Obamapalooza

I got this off Eszter's post at Crooked Timber.



The thread goes on and on about how the video is schmaltzy and won't change people's minds, and I have to agree, for the most part. I doubt that a hard-core Hillary supporter would switch sides over celebrity endorsements. If that is the intention of the producer of the video, then they are a bit deceived.

An election advertisement, however, is only partly about changing minds. It's also about firing-up the troops, getting indifferent voters to go to the polls, and creating a general zeitgeist for the candidate. The video succeeds splendidly in this way. One commenter said that "[t]he video shows that there is music in Obama’s words". Another noted that, in the midst of campaigns built on fear and jingoism, "the schmaltz is very much part of its appeal."

"Movement music" is hardly subtle, and rarely presents new (or even good) arguments. It aims at a more basic center that wants emotional reinforcement of one's convictions. Play this video at an Obama rally and you'll see the young volunteers hugging and holding back tears, echoing the slogan, ready to give their all for the rest of the campaign. Play it to a marginally interested adolescent, generally drawn to Obama's image but unconvinced of what to do about it, and she'll be likely to volunteer a few hours, or days, to the cause. Play it on the news, even if only for a few seconds, and it will give the impression of a broad, hip movement.

And the choice of stars doesn't alienate anyone. CSI Miami? Gray's Anatomy? They're not parading West Wing veterans in front of the camera. Many grandparents won't know who these people are, many parents will recognize folks from popular and inocuous shows, the kids will see folks whose politics they know and probably share. These are people who haven't been outrageously "political" (no Streissand, Robbins, or Sarandon). The alienation factor is very low (with the possible exception of a mostly gratuitous—though not unwelcome—Johanssen, but only because she doesn't seem to do anything in the piece).

¶ Hell, I want to cross the border and go canvassing.

Well, a rollin' campaign gives you a damn good feeling, probably more so for the young folks going door-to-door than for the candidates or the high-ranking staffers. The video captures these high spirits, and targets them at an already well-disposed demographic. I suspect it is more a tool of retention and renewal than of actual vote-getting. And I suspect that, as such, it will be successful.