The McCain campaign has responded to initial criticisms about their “THE ONE” ad by saying it was meant merely as a joke poking fun at Obama’s strong support and Messiah-like imagery. But this was not some YouTube video put together in someone’s basement.  It was a professionally and carefully produced ad that had a much more sinister subtext that millions of Americans will pick up on. The makers of the ad chose all of Obama’s quotes very carefully and the ad is rife with image after image equating Senator Obama to the anti-Christ, and especially to Nicolae Carpathia, the anti-Christ in the popular Left Behind series.  One or two images might be able to be written off to coincidence, but the number of overt and subtle images packed into this short ad and the frequency of images torn straight from the pages of Revelation and Daniel (the two primary apocalyptic books of the Bible) that make no real sense in any other context leave little doubt of the true purpose of this ad. 

This is the use of religion at its very worst in politics because it is an attempt to subtly and perhaps even subconsciously play on some of the deepest fears of millions of evangelical Americans.  From the title of the ad (that immediately reminds anyone familiar with the Left Behind series of the name of the false church set up by the anti-Christ) to the quotes (with no respect to context) and images that the McCain camp chose to use, which basically allude to every symbol of the anti-Christ possible short of flashing 666 on the screen, this ad is an attempt to stir up already circulating falsehoods about Obama and add more fuel to the fire.

The McCain campaign clearly believes that Democrats and the press will not be attuned enough with the people who bought over 70 million copies of Left Behind to realize what is happening.  But as with apocalyptic writing that can seem just plain odd until one really studies them and understands the symbolism and contextual language of the time, there are numerous parts of this ad that make no sense in a high-budget presidential ad unless they are understood for what they really are: attempts to scare people with contextually bankrupt scriptural and Obama quotes and imagery tied together to send messages of fear that Obama is somehow the anti-Christ.   

Even the chosen format as an internet ad allows for it to blasted out to targeted religious populations that will immediately recognize its significance and forward it on to others in their community so that the whispers and innuendo can continue in dark corners outside the scrutiny of the general public who would be horrified by such tactics.

Our goal with this memo is to expose the McCain campaign’s lies that they have tried to disseminate in darkness to the light of public scrutiny.

Lest people simply dismiss this ad as pandering to a small subset of people, here are some facts on how predominant and wide-spread the Premillenialist (also known as Darbyist or dispensationalist) views are…A Time Magazine poll that came out after the 9/11 attacks found that 1 in 5 Americans believe the world will end in their lifetime; 1 in 4 felt 9/11 was predicted in Revelation; and 1 in 3 Americans who support Israel said they do so because they believe Israel must reconquer the Promised Land for Christ to return. 

The Left Behind series has sold nearly 70 MILLION books (plus a 40-book children’s series, graphic novels, books on tape, movies, etc).  Another recent poll found that 3 of 4 Americans believed that the Left Behind series accurately depicted the events described in the Book of Revelation, although less than half believed that was an accurate description of how the world would end. 

And a simple search for “Obama anti-christ” or “Obama Nicolae Carpathia” turns up numerous hits and bloggers commenting about how many people came to their posts doing just that search. This is a real phenomenon being put forth and encouraged by modern day false prophets and now we see coming to light in the McCain campaign’s TV ad.

Below, we break the ad up into its different parts to more easily highlight and explain the numerous allusions to Obama as anti-Christ.

Go to any “end times” website that explains how we will recognize the anti-Christ, and most will begin by explaining how he will be a charismatic figure and moving speaker based on the description in Revelation 13:5 that the anti-Christ will be given a “mouth speaking great things.”  He is initially seen as a blessing to the world that unites it and brings it out of a period of great economic hardship and division by providing peace and unity.

NARRATOR: It should be known that in 2008 the world shall be blessed. They will call him The One. 

In The Left Behind series, the false religion set up by Nicolae Carpathia (the anti-Christ) is called THE ONE World Religion.  Nicolae Carpathia began his political career as a young junior Senator who, with Satan’s help, then embarked on a meteoric political rise by preaching unity, hope, and peace in the midst of world-wide calamity following the Rapture.  Revelation provides the following description of the anti-Christ’s rise:

“[the beast] was given authority over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all the inhabitants of the earth will worship it…” Rev 13:7. 

OBAMA: A nation healed, a world repaired…we are the ones that we’ve been waiting for.

In the Left Behind Series, the slogan of the One World Religion is, "We are God."  What is very explicit in this line, which is taken out of context from one of Obama’s speeches and placed into a religious context here, is the insistence that we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.  Throughout the Bible, Christians are taught that their hope must be in Christ alone.  Especially in apocalyptic writings, good Christians are called to turn away from the teachings of false prophets and wait upon Christ to deliver them from the period of tribulation.   As you can see from the scripture below, again and again Christians are warned against those who would claim to be Christ but are not (which is actually the exact point the McCain claims it was making with this “joke”—Obama isn’t the Messiah people are making him out to be).

“The man of lawlessness…will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God and worshiped”. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

“You [Lucifer] said in your heart’ “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God… I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Isaiah 14: 13-14

"Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, and will deceive many…if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect " Matt 24:4-24

NARRATOR: And he has anointed himself ready to carry the burden of The One. To quote Barack: "I have become a symbol of America returning to our best traditions." He can do no wrong.

Again, if the McCain camp was really trying for some heavenly image here or allusion to God shining his light on Obama or to Obama shining his own light on the people, they would have used a different image.  The classic and obvious image most viewers would recognize as divine would be of the white beam of light shining down from heaven (e.g., Monty Python or Simpsons spoofs).  But this is an odd orange light surrounded by darkness.  So why would they not go with the classic divine light imagery? 

Viewers will notice how similar these very odd pictures that appear in the middle of the McCain ad are to the cover art and fonts of the Left Behind series, especially to the image, font, and colors of the final book in the series that would be most recent in reader’s memories.  The hidden images in the clouds and sun in the ad, which took a great deal of editing and are so strange that they had to be intentionally chosen and placed there by the McCain camp for their symbolic value, are of screaming, frantic crowds.  One image has a man holding his hand up in a fist (bottom right of the first sun image above), which will evoke black power and Olympic protests, and another has a stair leading to heaven (second image above). 

CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT LARA LOGAN: Do you have any doubts?

OBAMA: Never.

NARRATOR: Can you see the light?

OBAMA: A light will shine down from somewhere. It will alight upon you. You will experience an epiphany and you will say to yourself, "I have to vote for Barack." 

There is one sign of the beast that is specifically identified in Revelation…want to guess what it is?  The beast calls down fire from heaven to alight on the earth in the sight of all to deceive the people of the earth.

“Then I saw another beast….that exercised authority on the part of the first to make the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast…it performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to alight on the earth in the sight of all; and by the signs it is allowed to perform on behalf of the beast, it deceives the inhabitants of earth…and it caused all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead.”  Rev 13:11-16 

An excerpt from Left Behind which is a good example of how the anti-Christ is constantly described in the books as he fools the people during his rise to power from junior Senator to world ruler:

"I wouldn't feel this way about anybody else [but Carpathia]. No U.S. president could turn my head like this, no U.N. secretary-general." "You think he'll be bigger than that."

"The world is ready for Carpathia, Buck. You were there Monday. You saw it. You heard it. Have you ever met anyone like him?"

"No."

"You never will again, either. If you ask me, Romania is too small for him. Europe is too small for him. The U.N. is too small for him."

"What's he gonna be, Steve, king of the world?"

Steve laughed, "That won't be the title, but don't put it past him. The best part is, he's not even aware of his own presence. He doesn't seek these roles. They are thrust upon him because of his intellect, his power, his passion."

NARRATOR: And the world will receive his blessings.

The constant references back to his blessings and greatness and doing no wrong (which are clearly parodies), match nicely with the idea in the Left Behind books and scriptures cited by dispensationalists for how the anti-Christ will operate.  He starts with many wondrous signs and things people believe to be true blessing that are only later (when it is too late and people have thrown in their lot with him) exposed for their true purpose.

“For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.” Mark 13:22 

OBAMA: This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.

CHARLTON HESTON AS MOSES: Behold His mighty hand! [visual of seas parting and Obama seal rising from the sea as supporters chant “Obama, Obama” in background]

The Moses reference could be a joke about Obama leading people to the promised land, but why did the makers of this ad chose this very odd quote about the oceans and create this very odd image of parting the Red Sea to have a seal the Obama rising out of the sea?  Why not have Obama leading people or a clip of Moses leading people to the Promised Land?  And even if the McCain camp really thought this was the clip that made the most sense to poke fun at Obama as Exodus leader, why have the Obama seal (which was used by the campaign for a very short time and would have taken some real digging to find) come rising out of the sea instead of the much more recognized Obama logo or even a picture of Obama himself?   This whole scene makes no sense unless one understands that it is always from the sea that the anti-Christ comes…and in the Book of Daniel the first beast that rises from the churning sea is a creature with wings like an eagle. 

“Then the dragon took his stand on the sand of the seashore, and I saw a beast rising out of the sea…and the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority…they worshipped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”  Rev 12:18-13:4.

“And I saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, and four great beasts came out of the sea.  The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle.”  Daniel 7:2-4

NARRATOR: Barack Obama MAY BE THE ONE. But is he ready to lead?

If the McCain camp was trying to spoof Obama as Messiah, they missed a number of more obvious images and did a very poor job with this ad.  If they were trying to draw parallels to Obama as anti-Christ, they nailed it.  Considering that this ad cost tens of thousands of dollars to produce and was made by marketing professionals who McCain is paying millions of dollars for their expertise, which option of these two options do you think is more likely to be THE ONE?