# Ad portrays McCain as a computer illiterate... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 23, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889 "2008-09-23T20:39:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/1 "2008-09-23T20:39:41Z")
…and Joe Biden says it’s terrible. If this is it… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EgUonj8p7-k/hqdefault.jpg "John McCain Computer Nerd") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgUonj8p7-k) …give it a look and tell us if you think it’s in poor taste or is “terrinble” in some way. PLEASE NOTE: THE QUALITY OF THE VIDEO IS POOR BUT I ATTRIBUTE THAT TO THE AMATEUR WHO COPIED AND SUBMITTED IT TO YOU TUBE. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/2 "2008-09-23T20:46:33Z")
Unless you can find a better cite with that same ad I’m going to say there is some fakery going on. Even the normal Obama fonts look off. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/3 "2008-09-23T21:00:21Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > Unless you can find a better cite with that same ad I’m going to say there is some fakery going on. > Even the normal Obama fonts look off. No thats the ad, i’ve been watching it on tv a few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/4 "2008-09-23T21:02:17Z")
I think it’s intentionally badly produced. That’s er, part of the bit. I agree with Biden, by the way. It’s not a great ad. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/5 "2008-09-23T21:03:49Z")
I don’t think it is in poor taste or terrible insofar as being over the top or something. The issues pointed out are ones McCain admits to. Whether it is an effective ad I don’t know. Not sure being able to send your own email is a requirement for POTUS. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/6 "2008-09-23T21:06:07Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > Unless you can find a better cite with that same ad I’m going to say there is some fakery going on. > Even the normal Obama fonts look off. Here’s the version posted by BarackObamadotcom, which is the campaign’s youtube account: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bQ2I0t_Twk0/hqdefault.jpg ""Still" Ad") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ2I0t_Twk0) and I’ve seen it on TV. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/7 "2008-09-23T21:14:25Z")
Biden was asked about the ad on one of the talking heads shows on Sunday. When it was described to him, he said “That’s terrible” and noted that he would not have approved it had he seen it. Within a couple of hours, there was a press release from the Obama camp saying that Biden had finally seen the ad and that, while it was not good form, No one in the McCain camp, with its _Obama wants to teach kindergartners sex_ ad has any basis to complain. Is this thread going to be one more dance around the flag pole of “We’re cool; you’re not!” (from both sides)? Or is there actually any substance here? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/8 "2008-09-23T22:11:32Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Whether it is an effective ad I don’t know. Not sure being able to send your own email is a requirement for POTUS. The point is that it shows McCain’s mind is not in the 21st Century. (And I betcha **Biden,** who ain’t much younger, could send an e-mail.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/9 "2008-09-23T23:00:59Z")
Remember when Bush I was astounded by the UPC scanner in the supermarket, at a time when most Americans had been familiar with that technology for a decade, and it made him look so hopelessly out of touch? It’s like that. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/10 "2008-09-23T23:06:14Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Remember when Bush I was astounded by the UPC scanner in the supermarket, at a time when most Americans had been familiar with that technology for a decade, and it made him look so hopelessly out of touch? It’s like that. No, to be entirely fair to McCain, that was a trancendent peak of _unbelievable_ cluelessness that few humans could hope to match. Comparatively, being an old guy who predates computers and never really got into them…there’s lots of people like that. (We may not want them running the country, but they are common, unlike Bush-level morons.) ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/11 "2008-09-23T23:20:30Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > No, to be entirely fair to McCain, that was a trancendent peak of _unbelievable_ cluelessness that few humans could hope to match. Comparatively, being an old guy who predates computers and never really got into them…there’s lots of people like that. (We may not want them running the country, but they are common, unlike Bush-level morons.) I’m older than McCain. I can send emails and surf the internet adequately. McCain’s been out of the war and in Congress for many, many years. Where’s his excuse for his illiteracy? And back to the OP, what’s so bad about the ad? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/12 "2008-09-23T23:25:58Z")
> [@BarnOwl](#): > > I’m older than McCain. I can send emails and surf the internet adequately. > > McCain’s been out of the war and in Congress for many, many years. Where’s his excuse for his illiteracy? Lack of interest? Just because you have bothered to acquire and develop a skill doesn’t mean that it’s the default or even expected of your age group. (And remember, I wasn’t saying computer illiteracy was something to be proud of. I was saying that it wasn’t as bad as ignorance of what a _supermarket scanner is_. Even if McCain’s ludditistic tendency is bad, you gotta admit it’s not on the same level of obliviousness as _that_.) ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/13 "2008-09-24T00:08:49Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Remember when Bush I was astounded by the UPC scanner in the supermarket, at a time when most Americans had been familiar with that technology for a decade, and it made him look so hopelessly out of touch? It’s like that. To be fair the scanner Bush was “astounded” by was not a normal scanner. It could weigh items and read damaged lables, functions that were not yet availible in the normal scanner. Also only the New York Times reported Bush as being “amazed.” Other reporters described him as “polite, but hardly amazed” and “bored.” While Bush may have been helplessly out of touch, it wasn’t demonstrated during the scanner incident. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/14 "2008-09-24T00:19:36Z")
> [@BarnOwl](#): > > McCain’s been out of the war and in Congress for many, many years. Where’s his excuse for his illiteracy? He’s had secretaries since before the PC was heard of? ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/15 "2008-09-24T01:14:45Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > He’s had secretaries since before the PC was heard of? There it is.😃 The OP hasn’t been answered, but if a mod wants to close this thread, it’s OK with me. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ad-portrays-mccain-as-a-computer-illiterate/464889/16 "2008-09-24T01:37:22Z")
Per the OP. (One political thread down; several thousand to go.)