The Nader Factor gets harsh in its second ad

Posted by Luke Francl
June 04, 2004

The Nader Factor has released its second testimonial ad, this time by 2000 Nader supporter Jay Hardin. The last ad, featuring Bob Schick, was pretty mellow, but Hardin harshes on Nader big time:

Four years ago I supported Ralph Nader because he was talking about issues I care about. It was a mistake. My support for Nader actually helped George Bush and now Bush and his cronies have put everything I believe in at risk. There's more pollution, jobs are going overseas and we're in a war based on lies and incompetence. Because of what's happened on the issues I care about, I made a mistake supporting Ralph Nader.

I think this puts the lie to The Nader Factor's claim to unite "progressive democrats and Nader supporters". Mainly, they want to trash Ralph Nader. You know, I don't really have a problem with that.

Watch Jay Hardin (WMV).

P.S.: For something in the same vein, except extremely funny, check out The Daily Show's Spoiler Alert.

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Kerry Ad Watch

Posted by Luke Francl
June 04, 2004

Did you know the Republican Party has a Kerry Ad Watch to "fact check" Kerry's ads? Well, now you do.

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Kerry says "health care ought to be a right" in "Country"

Posted by Luke Francl
June 04, 2004

Kerry hits hard on one of the core Democratic issues in his new ad, "Country". "Health care," he says, "ought to be a right." Kerry's rhetoric somewhat echos that of Howard Dean's during the primaries when he says, "In the richest country on the face of the planet, no American ought to be struggling to be able to have health care."

This is a fine ad. I hope it doesn't take away from Kerry's national security focus. The ad is running in 14 states in rotation with "Optimists".

Aside: Bite me, FactCheck.

Here's what the crack team at FactCheck.org have to say about this ad:

Kerry went too far, however, when he said "How are you going to have health care? Forty-three million Americans don't have it." Even those who lack health insurance still have access to health care in hospital emergency rooms and clinics.

Talk about a nitpick! And it's wrong to boot. "Health care" is synonymous with "health insurance" because emergency care is not enough. Furthermore, the terms are interchangeable in common usage.

Watch "Country".

Read below for the transcript.

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Repubican Survivor premiers

Posted by Luke Francl
June 04, 2004

The first episode of Republican Survivor premiered yesterday (you'll need to sign in with an email address to watch).

In this episode, the Republicans are divided into two teams -- Bush, Cheney, and Harris versus Coulter, DeLay, and Ashcroft -- and have to compete at capture the flag.

Voting results will be announced on Monday. As DTripTV says, "It's never been so easy to get rid of a Republican!"

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Amurka music video

Posted by Luke Francl
June 04, 2004

A reader writes in to tell us about the Dutch "Amurka" music video/Bush parody (It's called "Amuka" because Bush can't pronounce "America.").

It's a 3:30 minute video clip that is a parody on George W. Bush presidency and his urge to be re-elected. The project is called "Amurka", because Bush doesn't say "America". Yesterday I saw this clip on Dutch TV with a short interview with one of the Dutch makers of this clip and he says that he wants to acomplish that Americans vote on Nov. 2. and don't vote for Bush's second term as president of the USA.

The music video is amusing and a little weird. It's a combination of computer animation and stop-motion animation of a Bush doll (reminicent of GoGoGolem's "George W. Bush's Accomplishments in 30 Seconds"). Anyway, it's worth 3 minutes of your time.

Watch "Amurka - Make No Mistake (Quicktime).

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Slate reviews some grassroots ads

Posted by Luke Francl
June 03, 2004

Campaign Desk's Brian Montopoli takes a look at internet grassroots ads for Slate.

It's hard to imagine how these homegrown efforts could have much of an effect on the election's outcome. But some commentators have argued that this contest will depend more upon energizing the base than persuading the wishy-washy. If that's the case, homemade ads may have their part to play: They provide a (not always healthy) forum in which creator and viewer can luxuriate in their mutual hatred of a particular candidate. And when you're preaching to the converted, you only need to remind them that they're right.

While homemade political ads may have existed in 2000, the 2004 election is seeing them flower in amazing ways (we have a whole section for them). The convergence of wide-spread broadband internet accesses, easy to use video capture and editing software, and blogs has led to a large number of original and parody political advertisements.

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Political use of online ads expanding

Posted by Luke Francl
June 01, 2004

Via PoliticalWire, BizReport, uh, reports on the expanding use of online political advertising.

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