The advertisements that I watched were the from the Republican Party during the 2004 presidential election. This election was Bush running for his second term versus John Kerry. Most of these advertisements were attack ads on Kerry. The ads the were not attack ads focused on American freedom and the war on terrorism in Iraq. This makes sense given that much of Bush’s first term was dealing with the tragic event of 9/11 and then focusing on terrorism in the Middle East after being attacked at home.  The attack ads targeted mostly his contradicting and often changing opinions by pulling different legislation that he had both supported and opposed at different times. They also targeted Kerry’s credibility particularly through his time in the military by interviewing many people who had served with him in the military. This effectively created a feeling of distrust and lack of understanding of Kerry because who is someone if those around them don’t trust them and they change their mind often. I do not know much about this election so cannot make judgements about Kerry or Bush, but given that Bush was reelected, these ads clearly were effective in creating a dislike and distrust of John Kerry.

My favorite ad was titled “windsurfing” and was an attack ad on Kerry. The ad used a series of photos of John Kerry that showed him windsurfing. The message of the ad was that John Kerry’s opinion will go where ever the wind blows and the use of the windsurfing pictures was a funny way to attack Kerry’s inconsistency in policy decisions and stance on a variety of matters. I liked this ad the most just because it was funny. The little dance that the picture does at the end when they keep flipping the picture was funny and a refreshing break from the serious ads that focused on Iraq and the events around 9/11. I also think this ad was used to make Kerry’s image look unpresidential. Our generation knows the funny pictures of Obama on vacation due to the increase in paparazzi and media during his terms. But before the 2004 election, pictures did not float around as quickly as they do now and circulating this picture of Kerry in beachwear while windsurfing established him as the opposite of Bush who was always shown in suits with ties and looking very professional.