There is likely a demographic this particular message is aimed at and I'm certain that I'm not in it, so there's no point in being outrageously outraged about it. And there's not much point in decrying sexual innuendo in a world where it's ubiquitous.
What the ad actually tells me is this -- the Obama campaign senses that it isn't anywhere close to getting the youth vote it needs, so it's time to break out a youth culture icon. I'm assuming Diablo Cody is past her sell-by date on this one, so we get the slightly overripe liberal arts gal (Dunham went to Oberlin, natch) with the shoulder tat.
Others have also pointed out that the Obama campaign apparently stole the idea from Vladimir Putin:
I actually like the Putin ad better, because it shows better political reasoning at work. And the young woman seeking her fortune is quite fetching.
Anyway, the topic of a first presidential vote is amusing. My first presidential vote came in the 1984 Wisconsin primary. I was 20 years old at the time and was in my junior year at Beloit. I cast my initial vote for Ernest Hollings, of all people. Hollings, for those of you who don't remember, was sort of a Foghorn Leghorn type of southern Democrat. Hollings was a complete also-ran in that cycle and by the time the Wisconsin primary rolled around, it was clear that the race on the Democratic side was between Gary Hart and Walter Mondale. I had a sense at the time that Hart was a phony and Mondale has never impressed me, so I figured I'd pick someone else. And since Hollings had a sense of humor, he got my vote. Hollings had characterized the 1983 invasion of Grenada as "an attack on a golf course." I thought that was pretty funny and since Don Rickles wasn't on the ballot, Hollings was the choice. I knew he wouldn't win, but I couldn't see myself voting for any of the other candidates. It was a classic young person's vote in the silly division.
People make their choices for a lot of reasons. It would be nice to imagine that we all take citizenship seriously and soberly study the issues, but it's just not so. Obama understands this, which is why he had Kal Penn make an innuendo-laden speech at the DNC convention, too. In the end, you have to hope that people think things through and make the right decision.
13 comments:
Dignity hasn't just left the building, it has gone crosstown, gotten on an airplane and taken a flight to Tierra del Fuego.
If this is a reflection of our culture as opposed to a driver of it (I think it's probably both,) it bodes ill for the future. It's bad enough that this kind of thing makes it into public life at all, as a beer commercial or in a sitcom. But for it to come from the highest civic pulpit in the country?
Gary Miller is fond of talking up our impending doom from economic causes. Clearly there is competition on the moral front.
Humor and serious consideration of the issues are not mutually exclusive. A lot of the smartest political commentary throughout history has been funny.
As to dignity, I think there is more of it in smart satire than in insincere gravitas.
Humor and serious consideration of the issues are not mutually exclusive. A lot of the smartest political commentary throughout history has been funny.
True, although this is funny in an unintentional way, yet pretty cynical, too. I believe the term would be "too clever by half."
At age 26, Ms. Dunham apparently skipped two national elections before voting the first time. We can only hope that more of the Obama-minded take her example from 2004 and 2006.
Go back to Ole, Lena. He'll make you a lot happier than Barry.
2004 was good election to sit out.
It is kind of an appropriate metaphor, when you think about it: voting as choosing who you are going to get [deleted out of respect for the house] by.
Mark,
you must think that a lot of people made the wrong decision when they voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 after he said this:
“I know what it’s like to pull the Republican lever for the first time, because I used to be a Democrat myself, and I can tell you it only hurts for a minute and then it feels just great.”
Picklesworth, did dignity leave the building that night too?
Give it a rest. If you aren't in the market for slacks, that was funny. And so was Reagan's line in 1980.
Regards,
Dick
Rich/Dick,
Seriously? Did you even read my post? I didn't express disapproval of the ad -- I mocked it a little and pointed out that my first presidential vote was given more as a "none of the above" vote than anything else. Some young people take their vote seriously, some don't. And I'm well aware that a lot of people seriously think that Obama is a better choice. I just happen to disagree with them.
Here, in case it wasn't clear, try reading this part again:
There is likely a demographic this particular message is aimed at and I'm certain that I'm not in it, so there's no point in being outrageously outraged about it. And there's not much point in decrying sexual innuendo in a world where it's ubiquitous.
I am quite well aware that some of my conservative brethren, including my good friend Picklesworth, find this sort of thing objectionable on moral grounds. But if you're going to score me for my prudery, you might want to make sure I'm actually engaging in it first.
In re the Reagan quote, I'm glad you're still getting the emails from HQ or wherever, because I saw the same quote about a half-dozen times on my Facebook feed today. Nice rapid response! ;) As for the subject matter of the Reagan quote -- it could be a sexual response, or it could be a drug reference, or it could be a reference to getting an inoculation. Or maybe something else. Reagan was capable of something beyond a double entendre, apparently.
Brian,
Appreciate the [deleted out of respect for the house], good sir.
Dick,
You seem eager to assume hypocrisy. I'll leave it up to you as to why that might be so.
Was what Reagan said undignified? Yes, I believe it was. Candidates for the highest office in this country should demonstrate with their public words a dignity that honors their prospective office and the citizens they desire to serve. In his remark he did not do that. I am grateful that he did not compound his offense by making a commercial out of it.
Mark,
I was addressing this section of your post:
"It would be nice to imagine that we all take citizenship seriously and soberly study the issues, but it's just not so....In the end, you have to hope that people think things through and make the right decision."
Are you or are you not bemoaning what you perceive as degradation of standards in the discourse surrounding Presidential elections? Did you find this too vulgar? Or, could you not resist a chance to parrot your friends in the right-wing echo chamber? Even when you think it a non-story? I read your post several times, and still can't figure out what your point is, or if you had one. Was everything before: In the end... just an elaborate setup?
Also, pretty funny that you would tag me with mouthing Dem talking points in a post that is nothing but a regurgitation of latest GOP talking point. One that you don't even seem to agree with...Don't ya think?
Lastly, regarding your interpretation of the Reagan quote, if you think that was a veiled reference to drug use or an inoculation, we need to have a talk about the birds and the bees, and innuendo, and inoculations;)
Picklesworth, I suggest reading a little history. The political discourse in Presidential elections has had a sordid tinge since Jefferson and Adams. Anyone who pretends otherwise should be mocked. If you read hypocrisy into that as well, I guess I can understand that.
Regards,
Dick
Dick,
Your first point was, "Ha, your own guy said the same thing. You guys hypocrites."
Now your point is, "Ha, you dummie, politics have always been mean so you can't talk about dignity."
Along with the every present, "You are partisan hacks. I am not."
Your first point is a flop.
Your second point doesn't follow, even to the extent that it's true. The idea of presidential dignity in public speech (particularly something widely disseminated like an advertisement) is ridiculous because there have been unspecified public sordidness before? Like what? And since when has a lack of perfection invalidated a principle to be striven for? Such an attitude is akin to giving your kids booze and condoms because, hey, they're not gonna be perfect.
As for point number three, you accuse Mark of making partisan talking points (when he rather clearly didn't do so) while instead plopping out the Reagan quote. Pot and kettle and all that.
I happen to think presidential dignity is important. I'm less inclined than most to say, "Well, this is just what happens these days." We certainly can't fix the whole society by wishing it so, but I think it's reasonable to demand dignity from the limited number of people who aspire to lead us. The lack of such dignity might not be the only consideration for their fitness, but it should certainly be an important one.
Dick,
Okay, let's take these one at a time.
Are you or are you not bemoaning what you perceive as degradation of standards in the discourse surrounding Presidential elections?
Nope, I'm mocking the desperation of the Obama campaign and its apparent need to find yet another way to find the increasingly evanescent youth vote.
Did you find this too vulgar?
Nope. I found it pathetic.
Or, could you not resist a chance to parrot your friends in the right-wing echo chamber? Even when you think it a non-story?
Nope. As I mentioned before, I thought it worth mentioning because it gave me a chance to make two points.
a) That Obama is desperate; and
b) As a chance to explain why young people often make electoral choices for frivolous reasons, including my own life experience as a relevant example. There's no point in being outraged about the follies of youth. It's part of the package.
I read your post several times, and still can't figure out what your point is, or if you had one.
This has been obvious from the get-go, good sir. ;)
Was everything before: In the end... just an elaborate setup?
No, it was a blog post on a discrete event in a long campaign. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Meanwhile, I think Picklesworth covered the rest of it pretty well.
Our pal Mitch Berg has put together a series of laws which are aptly titled "Berg's Laws."
As we're seeing in this comment section (specifically retorts from parody commenter Dick), Berg's seventh law is, once again, proven irrefutable:
When a Liberal issues a group defamation or assault on conservatives’ ethics, character or respect for liberty or the truth, they are at best projecting, and at worst drawing attention away from their own misdeeds.
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