Obama campaign ad: 'The Question'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The "Galt - Gekko 2012" campaign has trotted out Saint Ronnie Reagan's tired old trope "are you better off than you were foure years ago?"

We have been over this point: "We have witnessed the rise of a new brand of conservatism, an odd blend of Ayn Rand, who rejected all forms of faith and religion, and rejected Christian altruism for "moral nihilism" (morality does not inherently exist, and any established moral values are abstractly contrived) and "ethical egoism" (people should act in their own self interest); and Gordon Gekko: "Greed is good." In short, a philosophy of "I've got mine, f#@& you!"

The selfish interest framing of this question reflects this self-interest. But the proper framing of the question is whether we together, as a nation, are better off than we were four years ago?

Do you rememember where we were four years ago this September? I do. We were nine months into a recession; the housing bubble had long since burst and foreclosures were skyrocketing; Lehman Brothers was the latest financial institution in a series of institutions to collapse under the weight of casino capitalism on Wall Street and there was market panic that the rest of the financial system would collapse with it; the stock market was in free-fall; mass lay-offs of workers were under way. We were staring into the maw of another Great Depression.

Are we together, as a nation, better off than we were four years ago? To paraphrase Weeper of the House John Boehner, "Hell yes we are!"

The Obama campaign makes this critical thinking point in its latest ad, "The Question," which responds to the "Galt - Gekko 2012" campaign's selfish interest "are you better off than you were foure years ago?"

Video below the fold.

Greg Sargent writes:

• According to four recent national polls, Romney has lost his advantage on who is better trusted on the economy.
• We now have a fifth national poll showing Romney’s advantage on the economy has evaporated.
• Meanwhile, polls from CNN and Fox News this week suggested that far more voters still blame Bush and Republicans for the current economy and that many voters are taking a more [nuanced] view than simply grading Obama a failure when it comes to the pace of the recovery.