Your Billionaires At Work: Karl Rove's Crossroads Attacks President Obama's 'Cool'

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With the general election beginning in earnest (now that Newt Gingrich has decided to stand down), the effect of independent organizations on this election will be put to the test. The Karl Rove-co-founded American Crossroads, one of several pro-Republican SuperPACs expected to raise hundreds of millions in unlimited contributions to defeat President Obama this election, has released a new ad attacking the President's 'cool.'

The ad features clips of 'Four years of a celebrity president,' which consist of President Obama's recent appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, his off-air observation that Kanye West is 'a jackass,' his impromptu tribute to Al Green, his brief jam-session cameo on 'Sweet Home Chicago,' and that true mark of celebrity excess, the swilling of 'a pint of Guinness???

He also kills a fly in the video, a naked attempt by Crossroads to swing the entomologist vote. (The Ellen Degeneres clip was from 2007.)

The ad dismounts with the central argument of this election: 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?' vs. 'We saved the patient, and he's getting better. Do you really want to go back to the leeches?'

Curiously, American Crossroads' ad doesn't feature one of the President's most celebrity-laden appearances, his dressing-down of Donald Trump at last year's White House Correspondents Dinner, even as Seal Team Six was tooling up to do a Moe Green on Osama bin Laden. Now, that was cool.

Here's the clip, from American Crossroads:

For three years and change, that's not a whole lot of celebrity-ing, is it? If this knock had any merit to begin with , this would be a pretty weak case. They also seem to have forgotten that the 2008 McCain campaign tried this out:

How'd that work out for them, again?

There's room for debate over whether things like the Fallon appearance have value (although there seems to be bipartisan consensus that they do), but like that 2008 McCain ad, this offering is unserious, and insults the viewers' intelligence. It will probably work like a charm with independents.

The real significance of this ad, though, is that it foreshadows what the President will be up against this election. While he has out-raised Mitt Romney by huge margins in campaign cash, Republican SuperPACS have just as big an advantage over pro-Obama groups like American Bridge and Priorities USA Action, who apparently have little to offer the individual billionaire.

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• Sorry,,,being'cool' is not a criteria for being an effective president

  I don't care who it is we are referring to'..because if cool were the criteria then I would be the best president ever

  Thats the butt naked truth

• Who is saying that it is the reason for a second term?

• And the alternative is Mittens?

  Because 'sometimes you have to work with what you have'?

  Anyway, nice try Rabbies. Kinda like the time you were 'rappin' '
  That was real cool.

• Tommy left an unanswered question hanging in the air from the video..are you better off than you were 4 years ago?  I'm sure some will reply that it would have been worse.  Actually I think it would have been worse if the 2010 elections didn't install enough republicans  to prevent further damage.

  In my opinion the point of the video is that President Obama has been more interested in being cool rather than working to solve our big economic problems.  Mitt Romney may not be as cool but I think he is a lot more business saavy and will provide the confidence to the business community and remove fear and uncertainty that the current administration seems to cause with the negative image of profit and constant threat oh higher taxes.

• Mitt has signed paychecks. Obama never had a private sector job or employees before he was president.
  Tell me'. does a community organizer have a better grip on our economy or a man who has hired thousands of people and ran successful businesses do?

  Being hip and reading a teleprompter well might impress you and others on the left'But we dont need a president that wants to divide us either between race and class which Obama seems to enjoy.