I fired it up in my computer, because I knew I wanted to blog about it. I was in tears at 0:20, when the voices started and experienced chills seconds later. It's that song. My God! Let us be lovers, we’ll marry our fortunes together....
The NYT has a little article about the ad:
An exploding grid of thousands of faces — digital photographs submitted by people who made online donations to Mr. Sanders — accompanies the song’s chorus: “They’ve all come to look for America.” Only in the last seconds of the commercial, as the candidate smiles delightedly from behind a microphone, is his unmistakable voice-over heard, approving the ad....Uh... yeah.
Children and young adults are the main focus, all of them with much to look forward to; the ad’s tagline promises them “a future to believe in.” (Still, older women — possibly the strongest demographic of his chief rival, Hillary Clinton — might well be moved by the music of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, both 74, the same age as Mr. Sanders.)
ADDED: This post originally pinned the tears point for me at 0:25, but when I read Surfed in the comments — "It had me at 20 seconds... Best campaign ad of the election so far. I'm old and sentimental - mea culpa." — I suspected that I'd looked at the time a few seconds after it affected me. I was right about that, and I've corrected the post. 0:20 it is.
AND: It's the best political video ad I've ever seen, save one. The one is this:
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242 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 242 of 242I find it odd that Berno rarely gets called on pointing to Northern European socialism when its funded largely by their oil industries...including much derided offshore drilling.
This is an official government of Norway page:
https://www.regjeringen.no/en/...
"Petroleum activities have contributed significantly to economic growth in Norway, and to the financing of the Norwegian welfare state. Through over 40 years of operations, the industry has created values in excess of NOK 12 000 billion in current terms. In 2012, the petroleum sector accounted for 23 percent of value creation in the country. This is more than twice the value creation of the manufacturing industry and around 15 times the total value creation of the primary industries."
"Donald Trump is a menace to American conservatism who would take the work of generations and trample it underfoot on behalf of a populism as heedless and crude as The Donald himself,” reads an editorial accompanying the essays in the issue, according to the newspaper.
The issue will include essays from 22 prominent conservative voices, according to CNN.
Rich Lowry, the editor of the conservative magazine who reached out to authors for the issue, has publicly sparred with Trump, including back in September when he suggested Republican presidential rival Carly Fiorina rhetorically castrated the outspoken businessman in a debate."
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/266656-conservatives-plan-anti-trump-manifesto
Whoops..link didn't make it:
Norway’s oil history in 5 minutes
WHAT CURIOUS GEORGE SAID: They've all come to look for America. And found Leningrad.
Ridiculous. This is about who is going to control the State - or to ceaselessly threaten people with violence. There is not one thing sweet about it. All smiley in the running, but give these people power and all they want to do is pick my pocket. Plus, they have awful ideas. Tom Woods has a free ebook "Bernie Sanders is wrong" which covers the field. Link for free pdf download here: http://tomwoods.com/d/bernie.pdf. Kindle and epub are also available.
Amanda, the Scandinavian countries are running on fumes, after having squandered the wealth and productivity that existed before the 1930s when they started down the path of rewarding low productivity. Sweden used to be the fourth wealthiest country on the planet. Now it is also-ran. They and other countries nearby are moving away from what you claim is so good, though it is doubtful they will survive. Also, if you said that Malmo is the rape capital of the world now, you'd be wrong. It's Stockholm.
Can't wait for the Hillary ad with Gold Dust Woman playing
The Hillary ad will quote Bernie saying American people are tired of hearing about her damn e-mails.
If the Democrats were half as good at managing the country and the economy as they are at making propaganda they would be worth voting for.
Something is fishy with the "Drudge Super Poll". Was something like Trump 280k, Sanders 20k. Now Trump 310k, Sanders 230k.
Amanda said...So, WHO are those 22 conservatives who are putting out that public denouncement of Trump tomorrow?
Somehow, NRO got hold of my email address. Every morning, they they send me updates. I'm going to finally block them tomorrow. WFB's legacy can rot in hell.
Either human life has intrinsic value or it doesn't. Both Obama and Sanders are defending a false choice. Ulterior motives only serve to sponsor progressive corruption.
And class diversity, gender chauvinism, and constructed congruences serve to denigrate individual dignity, sabotage human relationships, and nurture tribal prejudice.
Both Sanders and Obama are playing games that are setting civilization back several hundred years.
Amanda: For those that might be a bit dense, the "idea" expressed in this ad is to get you thinking about what kind of America you want. One in which our country was founded on which are inclusion and equal opportunity for all or the opposite.
The problem with that is that I already know how socialism works when you aren't surrounded by capitalists buying your natural resource exports, and I already know what the price tag for Bernie's proposals would come to. tl;dr there's not a single thing about that ad that comes from what Bernie's peddling. If you wish to be deluded, feel free, but I'm not joining you.
How are you crying because you are hearing a simon and Garfunkel song on a commercial? First off, Bernie sanders is not harking back to an America that existed with his nostalgia trip. Second it's simon and Garfunkel. How is a grown women getting weepy eyed over a commercial?
Oh my god Hillary Just came out with a commercial that has Chad and Jeremy singing the summer song song. Im going to cry! And vote for Hillary.
on behalf of a populism as heedless and crude as The Donald himself,
Good old Rich Lowery would be right at home in the court of Marie Antoinette.
Populism means "support for the concerns of ordinary people". You know, the ones that are supposed to have the power in our system of government, but no longer do. The ones that government is supposed to serve and protect. The movement that is supporting Trump and Sanders is doing so precisely because of this dismissive attitude among the Washington Establishment.
If the wave of populism is heedless and crude, it is only because it has been ignored for so long, instead of listened to and led.
It's a powerful song. Just the other day, I was asked who my favorite musician was. And unlike cinema (Casablanca!), I had no idea. I hadn't thought about it. But the name that popped out (and I explained on a different day, it would probably be a different name) was Paul Simon.
I've been listening to Rhythm of the Saints in my car, over and over, liking it more and more, particularly the early tracks and a couple near the end. Incredibly strong stuff. What a powerful musician.
What is so striking about Simon and Garfunkel are the harmonies. The musical arrangements, not so much. Maybe Simon went solo because he wanted to grow and change as a musician.
Anyway, what's striking about this commercial is that Bernie Sanders says nothing. Absolutely nothing. What he's attempting to do with this commercial is express his love for his country. So what he's doing is appropriating this song, claiming it as his song. "I"m Bernie Sanders and I approve this message." Of course that's required by campaign law. But it also struck me as a little obnoxious. Imagine a Paul Simon concert, and at the end of it Bernie Sanders walks out on the stage. "I'm Bernie Sanders and I approve this message."
I think Paul Simon corrupted himself a bit, by giving this song to Bernie Sanders and allowing him to claim it. He probably likes Bernie Sanders (and has a hostility to the corrupt Hillary Clinton). And of course isn't allowed (or doesn't allow himself) to vote Republican. So Bernie is the only option. And Bernie wants to express his love of his country, and the people in it.
But what's also striking is how Bernie himself is not like this at all. He is so different from a Paul Simon song, from the gentleness of it, from the love and curiosity. Bernie is anger. When you hear him speak or yell or spit, you won't be thinking of this song anymore. He's trying to package himself as a lover. I am pretty certain some consultants have told him he needs to do this. And get a haircut!
The other thing that strikes me is how Paul Simon, a beautiful spirit, can be so damn oblivious to the reality of socialism. 93 million dead, I want to tell him. It's wonderful to be loving and kind and nice and sweet, but you also have to be honest, Paul. And if you can't be honest about the horrors of socialism, and an out-of-control, angry leader, then you ought to stay out of politics altogether.
I might be maligning Paul Simon here. I don't actually know who now holds the rights to the song, or who decided to give it to Bernie Sanders.
It's kind of fascinating that whoever this person is, they also gave (or more likely sold!) the song to American Express.
So Bernie Sanders and American Express. Socialism and Capitalism. It's a nice song, but now when I hear the song, I think money, money, money!
Was that Obama speech one of the ones he plagiarized from Deval Patrick, or was that Favreau's overwrought rhetoric? Yes We Can- that was just before You Didn't Build That...
This one's for you, Althouse; it's apropos, not to mention timely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OLaNFHO6Q8
^ Before my time (in real time, anyway) but absolutely within your earliest childhood time.
Looking back, isn't everyone a little girl or a little boy at 14 or 15?
...
"If you want to see what modern socialism looks like try visiting some European nations, start in Scandinavia. Highest happiness quotient in the world."
I wonder if living in a culturally homogeneous society with similar, ingrained social values, strong work ethic and identical mores had anything to do with the Swedish happiness quotient or which social benefits could be realistically offered. I wonder if that happiness quotient is changing now that Sweden's 15% immigrant population is soaking up 60% of the social benefits, forcing major cuts in general welfare benefits and changing the cultural cohension. But mainly, I wonder if the economic system under which Swedes live makes them significantly happier than expat-Swedes living under a slightly different system in rural Wisconsin? Or, would you think Swedish-Americans living in Wisconsin would always have a higher happiness quotient than many other expat cultural groups living in Wisconsin who have different values, ethics and mores? Yeah, me too.
jaydub:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU2CKQQr90E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=541HKD8alfg
If that is what eastern elitists consider an effective ad, we are doomed. It was sappy and cultish.
A mini "Triumph of the Will"
Dumbasses will believe anything if it's packaged right.
"Ann, I'm guessing you own cats."
I had a cat and then another cat back in the 70s/80s. Both presented me with serious problems, which is bad enough luck that I blame myself and would never attempt another cat. I've gone almost 30 years without a pet since my troubles with the second cat. The choice of cat over dog was for simplicity and ease, but the easiest, simplest thing is not to have a pet at all. Meade does borrow a dog quite often, so there's a dog, a Labrador, here much of the time. Meade would never want a cat in the house. If we had a pet, it would definitely be a dog, probably 2 dogs, if I understand Meade's thinking properly.
Midwestern girl though I am, Cranky Elderly New York Jew is generally a Type that I like. But I got nothin for Bernie. Some of his ideas may resonate in the realm of hopeful idealism, but I see no leadership capability in this man.
The song is ridiculous in this usage, it doesn't fit the campaign, the video is a poor Hallmark moment & a half.
Yes, we must vote for the elite billionaire bully to make Amurica great again!!
The American Bernie's looking for appears to be awfully white.
The two ads you show demonstrate to me why democrats (hopefully not Hillary) will win: people want to believe in something better for themselves. In unity, in hope; whatever. They want to believe they're moving ahead (I almost wrote forward, but that's politically charged). All the anger, blaming etc (in fairness on both sides) in my mind doesn't get people to vote in the general election.
200 comments is just too much to wade through, but I am wondering if anyone picked up on this ad's fatal flaw: too many white people!
J. Farmer said... 200 comments is just too much to wade through, but I am wondering if anyone picked up on this ad's fatal flaw: too many white people!
This kind of thinking is right up there with the #oscarstoowhite caterwauling. This kind if thinking is one reason that Trump continues to surge. Please people, stop such "affirmative" actions and start acting affirmatively.
machine said...Yes, we must vote for the elite billionaire bully to make Amurica great again!!
Alls I hear is that American greatness threatens you, as it does your POTUS.
Here is the original version approved by Bernie prior to review by outside consultants.
https://vimeo.com/152638496
Amanda: "Donald Trump is a menace to American conservatism who would take the work of generations and trample it underfoot on behalf of a populism as heedless and crude as The Donald himself,” reads an editorial accompanying the essays in the issue, according to the newspaper.
Amanda's strange new respect for panicked neo-cons, GOPe apparatchiks, and crazy Mormons in fabulous furs.
But maybe this is God's way of getting her to read Thomas Sowell.
This is a deeply embarrassing post. A video with absolutely no content sways you?
I like this version better https://vimeo.com/152638496
Best campaign ad of the election so far.
Yes, a really good ad. No doubt about it.
The Sanders phenomenon reminds me of the McGovern and McCarthy phenomena of the sixties and seventies. They both generated a bunch of enthusiasm during their primaries but they both proved to be hothouse flowers that wilted when they ventured outside their natural constituency. Pretty soon this cycle’s campaign is going to have to move into less progressive territory where Sanders will meet his first real tests.
I believe a significant portion of Sander’s rise is more of a function of Hillary’s weakness as a campaigner than of Sanders’s strength.
>Fabi said...
Bernie already has the white middle class excited? I think I'd try: nervous, baffled, terrified, flummoxed, etc. Excited? Not so much.
I think he has the white upper middle class excited as well as their kids. I live in a real stereotypical upper middle class neighborhood. I love when I see BMWs and Lexuses (Lexi?) with "Bernie" stickers on them.
Part of his appeal is to the upper middle class that looks up at the wealthy and feels angry they are not that wealthy. And given changes in the US economy, the upper middle class is bigger and more coherent that it was in the past and has in a lot of ways become dynastic.
Not sure what you're getting at Anthony..other than that the grass is always greener.
50 years later, after delving into and dissecting the history of the 60s movement in America, I can honestly state that the entire Hippie movement was designed, promoted and executed so that goofy men like Art Garfunkel and short men like Paul Simon could get reasonably attractive, but gullible women into bed.
Nothing more. Yes, it was that superficial.
"Twice"? What makes you think that?
Meade, short of an automatic disclaimer at the beginning of each post and maybe not even then, the misconceptions will continue. Most will believe she voted for all Democrats, some will think she voted for all Republicans. I think it is mainly due to the intentional ambiguity, in regards to her personal political views, of most of her posts. And I would not change that.
Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon, and Bernie Sanders are all 74 years old.
>walter said...
Not sure what you're getting at Anthony..other than that the grass is always greener.
That is part of it. But I think due to the growth of the upper middle class, they and their kids have expectations for a certain style of life. And Sanders promises that. The upper middle class does not think of itself as rich so they figure it will be the rich who will get screwed, not them.
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