My thoughts: If this is the best the RNC can do, Obama should have nothing to worry about. The Obama slow-jam video has gone viral, and seems pretty popular. This ad is nothing more than interspersing bits of this popular, viral video (in which Obama is not shown saying anything controversial, dumb, juicy or flame-worthy) with a very wooden Romney speech.
And the final hashtag #notfunny? Is that supposed to be directed at Obama? Or Rommey? Because the Obama thing was pretty funny. Romney, on the other hand, is indeed not funny in this video.
That ad is aimed towards old white people that have zero interest in late night comedy and don’t like the President already. That’s purely aimed at their base.
This, on the other hand, is a bit more effective. American Crossroads is apparently the new RNC.
But LOUNE, the RNC’s ad is not even a very interesting, motivating, inspiring or effective ad when viewed through the horned-rimmed bi-focal lenses of their base, IMO.
Not only did they not catch Obama saying anything bad, they also managed to catch him saying some things that are good. It’d be one thing if it were just him saying “Oh yeah” and the like, but do you really want to run ads where your opponent says that we shouldn’t be making it harder to afford a college education? The contrast it sets up is that Romney wants those few people who are successful to be congratulated, while Obama wants everyone to be successful.
Well, the RNC set a pretty low bar so the American Crossroads ad would almost have to be more effective. It’s certainly more effective at conveying its message, and probably works on those inclined to see the President’s leadership as having been ineffective, but I gotta think it’s perilous for Romney and surrogates to draw too much attention to Obama’s hipness. I think it’s a losing proposition each time they contrast any GOP pol against the POTUS (much less the Mittron 2012).
Fair enough [ETA: This is directed at John Mace]. But it still sucks balls, even from a “it’s just one ad and the campaign isn’t even in full operation yet” perspective. It sucks major balls. Without the accompanying story or tag at the end, I’d be hard pressed to even figure out who it was an ad for. I mean, they actually had professionals work on this?
I expect better from the RNC. Like something the Crossroads PAC did. This sort of crap will not lure anyone away *from *Obama, or lure anyone *to *Romney. It’s bush league, with a lowercase b.
It’s also perilous to draw attention to rising student loan debt when the Republican party is right this moment trying to increase it further, though I suppose that might pay off with low-information voters. Then again, the target of that statement has to be recent college graduates, and how many of them are low-information?
So the video is trying to contrast Obama goofing off with the stern, serious Mitt addressing serious problems. Not bad on a visceral level. I have to say, I’m a little tired of Obama’s appearances in pop culture settings. Not sure what else to call it. Obama singing and coming on talk shows and giving preachy type speeches with that little smile he does. I like me some Obama but the media is casting him as an entertainer too often.
If you listen to the words, you will hear Mitt say, “and we will get it right this time.” That tells me all I need to know. They (Republicans) haven’t gotten it right in the past but this time they will. If Mitt can tell me the things the Republicans, in addition to the Democrats, did wrong in the past that he will correct, he might just earn my vote.
It’s, like Romney’s speech, was the kickoff of the general election. It’s a perfectly good ad for that tone, I think, although, I think it’s a little lame, too.
Lame and dull is what Mittuns has to sell, its his brand, and his shield. Sure, Mormons are kinda weird, but they don’t smoke, drink, or fuck while smiling.
Gotta disagree. It’s a horrible ad for a kick-off. It incorporates a piece of pop-culture fluff that will be largely forgotten in a month, and it incorporates it unsuccessfully. This was a weak attempt to use something that is making headlines right now against the president. Obama’s message in this ad is not even controversial or attack-worthy. And Romney’s speech isn’t even especially rousing. If I was running the RNC’s ad program, I’d want something with a little more heft, gravitas, weight or whatever for my kick-off ad on Romney. Hell, they couldn’t even find footage of Romney without the CNN scroll under him?
Maybe its just me but the only thing I get out of that ad is “Look how black Obama is!”. It might bring in the racist vote but Romney’s getting that anyway. Otherwise it looks like a flop.
Should be covered under fair use. Fallon’s company could probably file a claim, youtube would automatically pull the video if a certain percentage of it matches proprietary material and then the channel owners that uploaded it would have to appeal to youtube. Except if Romney gets elected then Fallon’s channel owners will probably have their taxes scrutinised closely.