#4. Hillary 1984

Posted on YouTube by someone calling himself Park Ridge-47, this attack ad changed the rules of political engagement in Election 2008. The video mashes together a classic 1984 Apple ad with recent footage of Hillary Clinton giving a speech. Clinton is portrayed as a Big Brother character and Democratic voters as zombie-like followers. The tag line touts Barack Obama as an alternative to Clinton. Park Ridge-47 turned out to be an employee of an online communications firm that had worked with the Obama campaign. In the YouTube era, who needs PACs and Swift Boaters? The lone wolf political attack ad is born.