For those who missed it over the weekend, here's another look at what is likely to be one of the more unusual politico-cultural artifacts of this highly unusual campaign:
In his earlier post, Noam asked whether "this helps Obama or hurts him." I think it's all but inconceivable it will hurt him. People who dislike the video (for any of several quite understandable reasons) are unlikely to be so annoyed that it sours them meaningfully on Obama. The vast majority of mass-market political pitches, after all, are shallow at best and most people who pay attention to politics give them a pass unless they're actively misleading or offensive.
But if the video's downside is limited, it's upside could, I think, be significant. (Lest you think I've lost my mind, I mean in a quasi-political-ad kind of way: This may have some small impact around the edges; it isn't going to change the essential character of the race.) It's all the things, good and bad, political ads rarely are: impressionistic, emotive, nonrational, an effort to convey mood rather than any meaningful content.
And that mood, I'm guessing, may resonate somewhat beyond its obviously youthful target demographic--at least insofar as alternative demographics are conversant in viral video. My first, visceral response was to the deliberate echo of King and Kennedy, of promises (real or imagined) cut tragically short--promises that maybe, the video seems to promise, just maybe, have only been deferred.
I had many complaints with David Brooks's recent column on Obama and generational politics--chief among them, the convenient omission of his own side of the seemingly neverending boomer war over Vietnam and successive conflicts: the Kristols and W.'s and Podhoretzes and Roves and Cheneys and Gingriches and (sometimes) Brookses without whom the Clintons and their defenders would never have developed their siege mentality in the first place.
But if I disagree with Brooks's political point-scoring, I tend to agree with his (and Andrew Sullivan's, and others') sense that Obama may offer a way out of a particular pattern of generational-partisan warfare. And he does it, as this video seems to recognize, by reaching back over the shoulders of the late-60s, to the slender men (yes, they were unfortunately all men) in slender ties promising a better America, rather than the generation that followed a few years later.
It's probably no coincidence that today I talked on the phone to my dad, who's 87 years old but in insultingly good shape. When I asked him about the upcoming primary in Connecticut, where he lives, he said he'd be voting for Obama and we bonded over our mutual enthusiasm. But when I told him that one rationale for me was that Obama had the potential to be a game-changer, a "Democratic Reagan," he stopped me short. "No," he corrected gently, "I think the candidate he resembles is John F. Kennedy." I could've made any number of booksmart rejoinders about the limits of Kennedy's impact as president. But when it comes to the "feel" of Obama's candidacy, the sense of latent possibility--the sentiment that, in its way, this video is tapping into--my dad was clearly right.
I'm obviously reading too much into what is, after all, a music video. But, if curious, have yourself a look. And be sure to check out the comments to Noam's item--especially a sincerely moving post by williamyard.
--Christopher Orr
Posted: Monday, February 04, 2008 5:04 PM with 25 comment(s)
I forwarded the video yesterday to just about everyone in my email list, along with my own endorsement of Obama and my reasons for it.
Included among my address list was my mom, an Iowa caucus-goer with lots of friends in Minnesota. An early Baby Boomer, my mom is right smack in the middle of Hillary's demographic sweet spot, and she doesn't do popular music or viral videos.
Just this hour, I got a response from my mom to my video-forwarding Obama endorsement. She forwarded to me a similar message her best friend in Minnesota received from _her_ son, linking to the video and throwing in a personal endorsement of Obama. My mom's friend was forwarding her son's email around and urging all of _her_ email contacts to watch the video and vote for Obama. In the forwarded emails between my mom and her good friend, each said the video made her cry a little, it reminded her of Bobby Kennedy so.
Hopefully, _those_ will be the Monday tears that have an impact on this race.
Is it cheesy and emotionally manipulative? Without a doubt. But anyone who thinks cheesy and emotionally manipulative ads will hurt Obama obviously missed out on the whole Titanic phenomenon.
And besides, virtually all political ads are cheesy. At least this one is cheesy in an uplifting way. I doubt it will change anyone's mind about Obama (and it shouldn't). But if it fires up young voters and gets them out to the polls, then it will have served its purpose.
I kinda like it, myself.
To play devil's advocate, I do know several people (young people by the way) who are probably voting for Clinton because they seem to find her a more serious candidate. I could see an ad like this pushing a few undecideds into thinking Obama is a "fluff" candidate and voting for Hillary instead.
My sense of undecided voters is that they want to vote for Obama, but don't want to be "taken in" so they're waiting for him to close the sell. (Forgive the analogy, but it's like when we were heading towards war with Iraq and people looked to Powell at the UN to make the strong case they hadn't heard yet) For some of us, myself included, Hillary's negatives are strong enough and Obama's strengths good enough to lean towards him. I asked a friend why she was voting for Clinton last night, and essentially it came down to the fact that she knew her and felt a connection. For all of Obama's oratorial gifts, I suspect many voters don't feel they "know" him yet.
If his inspirational message still hasn't reached all corners, then this video is probably valuable. But if he's already won over all the people looking for something new and different (this isn't necessarily the case for people who haven't been paying much attention to the race until now), then he needs to reach out to the hard-headed skeptics and people who may otherwise vote for Clinton. In which case, this video doesn't really do the trick. It's more of the same.
"And that mood, I'm guessing, may resonate somewhat beyond its obviously youthful target demographic--at least insofar as alternative demographics are conversant in viral video."
I agree, and I'd add that people should not make assumptions about what age groups this video will appeal to.
Two bloggers are a case in point:
(1) Matthew Yglesias was very critical of the video, suggesting that it shouldn't have been produced. Yet he has endorsed Obama. He's in his mid 20s.
(2) Ann Althouse called it "lovely" and a "historically great video" (while acknowledging that it's an emotional appeal rather than a policy argument). Yet she has not endorsed any candidate. She recently blogged about turning 57.
So, don't assume...
This post is sincerely moving in its own right. And I think you're exactly right re the downside/upside analysis of the video.
The omnipresent celebs were a bit obnoxious, but I loved the audio. I'll be canvassing for Obama tomorrow in MA and I'll certainly listen to this one more time before I head out just to pump myself up.
johnalt,
Actually I agree about the age group thing. I think younger voters tend to be more cynical & jaded and something like this immediately triggers mental responses like "We Are the World", "cheesy", etc. Take it from this young voter. Whereas I know my mother, for one, will probably love it. She's 55. A lot of boomer-age voters, for all their experience, still have a longing for the perceived innocence and idealism of their youth. So they actually may be more predisposed to like this video than those who pundits are presuming to be its target audience.
YouTube Nation:
General #1: "Get-out-the-vote helped us in Alabama. CNN declared for us twenty minutes ago."
Hitler: "Never mind about Alabama. What's happening in California?"
The generals pause.
General #1: "My Fuhrer...um..."
General #2: "Obama's phone banks in the small counties paid off. Also, the LA Latino vote didn't break as we'd thought...[pause]...our exit polls have Obama up by 8. Maybe 9."
Hitler stares at his map. His hand shaking, he reaches up to remove his glasses...
California Uber Axis?
williamyard - i'm not sure if your a football fan but you might enjoy this: youtube.com/watch
Thanks, maxblum13: great minds think alike!
Actually, that was my inspiration (i.e., I ripped it off).
rat, pass the Jello (Biafra)!
It made me squirm, because I didn't like the music. It's all about the music for a lot of us. Plus I thought a lot of those actors seemed narcissistic, with a few exceptions. Scarlett J. seemed the least so, and the most shy, which becomes her. I also am biased to her because she supported Dean 4 years ago, and wore a sticker on her fancy dress on a red carpet somewhere. I know people hate when stars pontificate as though their stardom conferred expertise, but they're citizens like the rest of us, and maybe we all should be as active as they are, rather than wanting to cut them down to our size.
maxblum: I'm evidently late to the party, but that's is one of the funniest damn things I've ever seen.
psant- good point. I hate when people think celebs shouldn't be allowed to speak or something. It makes no sense, and, in its way, is snobbery masked as a kind of down-home populism.
Chris,
You are indeed late to the party. Jason Zengerle posted that video here last month.
bcbaird - I try very hard to ignore anything Jason writes. He poisons minds you know...
To be fair, I can think of better uses for Scarlett Johansson's mouth than political advocacy.
How could this video hurt?
"He can afford another one, don't worry"
I think the "Yes We Can" sonic branding hurts. It hurts my head.
I found it deeply patronising, then again, I can clear a bar in ten minutes.
C'mon, folks. Who d'ya think will be most inspired on seeing this? Answer: the volunteers who will work their butts off tomorrow; in appreciation for all their hard work, enthusiasm, zeal and determination; and encouragement tomorrow. That it's a youtube video - wow, that's savvy campaigning, something the Obama people have demonstrated many times over recent weeks and months. Huzzaah! Mazel Tov!
I don't see much reason to hedge: the people who would be turned off by it won't see it. YouTube is like direct mail for the under-30 crowd.
Caveat: if it gets *really* big, one of the 24-hour news holes may pick it up. But the next two days will be so busy with "real" news, it probably won't get aired often enough to get on the radar even so. So it's fairly harmless from where I sit.
If you'd rather not guess as to its potential impact you could always click over to youtube and find out that its gotta roughly 1,000,000 plays in various uploads. (that doesn't count the number of plays its gotten on sites like this, kos, daily dish, time.com, etc., etc) and seeing as how it was released three days ago that's one hellova free 4 minute national ad buy.
Noam was wondering if Obama's "Yes, We Can" video would on balance be harmful or helpful
Belatedly, Chris, thanks for the kind words.
- Bill