Friday, May 22, 2009
Daisy redux
The Republican National Committee riffs on the most devastating attack ad in the history of American politics:
See the original here, run by Lyndon Johnson once in the 1964 campaign against Barry Goldwater, who the Democrats successfully positioned as a dangerous warmonger:
I have at least two reactions. First, that the Republicans picked a poor moment to use that footage -- they should have trotted it out after the next eruption from the Islamic Republic, when "Daisy," interspersed with Iranian mobs chanting "death to America," would have actually been apropos. Second, the RNC pulled its punches. One need only compare the limp GOP ad to the original to know that.
6 Comments:
By 
Christopher Chambers, at
Fri May 22, 10:49:00 PM:
Gee, after this what's next--Ft. Sumter? Can't get much worse.
You know, Barack Obama's actually a pretty nice guy, cool guy, very calm, funny. No lie. He really is. Has anyone of this ilk every spoken to him? I'm just saying...Joe Stalin or Evil Negro Avenger he ain't. So why the traitorous vitriol?
OKay, we're off to Bethany Beach in the dark to avoid the traffic. Hope I can find the EZPass and house key...
By 
, at
Sat May 23, 02:44:00 AM:
Traitorous vitriol? Ah, Chris, I know you think it's "cause he black, man ... shhheeeet, a black man caint get no break from the white man".
But you're wrong. The white half of him is screwing up also, and it's because he's learning on the job, and fvcking up really badly so far. Digging his heals in on an issue where he should know that Bush was actually right, and those 'detained' are actually dangerous people. He's put himself at odds with his own Congress, and he's flat wrong and too arrogant to admit it. His fault, not ours for calling him on it.
And frankly, I could care less if he's the greatest guy on the planet. I'm sure I'd like Clinton to party with, but I thought he was a screw up also on many fronts, and didn't like him as POTUS.
One time we're attacked, certainly if it includes one of the Gitmo scum he lets go, and his career, and anyone who supported the decision, is over.
TH said it years ago. You either believe we're in a war on terrorism, or you do not. So far, for all the bashing of the prior administration, all we've seen is an escalation of Afghanistan, a move in Pakistan, and Trillions added to the deficit for payola to this peeps who put him in office to Wall Street, Acorn, and all that. Hell, the first 870B in 'stimulous' was anything but that.
This isn't what people voted for.
What happens when there's a real challenge? An insolent tantrum, or leadership.
I'm not saying he can't eventually get there, but we haven't got that much time. The world is watching, and so are the voters here.
I'd have a lot more respect if he had Biden resign for medical reasons and Pelosi decided that it really was time to go. Move Hillary into the VP spot, and someone who we can respect into Speaker, for example. Clean up the mess in Treasury, and give us a PLAN that's not about what the other guys did. A plan, delivered in plain spoken words, with the accountability he promised and hasn't delivered.
By Gary Rosen, at
Sat May 23, 03:46:00 AM:
"traitorous vitriol" - like you've been shitting out for the last 8 years, sissy Chrissy?
"Barack Obama's actually a pretty nice guy, cool guy, very calm, funny. No lie. He really is."
How intimately do you know him?
By , at
Sat May 23, 09:51:00 AM:
"Barack Obama's actually a pretty nice guy, cool guy, very calm, funny. No lie. He really is."
Arrogance will be Obama's downfall. I'd bet that other than Axelrod and Rahm -- on then only on a good day -- he doesn't really listen to anyone. He thinks he's figured it all out for us years ago ... we just need to follow his enlightened path. This is a guy with no experience in management, finance, or budgeting, He's never run a county or a city, let alone a state. He's never even led a legislature ... but he is good at pontificating.
I thought the ad effective. Obama has picked a fight over Gitmo in such a way that he's at odds with the Democrats in Congress and even made Cheney look good. Obama overplayed his hand because he wanted a podium to shout "I'm better than George Bush." Gitmo is now a setup for a lot of negative stories over the next few months. It's Obama's own damn fault because he played ball with Feinstein to leak the waterboarding legal opinions, something he didn't need to do.
Obama is jamming several significant changes on America -- autos, energy, healthcare, education -- with plans that can't stand up to reason. In every case, some other government has actually tried a version of his idea and failed. Witness Spain on alternative energy -- Massachusetts on healthcare -- California on nearly everything.
In Chicago the Annenberg Initiative was a literal experiment ... control group and everything ... intended to prove how increased spending would improve Chicago's schools. It actually proved the opposite -- there were no measurable improvements in anything ... nada. Obama was its Chairman, before he ran for office. You think Obama would have learned a lesson.
As Illinois State Senator Obama had a hand in helping Tony Rezko get development money. Tony spent something like $100 million of government funds to develop failed slums. You think Obama would have learned a lesson.
Because of this, I can only conclude that Obama is either 1) deluded, or 2) evil. I think it's more likely #1 than #2 -- but there's evidence for either ... or both.
Now that he's elected, this is the guy intent on pissing away trillions. Keep your eye on California, which is going broke. Depending on how it's handled it may create a fiscal crisis in 2009 that I thought we wouldn't see before 2011. Obama could be broken as President by the end of the year over this ... I kid you not. He's on the horns of a dilemma ... either let California default, or try to finance a bailout when he's already fully tapped out the federal borrowing capacity. There's no good answer ... and he can't blame Bush.
I suspect Obama may even lose his cool and his calm when everything stops following his Teleprompted script. Developing ....
Link, over
By Elise, at
Sat May 23, 01:07:00 PM:
Clever idea for the ad, really poor implementation. First of all, too grainy - spiffy sells. Second, too hard to follow. If you don’t know about the original “Daisy” ad you’re wondering what that little girl is doing and what the heck that voice-over at the end is about. If you do remember the original “Daisy” ad, you’re wondering what the heck Guantanamo has to do with nuclear weapons. (Yes, I know, Iran, but that connection is not going to compute for a lot of people.) Third, too short. You need more time for contrasts.
Here's what I would have done (if I'd been clever enough to think of the hook in the first place.) Do the little girl pulling daisy petals and chanting "close it, close it not" but shoot new, clear footage. Each time she says "close it" cut to the clip of Obama saying, "simple, close it". Every time she says "close it not" use contrasting footage that actually relates to the terrorists. Maybe news reports about terrorist attacks in chronological order, mentioning the dates: first WTC 1993; Khobar Towers 1996; USS Cole 2000; 9/11/2001. Then a "close it not" with a clip of someone reporting the US has not suffered an attack since 2001. Then a "close it not" with a Democrat or Democrats talking about how they oppose releasing Guantanamo prisoners into their communities US. (If you could find clips of Democrats who insisted before the election that Guantanamo had to be closed and are now insisting the prisoners can't be released into their towns, you could use them in turn as contrasting images for a "close it, close it not" duet.
Or the RNC could just have hired Chris Christie's guys to do the ad. His was a good ad: short, clear, and a great pre-emptive strike at Corzine's incredible financial advantage.
By , at
Sat May 23, 03:05:00 PM:
I am just waiting for Bill Moyers to denounce it.
