Wright. The ad fails to provide an accurate picture of Obama.

            Arguably, there will always be a place for attack advertising in politics. Perhaps this form of ad is necessary in order for candidates to expose truths about opponents that wouldn’t otherwise come out. However, when these “truths” are manufactured, as is the case in this ad, through the linking of unrelated people or issues, tricky framing and omission of information, the ad becomes deceptive. Ultimately, the NCGOP’s loyalties rested with their own desires to win the gubernatorial race (and potentially the national race) rather than with the general public.

I think that this is an unethical ad due to its misleading nature. Viewers will be led astray by the linking of the democratic candidates (and Obama) with the inflammatory comments made by Pastor Jeremiah Wright. This is a form of deception and treats the audience as a means to an end (votes for the Republican Party). This type of advertising has no place in the American political arena as it denies audiences their right to make an informed and autonomous decision- a basic necessity for a flourishing democracy.

 

 

 

 

Sources

 

Johnson, Alex. (2008). “Controversial minister leaves obama campaign.” March 14, 2008. Obtained from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23634881/ on April 24, 2008.

 

Associated Press. (2008). “McCain asks N.C. GOP not to run ad.” April 23, 2008. Obtained from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24276517/ on April 24, 2008.

__________________________

Your vote:

No votes yet