Originally Posted By DlandDug ...to start the self destruction before anyone else. Seems that YouTube has a mystery on it hands: Who produced the high budget anti-Hillary spot that is linked to this AOL news item: <a href="http://newsbloggers.aol.com/2007/03/19/the-gloves-have-come-off/" target="_blank">http://newsbloggers.aol.com/20 07/03/19/the-gloves-have-come-off/</a> Shades of Apple's famous anti-IBM spot! There's also a follow-up from a Hillary supporter. Meanwhile, both camps deny knowledge of the origin of the spots.
Originally Posted By jonvn Um, someone did that with a video editing program. It cost I'd say $0 to do. Anyone with an imagination can make some pretty amazing stuff. Have you seen this? <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD4OnHCRd_4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =vD4OnHCRd_4</a> I don't think they really got Leo to do that....
Originally Posted By ecdc It's a stupid ad, no question. But I have to chuckle at the thought that it's Democrats self-destructing. Bush's administration has Iraq, Katrina, Scooter, Walter Reed, Halliburton profits, and some would argue the failure to protect us from 9/11, all happening on his watch. The mid-term elections, in this highly gerrymandered world, were a spanking, and Bush's ratings are approaching Nixon-like levels. Only the kind of single-minded, blind loyalty of Republicans could account for him not being labeled as "self-destructing" (hey, he prays to Jesus and wears jeans while he works on his ranch - he can't be all bad!). But one cheaply produced ad against Hillary and Dems are "self-destructing". The minds of Republicans...
Originally Posted By DlandDug Uh, Bush isn't going to be running for anything. The point is that Democrats have traditionally run fairly brutal primary campaigns.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>The point is that Democrats have traditionally run fairly brutal primary campaigns.<< I must've missed that with the whole "democrats are self-destructing" thing. I certainly wouldn't call brutal primary campaigns and self-destructing the same thing.
Originally Posted By DlandDug I apologize for making my initial post too obtuse. Even my beloved DlandJB was puzzled over what I was driving at. She suggests I start employing emoticons. (Emoticons: the Hello Kitty stickers of cyberspace.) A related news story appeared in today's LA Times. The FEC has determined that internet postings like these constitute free speech, and are therefore not subject to campaign rules. Basically, as long as a candidate is not buying the spots, anything goes. This could be a huge loophole as campaigns figure this out and use it to the hilt.
Originally Posted By DlandJB Thanks for the clarification! There is nothing really that indicates that the campaigns themselves were behind this or the rebuttal videos. We can expect a good deal of this in the new frontier of internet campaigning. My guess is that they were done by independents. This area is certainly ripe for exploitation and I imagine legislation will be forthcoming just as it is for the television and radio airwaves. But good luck enforcing it on the internet.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 If people aren't familiar with this, it's a parody/ripoff of the famous Apple "1984" ad, with Hillary replacing Big Brother on the big video screen. It ends with the graphic "barackobama.com." Obama denies they're behind it, and that's probably true. It's obviously anti-Hillary, and might even be trying to make Hillary supporters mad at Obama as well. The thing is, no one really knows WHO made or initially posted this video. Yet it went viral very rapidly, with hundreds of thousands of people seeing it, and who knows how high a percentage of those viewers thinking it WAS Obama's camp who put it out. It's a fascinating and potentially disturbing trend, which we'll certainly see more of. Someone fiendishly clever, from either party, could certainly put it to bad use. It could be the video equivalent of the GOP dirty trick from 2004 of mailing out flyers in black neighborhoods saying "Remember to vote for Kerry and support gay marriage." Now, of course, Kerry did NOT support gay marriage, which also has fairly low support among black voters, most of whom often vote Democrat. So this LOOKED like a flyer from Kerry, but with a message that might make x-number of people vote against him or not vote at all. Again, ANY campaign of either party could do the video equivalent here. And unfortunately, by the time the real source is named, it may be after the election in question. These things can go viral in a heartbeat. It's something to watch.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/21/clinton.you.tube/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITI CS/03/21/clinton.you.tube/index.html</a> So it turns out that some attention starved pinhead is responsible for the video. And he promises there will be more like him. Neato.
Originally Posted By DlandJB What seems clear to me is that we need to be ever more discriminating in what we accept as fact just because we see it on line or on television. There will be much mischief in the next presidential election and not all of it will come from the two camps. We have got to take a step back and say "Did they really do that?" and instead rushing in because you want to "prove" that the other guy did something outrageous. We see democrats and republicans vilified and dehumanized every day (and these boards are classic for it. It doesn't make for good leadership. Not all Republicans are fire spouting Nazis and not all Democrats are baby killing socialists. But if it becomes about tearing eachother down rather than - what do we agree on and how can we compromise to get things done so that each side gets a piece of a win, I fear we are really dooming the precepts of our democracy. Don't be party puppets. Both sides have their good and bad moments/people/ ideas. This is what bugs me the most about drive by cut and paste posting from outside sources. It is simply designed to provoke. It doesn't open a dialoge - only gets everyone's back up. It is not only counter productive/it is often destructive and self-centered. We have a heck of a political season ahead of us.
Originally Posted By DlandDug This story just got stranger. So a guy who worked for the company that is running Obama's internet campaign created this ad. He claims, "I made the ad on a Sunday afternoon in my apartment using my personal equipment (a Mac and some software), uploaded it to YouTube, and sent links around to blogs." He then quit his job, or was fired, and the company, as well as the Obama campaign, immediately distanced themselves from the whole thing. Funniest quote from the article: "Obama told CNN's 'Larry King Live' on Monday the video was something they didn't 'have the technical capacity to create.'" The FEC better get on the stick and come up with some way to regulate this stuff. As soon as candidates figure this out, there will be a lot of this going on. And it won't just be "grass roots supporters" doing this on a Sunday afternoon.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>The FEC better get on the stick and come up with some way to regulate this stuff.<< I don't think there's any way it can be done. It's free speech. This is why "You" won Time's Person of the Year.
Originally Posted By CrouchingTigger >>"I made the ad on a Sunday afternoon in my apartment using my personal equipment (a Mac and some software), uploaded it to YouTube, and sent links around to blogs." << Ha! I knew it - a Mac user. You can never trust those Mac-fanboys.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>Ryan O'Neal: You are me?? Kenneth Mars: No, I am you!<< I may not know everything about global warming or US Attorneys, but I sure know my "What's Up Doc" references. You missed it by that much. The actual exchange, between Ryan O'Neal as Howard Bannister, Liam Dunn as Judge Maxwell, and Kenneth Mars as Hugh Simon: Howard: It gets kind of complicated now. First, there was this trouble between me and Hugh. Judge Maxwell: You and me? Howard: No, not you. Hugh. Hugh: I am Hugh. Judge Maxwell: You are me? Hugh: No, I am Hugh. Judge Maxwell: Stop saying that! [to bayliff] Judge Maxwell: Make him stop saying that! Hugh: Don't touch me, I'm a doctor. Judge Maxwell: Of what? Hugh: Music. Judge Maxwell: Can you fix a hi-fi? Hugh: No, sir. Judge Maxwell: Then shut up! <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069495/quotes" target="_blank">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt00 69495/quotes</a>
