"I Am the American Dream"
Please forgive me if you've seen this ad already -- I just saw it for the first time this morning; it was posted by a Facebook friend -- but it strikes me as interesting, particularly in light of the South Carolina results. (Click on it to see it larger.)
Now, it's easy to look at this with a partisan shrug -- yeah, you're really one of the masses, Barry. And way to slide right past those pesky little issues like the recession. And are we feeling a little defensive today? What's up with the capitals?
But this seems to me a very effective ad. It's defensive, yes, but the weaving together of a rockets'-red-glare sentimental patriotism with a contemptuous, patronizing tone toward dissenters reassures Obama fans that they are on the side of both the good and the intelligent. The hectoring, all-caps, drumming-it-in tone of the denials is designed to convey the impression -- or I should say reinforce the impression -- that the people he's defending himself against are dumb-as-dirt mouth breathers who have to have self-evident truths spelled out for them. Of course he's shouting, the ad projects: you've got to shout at Republicans to make them see sense. You can't reason with those people.
What could this gain him? A lot. By hearkening back to the vacuous, emotion-filled campaign of 2008, he sidesteps the issues and opens his arms to welcome back any Democrats who have become shaky about him during his calamitously inept first term. He can also easily draw fence-sitters with this kind of decorous, non-attack-ad approach -- see, we're above the fray. We're what this country is really all about; we're the good guys. Note the reiteration of the middle name: we're the inclusive party, the party that's about love (mom, grandparents, community) and the dream of prosperity. We good. They bad.
This can easily work; it's a variant of a formula that worked like a charm in 2008. And I would posit that this kind of dumbed down, context-free, content-free approach will be especially effective if the Republican nominee is someone who took Bill Clinton to the woodshed and is now indignant that he should be held accountable for similar indiscretions. That kind of thing confirms exactly what many people already believe about Republicans: that they shamelessly deploy the double standard when it suits them, and are therefore disqualified from being entrusted with the well-being of all Americans.
If a close look at your own performance will lose you the election, you change the subject. Issues, shmissues, this ad is telling us. Who makes you feel good about being an American? Who do you feel good about holding up to the world as your representative? The charmingly rumpled multicultural icon of humble origins who scaled the heights of academics and politics, or the whiter-than-white guy who can dish it out but can't take it?
If Newt's the nominee, we'll get some lively presidential debates out of it, but one uptick in the economy and it's all over until 2016. If anybody is likely to rally the undecided under Obama's tent, it's Gingrich.
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Feb '11
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
Craig M: The thought has been employed in probably every election since Reagan first voiced it, but I've never heard it as effectively paraphrased as this:
· 21 minutes ago
"And how much of that $4 trillion did YOUR FAMILY get?"
Dec '10
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
Henry Scanlon: I think Judith is right that this is an effective ad, but it’s important to note that despite the rhetoric, it’s an appeal to emotion and, therefore, it is unlikely to be effectively countered with an appeal to reason, however much that appeal might be accurate.
Here’s how the same ad might look if, for example, one of the most famous lines in advertising history—with very different emotional messaging—is substituted: · 5 hours ago
Another alternative text: "This is what you get when you promote people based on affirmative action and not actual merit."
Dec '10
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
Judith Levy:
If a close look at your own performance will lose you the election, you change the subject. Issues, shmissues, this ad is telling us. Who makes you feel good about being an American? Who do you feel good about holding up to the world as your representative? The charmingly rumpled multicultural icon of humble origins who scaled the heights of academics and politics, or the whiter-than-white guy who can dish it out but can't take it?
If Newt's the nominee, we'll get some lively presidential debates out of it, but one uptick in the economy and it's all over until 2016. If anybody is likely to rally the undecided under Obama's tent, it's Gingrich.
I dare you to Google the CoC-noncompliant abbreviation "SCOAMF." Obama doesn't get away with "charmingly rumpled" anymore, and rather than multiculturalism (which is a better sell in Europe than in the USA anyway), Obama represents affirmative action. Or, if you prefer, Obama provides proof positive that ignoring merit or lack thereof in order to seem down with multiculturalism is stupid and results in disaster.
As for Gingrich, he takes it and then gives it.
Dec '10
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
Sorry, but it has to be said:
Look at the statements in the ad.
"I am NOT RADICAL.
"I am NOT SOCIALIST.
"I am NOT A MUSLIM TERRORIST.
"I am NOT THE ANTI-CHRIST."
Note that three of the four of these are simple assertions. One of them is a compound assertion.
Obama can honestly say, "I am not a Muslim terrorist," even if he is Muslim but not a terrorist, or a terrorist but not Muslim.
That particular phrasing makes that assertion stand out from the others, and it subliminally invites the question: "well, are you a Muslim who's NOT a terrorist?"
Poor copywriting.
May '11
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
I did say it already.
But I guess the reason is they don't want it to look like being a muslim alone is a bad thing.
Oct '10
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
genferei
Really? My dictionary must be wrong, because I really don't see how Obama is a Marxist. ..... · 12 minutes ag
Don't Marxists believe that social mobility is severely restricted, and that in fact, people do not ascend (or descend) the social ladder very often? Don't Marxists believe classes are monolithic, homogenized entities that are engaged in perpetual conflict?
Knowing that America would overwhelmingly reject Marxism as such, and given that he doesn't want to discredit himself, his agenda, or the Democratic Party, Obama would never claim to be a Marxist. But if the two extremes are Marxist and capitalist, isn't he a lot closer to being a Marxist than a capitalist?
Edited on Jan 22 at 11:49amMay '10
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
I learned about the world in Hawaii from a communist while attending the most snobbish prep school in the state.
I was raised by a grandmother who I threw under the bus during my first presidential campaign when she would be unaware because she had Alzheimers.
I became editor of the Harvard Law School Review but you still can't see my writings or my school records.
I became a politician in Chicago at the elbow of the people who tried to blow up the Pentagon and kill US soldiers...and are still not repentant.
I AM AN OPPONENT OF THE US CONSTITUTION
I WOULD RATHER PLAY GOLF THAN SOLVE UNEMPLOYMENT
I HAVE DISTAIN FOR GUN OWNERS, BLUE COLLAR MIDWESTERNERS, AND THOSE WHO USE THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE
I BOW TO OUR ENEMIES AND SPIT ON OUR FRIENDS
I AM ANTI-AMERICAN.
There...fixed it.
Edited on Jan 22 at 12:00pmJul '10
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
At an age where most of us were learning the Revolution and the Declaration of Independence, Obama was drinking in the lessons of Muslim Indonesia, his Socialist mom, and her Socialist friends. In his considerable time in college in New York, he haunted the steps of every radical professor at Columbia, attended every major Socialist conference that Stanley Kurtz could find records for, including the Centennial at Coopers Union, and, inspired by the works of the American gold standard in Socialist agitation, migrated to Chicago to study under the "Great Man" the lessons of how to overload the welfare state and generate open, violent class warfare to bring about the end of the republic.
His political career has been spent playing "good cop" to union thugs, black power activists, ACORN, and so on, right up to SEIU, AFL-CIO, and OWS, to stress capitalist and welfare institutions to the breaking point.
And he has effectively declared limitations on Presidential power racist in his rhetoric.
Oct '10
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
I think it's a good ad and the best answer to it is to sidestep it altogether. The whole point of the ad seems to be about rewinding the clock back to 2008. It's like what they tried to do to Bush regarding his time in the Texas Air Guard.
What the GOP nominee needs to remember is to remind everyone that this is a referendum on Obama's record. That means the failed Stimulus, the bailouts, the connections to Wall Street, Obamacare (that was never legitimately passed, just in case you forgot), unemployment, housing, Solyndra, and the pessimism that hangs over the country. He has to answer for what he has done and we would do well not to get sidetracked by these red herrings.
Jan '12
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
Trying to put aside partisanship, I'd say that if independents believe that Obama is not a socialist, either they haven't been paying attention or they have no idea whatsoever of what a socialist is.
Sep '10
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
I mostly agree, Gaby, though I think in the American sense Obama is a radical because he wants to radically change the relationship of the individual to the state, and has said so in his quips, his legislative agenda, and his approval of the OWS impulse. As an American, I do long for a better competitor in the general election. I don't expect to find it, though, in which case I'd rather Obama be reelected and the House and Senate be bolstered against allowing him much if any sway.
Aug '11
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
Brilliant line!
Jul '10
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
This is a great ad - for the 2008 election. This ain't 2008, and now he's got a record. If this ad is any indicator, the Obama campaign is trying to sidestep his actual actions in office.
Yuval Levin really nailed it in this post at The Corner, throwing cold water on the notion of Obama being able to revive the "airy fantasy" he ran on last time, and pointing out that a negative mudslinging campaign will hurt Obama's personal popularity with voters, which he can't well afford.
Not to say we can't still mess it up and lose. We're Republicans, after all.
Apr '11
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
If he is reelected and appoints another supreme court justice, this republic is cooked.
Oct '10
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
Doc
If he is reelected and appoints another supreme court justice, this republic is cooked. · 1 hour ago
Leslie, your advice is tempting, but I think the doc's diagnosis is spot-on. He zeros in on the one irrefutable flaw in your plan. We would live with the tragic results for, possibly, generations.
Edited on Jan 22 at 2:58pmSep '11
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
Sisyphus
At an age where most of us were learning the Revolution and the Declaration of Independence, Obama was drinking in the lessons of Muslim Indonesia, his Socialist mom, and her Socialist friends. In his considerable time in college in New York, he haunted the steps of every radical professor at Columbia, attended every major Socialist conference that Stanley Kurtz could find records for, including the Centennial at Coopers Union, and, inspired by the works of the American gold standard in Socialist agitation, migrated to Chicago to study under the "Great Man" the lessons of how to overload the welfare state and generate open, violent class warfare to bring about the end of the republic.
That is a great chunk of America you're describing, it just isn't yours. I don't like it either, but it doesn't make Obama a way-out un-American extremist.
In the end, the electorate is mainly concerned about the economy. But however much they resent Obama, they won't vote Republican if Republicans sound deranged.
Sep '10
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
Roberts: 57 this year; Scalia: 76 this year; Thomas: 64 this year; Ginsburg: 79 this year. Alito: 62 this year; Sotomayor: 58 this year; Kagan: 52 this year; Kennedy: 76 this year; Breyer; 74 this year. Breyer has been at times a centrist but usually votes with the liberals. Ginsburg, who's been ill, is very liberal, so it's moot. I don't think Scalia's going anywhere. Kennedy, the only other justice in his 70s, seems to relish being the tie-breaker. I take both of your points, but unlike in 2008, I'm not so concerned about the High Court. I think the bigger worry now is a president whose administration botches this genuine opportunity to persuade people that less government is better.
Severely Ltd.
Doc If he is reelected and appoints another supreme court justice, this republic is cooked. · 1 hour ago
Leslie,your advice is tempting, but I think the doc's diagnosis is spot-on. He zeros in on the one irrefutable flaw in your plan. We would live with results for, possibly, generations. · 7 minutes ago
May '10
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
jhimmi: Why do socialists refuse to admit they're socialists, and why do we let them get away with it? · 6 hours ago
Socialists want the government to nationalize all of the major factors of production. Obama does not want the government to do so, therefore he is not a socialist.
May '10
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
Stuart Creque:
Obama can honestly say, "I am not a Muslim terrorist," even if he is Muslim but not a terrorist, or a terrorist but not Muslim.
That particular phrasing makes that assertion stand out from the others, and it subliminally invites the question: "well, are you a Muslim who's NOT a terrorist?"
Whoever thinks that this is an important question deserves a good deal of ridicule. Its an obnoxious question and anyone who asks it does so despite the complete absence of evidence for the claim that he is a Muslim as well as the disconfirming evidence, e.g., the fact that he is a Christian (unless one would like to argue that one could be both or that he is not a Christian).
Oct '10
Re: "I Am the American Dream"
Michael Labeit
jhimmi: Why do socialists refuse to admit they're socialists, and why do we let them get away with it? · 6 hours ago
Socialists want the government to nationalize all of the major factors of production. Obama does not want the government to do so, therefore he is not a socialist. · 44 minutes ago
So you know what Obama wants? What do you think would happen if Obama tried to nationalize all production? Taking over GM and giving it to the unions is a clue to where is heart is, as well as trying to command Boeing not to open a factory in South Carolina.