Washington may get sleepy in the dog days of August, but the airwaves are alive with a political foodfight. From the left and the right, the unions and the corporations, political campaign ads are saturating our television screens with arguments for and against President Obama's health-care reform effort. They feature the staples of political advertising — fear mongering and comedy, comforting background music and ominous voiceovers. Depending on when you tune in, they promise either to cure your ills or turn America into Great Britain. And though the ad war is just getting started, it's time for a check up on the summer's hottest, and most jarring, health care reform commercials.
1. Black SUVs
The AARP represents about 40 million seniors, making it one of the largest special interest groups in the nation. But it has been pushing back hard against opponents of health reform with a series of ads that depict foes as malicious, shadowy "special interests" maneuvering black SUVs to block the path of an ambulance. "We won't stand idle when opponents of health care reform attempt to scare or mislead the American people," says AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond in the voiceover. (Watch the AARP commercial.)