George Allen has feelings. Other revelations from the campaign
Living in a swing state - or, even, perhaps, in the swing states of all swing states-- means a lot of political messanging of all forms, constantly. It is not an exaggeration that we receive a mailing and a phone call (usually several) every day. Most are robocalls or pollsters. I don't watch broadecast tv except every once in a while so I largely am spared the ads with those intoning deep voices.
Every once in a while something good comes along in the mail.
'
This mailing struck me as something akin to the iconic Lyndon Johnson daisy ad in terms of subtlety and willingness to exploit a little girl for political gain.
Here is the train bearing down on the little girl. "The conductor of this runaway train doesn't know when to stop"
And the conductor is...yes, yes, you guessed it:
The hat is what pushes this mailing into the realm of inspiration.
The train is probably Amtrak too, the socialist!
I did see one TV commercial today that made me marvel at the general tawdriness of George Allen. I saw the ad today and simply could not fathom its message. Allen has reached what has to be a new cynical low by exploiting the death of a Marine and the grief of his mother Rhonda Winfield in this new ad for no reason that serves any purpose other than emotional manipulation. This is not an ad extolling his support for veterans or for the injured who have come back from multiple tours only to face woefully inadequate support. Plenty of political hay could be made out of that (though not very effectively if you are a Republican, though that is perhaps too obvious a point). It is, frankly, appalling and immoral what has been done to the returning vets. The deaths in the unnecessary war in Iraq are even more immoral and unacceptable. Obscene, actually. But that is not the point of the ad. Nothing like that at all is being said in this ad. It is, instead, simply built around Allen's sensitivity to the mother for her loss (which, of course, is the worst possible imaginable). The commercial as played on tv has the mother talking and the tag line "I am George Allen and I approve this message." But what is the message?
What does this ad say except that George Allen is willing to put this mother's pain in front of you for 1:27 to prove....? That he is a human being?
The mother is quoted on the webpage as saying ""'George Allen cared enough to reach out as father and husband to a grieving mother, committed to carrying on my son's legacy with leadership and strength. I saw in George Allen a public servant whose leadership is not just for what others see but who he is person to person." OK, but what does that mean? Anything?
How "person to person" is a guy who greets a grieving mother and then turns around and makes a political ad out of his compassion?
Every once in a while something good comes along in the mail.
'
This mailing struck me as something akin to the iconic Lyndon Johnson daisy ad in terms of subtlety and willingness to exploit a little girl for political gain.
Here is the train bearing down on the little girl. "The conductor of this runaway train doesn't know when to stop"
And the conductor is...yes, yes, you guessed it:
The hat is what pushes this mailing into the realm of inspiration.
The train is probably Amtrak too, the socialist!
I did see one TV commercial today that made me marvel at the general tawdriness of George Allen. I saw the ad today and simply could not fathom its message. Allen has reached what has to be a new cynical low by exploiting the death of a Marine and the grief of his mother Rhonda Winfield in this new ad for no reason that serves any purpose other than emotional manipulation. This is not an ad extolling his support for veterans or for the injured who have come back from multiple tours only to face woefully inadequate support. Plenty of political hay could be made out of that (though not very effectively if you are a Republican, though that is perhaps too obvious a point). It is, frankly, appalling and immoral what has been done to the returning vets. The deaths in the unnecessary war in Iraq are even more immoral and unacceptable. Obscene, actually. But that is not the point of the ad. Nothing like that at all is being said in this ad. It is, instead, simply built around Allen's sensitivity to the mother for her loss (which, of course, is the worst possible imaginable). The commercial as played on tv has the mother talking and the tag line "I am George Allen and I approve this message." But what is the message?
What does this ad say except that George Allen is willing to put this mother's pain in front of you for 1:27 to prove....? That he is a human being?
The mother is quoted on the webpage as saying ""'George Allen cared enough to reach out as father and husband to a grieving mother, committed to carrying on my son's legacy with leadership and strength. I saw in George Allen a public servant whose leadership is not just for what others see but who he is person to person." OK, but what does that mean? Anything?
How "person to person" is a guy who greets a grieving mother and then turns around and makes a political ad out of his compassion?
Comments