From the NPR link embedded within your linked story:
FOLKENFLIK: Well, I talked to John Brabender, as you say, he's the senior media strategist for the Santorum camp. And he told me he personally oversaw the production of this video. It's actually a teaser. It's about a minute and five seconds long for an eight-part series that will run on the campaign's website. He says, look, this is not subliminal advertising. He referred to, you know, this famous images from the '60s where people flipped in little notices in the ads that said, you know, buy soda, buy popcorn. He said, we're not doing that.
He said, and this is a direct quote, "What I was trying to do was show that there was going to be this constant back and forth in Iranian-American conflict if Obama is elected president. Was I trying to show something more than that? Absolutely not." He was saying, you know, look, I'm not trying to say that I'm conflating Obama as a threat in a way that Ahmadinejad is a threat.
But it is interesting when you heard that phrase sworn American enemy and a pause, right after that, you saw the image of President Obama. What Brabender said to me last night was, look, he'd be a lot more blatant if he was attempting to conflate the two men.
Calling it "subliminal" when it's clearly visible seems like a contradiction, to me. There are all sorts of quick cuts and flashed images. Seems like a stylistic choice, rather than an attempt to manipulate people's subconsciousness. Clearly, the point of the ad is to equate a 2nd Obama term with danger and a dire future, specifically related to the Iranian threat. Is there really any surprise that they'd flash Obama's picture into this montage when he's the primary target of the ad? The meaning could just as easily be taken as, "a sworn American enemy ... against which this President won't take the necessary steps to protect us."
Joe Biden … putting the Dem in dementia since (at least) 2020.
