Wolcott on Mcain's Everybody-Likes-Obama Whiny Ad....

50,000,000 Obama Fans Can't Be Wrong

Unlike a certain flighty exhibitionist, who cryptically announced his impending vanishment from his vale of woe at the blog he called home, only to carom back for an instant encore (raising the musical question, How can we miss you if you won't go away?), I don't pretend to be a jargon-gargling semiotician. Nor do I pretend to be a dean of media studies, though I'd be happy to accept an honorary degree if there was a little "moolah" attached. But I have watched enough television during incarceration to have a few points to make about the McCain campaign's new anti-Obama "celebrity" ad.

1) Obama looks so cool, upbeat, and confident in the ad that his smiling, waving, striding presence provides a "lift" that doesn't simply contradict the admonitory tone of the voiceover text, but visually drowns it out through sheer pow of personality. It'd be like trying to warn teenagers in the fifties about the dangers of rock and roll, then showing concert footage of Elvis at his most charismatic--great way to create converts, guys!

I heart my favorite writer.


EDIT: Forgot linky... http://www.vanityfair.com/online/wolcott/2008/07/i-dont-pretend-to-be.html

I assume there is a "rest of it", as there is an item 1).

:)

have never attracted crowds like Obama so the comparison is pretty bogus. The media attention those two get is aimed at a pretty small segment of out society. These aren't Obama supporters, either.

"How dare the Democrats have a candidate who is popular?" rings pretty hollow.

ie. skewering idiots.

"5) The real message of the McCain ad is that they're envious of Obama's elan vital, and are reduced to mocking what they covet, Envy makes a person look petty, and a petty, peevish John McCain will be indistinguishable from the Bob Dole of 1996 if he doesn't "big up." Right now his campaign is making Obama look like the mature one, which may explain why at least one longtime McCain loyalist is barking from the shadows."

If you pay attention, you'll notice the Neocons are frequently "reduced to mocking what they covet". They whine about Hollywood elites, then rejoice at any celebrity who supports them, etc.

we just have to guess?

"Mocking what they covet" is a priceless soundbite! I will be using it with proper attribution, of course.

to the "barking from the shadows" reference.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/08/how-you-look-how-you-sound-what-you-say.html

The headline in yesterday’s released Pew survey says it all: “Obama’s Trip: Seen but not Heard.” In an election season where the simplest macros reign (it’s a change election, it’s the demographics, stupid, etc.), another longstanding advertising maxim rules the day: it’s the images and not the content of what you say that people remember.

Lesley's Parable from 1984 is not one to forget. Lesley Stahl’s nearly six-minute, hard-hitting CBS piece contained image after image of a smiling Reagan and enthusiastic, flag-waving crowds. Delighted, Michael Deaver called Stahl to thank her. "Nobody heard what you said" was the famous comment. In subsequent focus groups, Stahl discovered fewer than 25% of the group could recall what was said in the piece they had just watched.

This is why, while 90% of Americans had heard about the trip and 62% of Americans had heard a lot about it according to Pew’s findings, slightly less than half report having learned anything about Obama’s foreign policy views. Only 15% reported learning a great deal about those views. But they sure did see the images of a smiling and confident Obama in front of massive, American-flag waving crowds. Likewise, I’m sure the McCain ads showing Obama playing basketball with the troops with voiceover about how Obama didn’t visit the troops sent one clear message – hey, Obama visited the troops!

(SNIP)

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Watch the Moses ad (or the Britney/Paris ad for that matter) with no sound. It looks pretty good in that context, especially because there several seconds of stunning visuals with no words on the screen to distract you from the beautiful pictures Obama.

will do that.

DUer stated on DU after viewing the ad! I haven't seen it yet so didn't know they featured a smiling Obama(OMG!) And, that's an analogy I can really relate to..thanks, James Wolcott and Bloo.

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!

They are so jealous, their horns are showing.

"Fred Thompson's celebrity status didn't seem to trouble Republicans when he looked like a contender, until they realized his gravitas was indistinguishable from indigestion."


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: