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:
1 – 200 of 242 Newer› Newest»Yes, let's tax all the wealth of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel -- 1%rs -- to pay for Bernie's delusions.
Where the colored people be?
I had the same reaction as AllenS.
Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?
It's a very well done ad for the voters that Sanders wants to reach. Things will get real interesting if he wins in Iowa and trounces HRC in New Hampshire.
No soldiers, almost no blacks, and definitely no Hispanics. Almost all the white guys wear glasses or hats. Vermont is not very representative of the US. I think Mayor of Simpleton would be a better song for Comrade Bernie
"Bernie I'm lost," I said
Though I knew he was sleeping.
The remnants of applesauce dripped from his chin.
Counting the chumps lining up for their Free Shit
They've all come
To look for Amerikkka!
The reality is that rat-bastard Bernie would like America to be Russia or Cuba: a communist shit-hole run by single party strongmen. Sanders is just another shitbag progressive who hates America and the majority of the people of this country, and wants to fundamentally transform it into some fantasy socialist paradise run by totalitarian democrat tyrants like Bernie and Obama and Hillary and Bloomberg and Soros... Fuck that commie phony!
Great song. I like "At the Zoo" more as a privileged white America loves Bernie ad. You're losing it, Ann
Effective?
That's a weird choice of tune with the illegal immigrant/migrant blowup.
But good grief..his whole schtick is spittled anger...none of it here.
I guess that's the point..when not listing injustices, he's a groovy guy with lots of followers..I mean friends.
Wow, that was sure corny. Loved the cows.
AllenS said...
Where the colored people be?
They're all happy American couples, so they have better things to do than go to political rallies.
Except maybe to take the stage from the wispy libtard.
The ad doesn't make any argument about Sanders, so it's not convincing on an intellectual level.
I was surprised to hear that song and very moved to hear it with those simple (cornball, actually) images in the beginning. The ad was effective in that it connected that deep feeling to the candidate.
They got it pretty good under Fidel...
coming to America..
Great job of connecting an old man to youth.
Loved all the bovinosity.
Boy carrying a calf. I go "aw."
I like that song. I like Yes' version too.
Althouse I'm revoking your voting privileges.
I used to listen to that song in my parents' living room when I was a kid, rocking in a chair while the stack of LPs dropped one by one. So many emotions, completely unrelated to Sanders, come loaded with that song. It's freakin' brilliant.
Repeal the 19th Amendment.
Great job of connecting an old man to youth.
Simon & Garfunkel are musicians from my parents' youth, and I'm 41 years old.
Loved all the bovinosity.
Smell the Bern.
Trump vs. Sanders. Sanders would be the devil we know.
It had me at 20 seconds... Best campaign ad of the election so far. I'm old and sentimental - mea culpa.
The ad reveals your Midwest/Rural bias Ann. It's interesting that there wasn't a single shot of NYC , Boston, or San Fran where I imagine a lot of his young supporters live. It makes sense that populist candidates like Bernie and Trump are trying their best to appeal to rural and rust belt voters- Bernie with his criticism of Wall Street, and Trump with his criticism of immigration and the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs. Suspicion of Wall Street and hatred of "NYC values" is always something that works in the primaries.
The economy is recovering, but only big cities are reaping the benefits: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/storyline/wp/2014/11/18/big-cities-are-dominating-the-economic-recovery-leaving-much-of-america-behind/ . I think support for Trump and Sanders has more to do with geography than anything else.
Simon and Garfunkel ain't gonna cut it in South Carolina.
Beautifully conceived and edited. Surely it's the best political commercial so far this presidential cycle.
Easy, stomach. Don't turn over!
Sorry. That ad made me want to puke.
Pure, generic, cornball sentiment.
You could put any candidate in that ad--Trump, Jeb!, Hillary!!, Cruz, Rubio, Christe, Kasich, Paul (Rand or Ron), Pataki, Lindsey Graham (!), Fiorina, Dole, McCain, Goldwater, Nixon, LBJ, Carter, George Wallace, Ross Perot, Dukakis, Norman Thomas, Lurch-- and it would work the same.
I used to love it when Reagan stood tall in the sun in front of those waving American flags.
I thought it was great, and an ad that Hillary could not have done.
Maybe HC could use Pink Floyd's Money as her background song and show lots of scenes of traders at Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan, before a powerful and emotional closing shot of Hillary starting one of her for-pay speeches at Goldman Sachs.
I was surprised to hear that song and very moved to hear it with those simple (cornball, actually) images in the beginning. The ad was effective in that it connected that deep feeling to the candidate.
Oh, blurg. It made me want to draft Kevin Spacey.
"Great job of connecting an old man to youth. "
I will simply echo that Simon & Garfunkel are not particularly young. The song is not particularly young, and neither you nor Meade are particularly young.
Well..guessing you have to be a fan of S&G and know the tune for it to connect..neither apply to me.
But this is the kind of piece where a snappy/sappy cammpaign phrase like Hope and change would help.
Instead..the only campaign phrase I associate with him sounds like a CDC warning.
Shouldn't Sanders be using this song in his commercials?
https://youtu.be/t8EMx7Y16Vo
They've all come to look for America. And found Leningrad.
I'm Bernie Sanders and I'm coming after your wallet, bcuz all my supporters want free stuff. Sells well in places like Madison, they're use to skimming 20% off the top then sending on to the rest of the state to get work done.
genius
It's old, but it's a good song. I despise that conservatives aren't permitted to use any good songs because the singers have a cow about being associated with HITLER OMG! So they use a song a few times, the performer has said cow, the pol apologizes and moves on to the next song he or she will have to apologize for.
That's the way to go, Bernie. Associate your 1974 Disney Theme Park America with your smiling face. The smile alone worked for B. Hussein Obama, the well spoken Black man.
I really wish we could ship our industrial base overseas, lose 7 million jobs and open up our borders to all poor people of the world including young Syrian Warriors and sing sweet songs of happy harmony under a bright sky in Vermont.
But the sooner we cling to bitter reality and act the sooner that Dream will actually happen.
EMD, Ann..
I think the more likely strategy here is to woo older Hil shills who wouldn't mind being connected to a "youth movement".
By the way, JFK would never have done an ad like that. He was way too cool. Bobby, yes. Jack, no.
Nice to know Sanders thinks private property, businesses and real estate are all ok.
Or do we have to nationalize those cows?
Nicely done. The ad gives us nostalgia for an idealized past that never happened and seems optimistic for a time in the future that will never happen, especially if Bernie Sanders policies are enacted. But, hey, we just elected Barack Obama twice so Bernie Sanders is not remotely out of the question anymore. If I was still a political adolescent, I would certainly vote for Bernie over Hillary. No question. The first presidential candidate I ever voted for was Ted Kennedy, versus Jimmy Carter in the 1979 Democratic Presidential Primary.
Ann
The Sixties are over.
They've been over 46 years.
The whole movement is based on the "society has left us behind, we don't understand why, but we're mad, so let's do something drastic" school of thought. Jobs are disappearing for many simply because we've become so productive that fewer jobs need to be filled. It sucks for many, but there's no easy solution--we can't turn back the clock (or if we tried to, that would suck worse), we can't insulate ourselves from foreign competition (and it wouldn't work anyway, since the issue has more to do with the modern world than some foreign force), and trying to engineer the economy with the government and create a larger and more dependent class is even worse in the long run.
But the anger is real, the pain is real, and Sanders looks ready to exploit it.
Meanwhile..at Bernie HQ..
walter said...
EMD, Ann..
I think the more likely strategy here is to woo older Hil shills who wouldn't mind being connected to a "youth movement".
This here. They're trying to reconnect with the demographic who might remember the magic of his runs for Governor, Senate, Mayor.
Cue the folk music.
Of course he could just use one of his own tracks..
Very very effective ad.
Nearly perfect political ad. Stirs the heart while leaving the mind utterly undisturbed. It says nothing about anything, so anyone can paint anything onto it. 2016's "Hope and Change".
This time we can elect George McGovern.
If Bernie becomes President, we'll all have to go to look for America, because it sure as $#!+ won't be here.
Bernie sys: "Yes We Can....Make America Great Again" (tm/tm)
"America" is a weird choice. It's a great song, but its heart is melancholy. The songs inspiration is all a facade. The song choice is somewhat like Reagan using "Born in the USA" as a patriotic tune when it very much is not.
I've also seen clever editors turn The Shining into the feelgood movie of the summer thanks to "Solisbury Hill," so my standards are somewhat high. It's certainly a competent commercial, but I've seen better efforts by amateurs on YouTube.
Socialist populism has always drawn big crowds in this country. It's also always gotten it's ass kicked when the voting actually starts. Barring a Great Depression, people in this country don't buy populism or socialism. Even then, FDR didn't run as a socialist or as a populist. Obama didn't either.
So, I hope Democrats buy the elixir Bernie is selling. They've lapped it up since at least Bryan in 1896, only to have their ass handed to them by the actual voters.
The '60s are over and have been for a long time. I welcome a contest between a Baby Boomer and a Gen X candidate. Bring it on.
Not exactly an appropriate soundtrack. "let us marry our fortunes together" is a voluntary act. Bernie wants to make it involuntary.
The 2016 contrast: Sanders be a saying good things. Trump be a doing good things.
Oh man, the dinosaurs are swooning. Lets all do a little more Baby Boomer damage before we go. If you want socialism, you specifically, and adamantly don't want America, but there are many places to go join the Borg - the huge cube of faces, all equally too small to see, drab, helpless and dependent. Please leave us individuals a home on this planet not ruined by guilt, fear, and sloth.
reminds me of 1976...........
Just drove home to the sound of "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright." Probably for the best they didn't use that Simon song.
Pretty compelling after all these years.
The oroboros left is already eating itself on this one.
By the way, I had lunch with a friend today who went to Cuba over the holidays this year. She is a red-diaper baby whose father was blacklisted from journalism in the 50s because he tried to organize a union run by the Commies at a newspaper. She said that her tour group--who were all lefties--all came back sobered by their first-hand experience with the workers' paradise. There was no there there--nothing to buy (except art), nothing to see, nothing to eat. Some good things, to be sure, like tuition-free college education, but then nothing to do with your education. She said there was music and art everywhere. Her tour guide was a law professor who did one or two guide gigs a year for the money. She made as much in tips for a week's work as she made in a year as a law professor. My friend said the food was terrible, and if you want good Cuban food, go to Miami.
Feel the Bern.
Hey remember American Prayer for your guy Obama. Musically it's top-rate.
Mus. crit: except for the chorus, it's all based on a fourth, which makes it float. The only musical mistake is repeating the chorus at the end, which puts it flat back on the tonic for too long.
It's also an estrogen festival.
Starting out the ad with hulking wind turbines ruined it from the beginning for me. I hate those things.
I am a Simon and Garfunkel fan from my youth. (Will be turning 63 soon). I find the ad predictably smarmy. It insults my intelligence.
surfed said... "It had me at 20 seconds... Best campaign ad of the election so far. I'm old and sentimental - mea culpa."
Yes, 20 seconds. That was the point for me too. I corrected the post. As soon as the voices begin and you see the couple dancing, and that's the setup for the first appearance of Bernie ... with people shaking Bernie signs.
I'm a little puzzled by the easy admission of feckless women voters. As if this wasn't a huge problem already.
Female thinking is great in neighborhood-sized regions, but not countries.
Specialize and trade.
For the last long time I have been wondering how Professor Althouse could have voted twice for President Obama. I have been reading "The Confidence Game" by Maria Konnikova. In the book, Konnikova describes the process of how all confidence games work (with scientific back-up, not just her opinion) and this explanation by Professor Althouse of her reaction to the ad fits EXACTLY into Konnikova's description of how a con works. The con (in this case an ad) triggers the emotions, which causes the "mark" to suspend disbelief and logic and to then be open to fall for the con.
What's the message, exactly? Bunches of Anglos finding "America" in Vermont?
Nichevo, I think this trailer is what Ping was talking about. Shows the power of clever editing when combined with an evocative song:
Simon and Garfunkel split up bitterly because Simon was doing almost all the writing and creating and Garfunkel was along for the ride, sounding pretty, but focusing on his acting career rather than on the partnership.
A union is unstable when only half of it is busting ass and making things happen.
Guess which half Democrats aren't.
PERON! PERON! PERON!
It's a sweet effective ad. Who doesn't love that old song by Simon & Garfunkel? Well done, Bernie.
Of course, as Althouse noted above, there is not one iota of intellectual content in the ad. All those smiling people will be weeping, if ever Bernie gets the power to impose his Marxist vision on the country -- but that's a separate question.
Stylistically, it reminds me of the kinda ad Reagan would run in the General election when he was beating Mondale by 20 or so points, en route to a landslide victory. Maybe, Bernie is feeling saucy about his chances in Iowa.
That song is an awful choice for a political campaign. It's not about hope and promise. It's about looking for America and not finding it.
The lovers hop on the bus hopefully enough, but by the end they're out of cigarettes and out of things to talk about, and she's flipping through a magazine rather than looking out the window at the country rolling by. Last verse:
Cathy, I'm lost, I said, though I knew she was sleeping
I'm empty and I'm aching and I don't know why
Countin' the cars on the New Jersey turnpike
They've all come to look for America, all come to look for America
A sad, superannuated song for a sad, superannuated candidate.
It's a great ad because of the music used in it.
roflmao
The circuses part of bread and circuses is still applicable I guess. Hey, he used a great song in an advertisement for his campaign! This turns my brain off and makes me like him. Super. Again, roflmao. The man wanting to spend in 4 years what Obama did in 8 and his childish love for a caricature of European social democracy that exists nowhere but in his head (not even in France!) cannot stand against the evocative music!
Dance to the tune, professor. Dance!
Blogger MathMom said...
If Bernie becomes President, we'll all have to go to look for America, because it sure as $#!+ won't be here.
We have a winner!
I don't get it.
Not quite as famous as the Simon & Garfunkel song in the Bernie ad, but "America" by Neil Diamond is much more patriotic and upbeat, without the 60's "nuance" and "ambiguity"
Far,
We've been traveling far
Without a home
But not without a star
Free,
Only want to be free
We huddle close
Hang on to a dream
On the boats and on the planes
They're coming to America
Never looking back again,
They're coming to America
Home
Don't it seem so far away
Oh, we're traveling light today
In the eye of the storm
In the eye of the storm
Home
To a new and a shiny place
Make our bed and we'll say our grace
Freedom's light burning warm
Freedom's light burning warm
Everywhere around the world
They're coming to America
Ev'ry time that flag's unfurled
They're coming to America
I don't get it. How is that different from a million other political ads. Is it the song? Was it written for Sanders? Or was it known before?
Oh well. I guess I'm not the target audience.
Can we get a retake after he tells all those people how much he has to raise their taxes to pay for all the free stuff?
It's a good ad and a very good song, but in general I wouldn't think of it as a campaign song. It's always struck me as bittersweet, really.
Kathy, I'm lost, I said/ Though I know she was sleeping./ I'm empty and aching and
I don't know why.
It's not that, you know, hopefully or forward-looking, really. But I guess "Born the the USA" has an even worse problem.
I don't get it. No fear. No dark music. No terrorists lurking near playgrounds. No Mexicans flowing over the border. No nuclear explosions.
Strange ad.
Look! Shiny objects! Don't notice what I really am doing, and want to do. Just feel good. Relax. enjoy the show. Don't worry about anything. Go back to sleep now.
BFD. Media complicity and manipulation are the only things Sanders and Obama have , or every had going for them.
Robert Fulton--I believe the professor voted for Romney in 2012. If I am right, do you need a new theory?
Ann, I'm guessing you own cats.
Ann Althouse said...Great job of connecting an old man to youth.
Sanders' supporters are mostly kids, aren't they? I mean, appealing to the youth isn't really his problem as far as I know.
Honestly, though, the ad did a good job of humanizing the Sanders SUPPORTERS--I know Bernie's a socialist crank, and I hate socialism (and communism, etc) but my emotional reaction is to reassess the contempt I might feel for people who support socialism in America and modify that to something like a gentle reproach--"they're just passionate kids and aging hippies, they don't know any better," that sort of thing.
Fantastic choice. Bernie is Look(ing) for (the) America (that so many feel we are losing). And he's doing it with all of US, the other little people, the outsiders. Not to mention the smiling, happy Bernie (what do you mean, angry old man?).
It is brilliant for what it is trying to do.
But I won't be voting for the old socialist.
I disagree. I'm a conservative and very much prefer Pres Obama to S. Sanders, but the Sanders ad contains real people while the Obama ad is a bunch of self important celebrity idiots. I'll take the Sanders ad anytime.
I kind of like S&G though I'm not old, but for me the most effective ad I've ever seen has to be Morning in America. It's the only one that ever made me get all misty-eyed.
Youthful images combined with a song that is affective only for those aged 55 or older. Aurally triggers the memories of youth while visually reinforcing those same thoughts of youthful energy. Finally, the grandfather/father figure appears to lead the way to America.
Yeah, this one has boomer women baked in the cake. A shot at Hillary's presumed demographic, and a direct hit.
I thought the one city exterior shot might have been Charlotte, NC, but Des Moines would make more sense, So regarding the lack of black people and small town rural emphasis, keep in mind that I presume this is all meant for Iowa and New Hampshire.
Robert Fulton said...
For the last long time I have been wondering how Professor Althouse could have voted twice for President Obama. I have been reading "The Confidence Game" by Maria Konnikova.
She voted for Obama once, not twice.
HT Steven Pinker, a review of that book:
"Con artists thrive in times of social and political upheaval, when instability and uncertainty reign, making it easier for emotion to overwhelm reason."
According to Ace the ad is aimed at "liberal PBS viewers over 50 years old." Does that shoe fit?
@MW: "A sad, superannuated song for a sad, superannuated candidate." Indeed. But for socialists, looking for America, the real America, is sad. Not finding it is good. The easier to replace the real thing with the New America and the New American. New Soviet Man had nothing on Bernie.
At 20 seconds, thereabouts, I laughed. A you-gotta-be-kidding laugh. Guess the con didn't work.
By the way, with all the stories about how Cruz is mean and nasty, why not just as many stories about how Bernie is mean and nasty?
Actually this ad reminds me a lot of the fairly effective use of CSN&Y's "Teach Your Children" in 1984 by Walter Mondale. Didn't seem to help him much though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwrlKI1CpQY
Lovely and heartwarming, for sure.
Robert Fulton said...
"For the last long time I have been wondering how Professor Althouse could have voted twice for President Obama."
"Twice"? What makes you think that?
I'd like to replace the soundtrack with "Sympathy for the Devil".
I will not watch the ad, I care nothing about Bernie Sanders. But I remember the song well and I have the album on vinyl around the house here somewhere. I can remember how it starts out: "Let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together". If Bernie gets his way, there'll be no fortunes left to marry.
Isn't that just what you get Professor. A nice approving comment about a sweet political ad and Dresden erupts in the comments.
What made me uncomfortable about the ad was it really didn't show people busily working.
Move a bail of hay, feed a cow or carry a calf at your leisure; the fishing boats were still.
Even the coffee shop worker wasn't busy.
It projected to me a sense of leisurely affluence produced by...?
A message of "Layabouts of the world... unite!" basically.
I like the ad.
I like his much younger second wife. She is very normal but in a cool and hip way and she doesn't have republicunt big hair and hideous women suits. Yea, she's a chub but she dresses cool.
tits.
***bale
Looking for an America that doesn't reflect the xenophobic bigoted worldview of Trump, Palin and followers. Found it in this ad. Wonderful.
Ctmom4 said...Can we get a retake after he tells all those people how much he has to raise their taxes to pay for all the free stuff?
You don't have to raise taxes. If you get rid of land and sea based WMD, you don't need 29 ballistic launch submarines. Getting rid of 450 minuteman. Leaving only cruise missile and artillery based WMD.
Each nuke has about 10 officers, and 400 enlisted men required to operate them (less in the subs). Probably 50 research establishments, with engineers, scientists, and janitors.
I'd estimate trillions of dollars in savings that could be used for the nations infrastructure, and reducing the debt going forward.
Ask the people of Flint, Michigan if the want a free nuke or free fresh water.
> Looking for an America that doesn't reflect the xenophobic bigoted worldview of Trump, Palin and followers.
Speaking of bigots...
Amazingly, Verizon treats any email with a link to the YouTube URL of the Sanders ad as spam and refuses to deliver it. Hillary must have gotten to them.
Didn't seem different from any other political ad to me. I did notice it had zero actual content. Just trying to convey emotion/inspiration.
The song must be the linchpin. As I'm a 35 year old man, it's pleasant enough but means nothing to me. I don't think I've even heard it before. Clearly the ad was made for somebody else. If it works to take middle-aged female voters from Hillary Clinton, I'm all for it.
So the SUPERPAC that shows an ad of kittens being strangled by fat white rough men grouped up, per George Lucas on evoking--kittens that is--emotion, with pics of Hillary associated plausibly (denyability* aside; we don't speak as though we are all as guilty as Hell here in the U.S.A as those in that there USSR or Merkel's Germany of yonder did, with Althouse on our side at least) like Scott Adams has described in detail repeatedly, with pictures as it were?
Why would that not prevent relevant thought from intruding on ego masturbation when the self-satisfying emotion dexxcribed by the host here is likewise, emotions removed like pronouns of Leftists bullcunt throughout history known and un?
People keep trying to explain human lust for Satan and Power (unChrist to the shit extent its fucking even capable, nitbeasts) away as something other than the truth; Without Christ, humans are avowing their ability to wipe every last living thing away from existence, because they feel they can. Why?
Well, they feel they can because delusion, they want to because evil.
The straight answer, we avow deathutopics* via a hearty fuck you and die, isn't based upon any current human consciousness any more than hunger for food or thirst for water.
*By my killing off an extra "a" in Utopia, I can understand the charges of hypocrisy I must face: willing to confront, as a phrase, lacks the impact of the burning plasma of 777 suns that might start competing with my puny presence to help Jesus, albeit far farly unfulfilled, even by shit metrics, not Golden Barnhardt-style such.
I am starting to become self-aware; in that Other way.
Visual drugs for the Worst Generation, who looked for America, found it, spat on it, and destroyed it.
"Isn't that just what you get Professor. A nice approving comment about a sweet political ad and Dresden erupts in the comments."
I'm not surprised.
Have we completely lost our ability to distinguish between "ad intended to communicate information helpful to the decision-making process" and "propaganda," especially vacuous propaganda? What worries me most in contemporary American politics isn't the acceptance of ideas I disagree with. It's the extent to which there are no ideas involved.
" What worries me most in contemporary American politics isn't the acceptance of ideas I disagree with. It's the extent to which there are no ideas involved."
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.
Isn't that just what you get Professor. A nice approving comment about a sweet political ad and Dresden erupts in the comments.
By the way: Did you know that as a young woman, Leni Riefenstahl attended the Mary Wigmann School for Dance in Dresden?
Amanda said...I'm not surprised.
Oh don't sell yourself short, Amanda, I'm willing to bet you're surprised all the time, about all sorts of things.
"Let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together".
All your wealth are belong to us.
Countin' the cars on the New Jersey turnpike
Or as my Trekkie friends say, "Captain Picard on the New Jersey Turnpike"!
Hoodly Doodly, I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that you may be a jerk here as well as offline.
coupe said...Ask the people of Flint, Michigan if the want a free nuke or free fresh water.
Ask the people of Flint, Michigan why they were under an emergency manager in the first place, why they needed to try to save money on water, why they're broke...it' ain't 'cause of nukes, man.
The "blue model" many states and big cities have built/structured themselves around doesn't work very well any more--these places are out of money. As a solution "do more of that, buy into that failed model HARDER" doesn't strike me as particularly smart. "Be more like Europe, things are going so well there lately" doesn't, either, but I guess your mileage may vary. Kilometer-age?
The biggest laugh I got was a young Bernie supporter linking this ad and a call to boycott the Oscars because they're too white on Facebook within seconds of each other. Definitely lacking in self-awareness. She's obviously also not aware the song was popular in 1968. She thinks it was written for the ad and definitely didn't listen to the words.
From an aesthetic standpoint I agree it is good but, yeah, the dearth of minorities is notable. I'm a fan, but the outreach beyond the supporters in New England should be a bit better. But then that might be the target audience for this ad?
The song must be the linchpin. As I'm a 35 year old man, it's pleasant enough but means nothing to me. I don't think I've even heard it before.
Its from their album "Bookends", a Desert Island Disc if I've ever heard one. The original Columbia pressing was one of the cleanest recordings I've ever heard. The equal of any Mobile Fidelity half-speed master.
Forget any "Best Of" compulations, "Bookends" is the masterpiece that bests them all. ("Graceland" is Paul Simon's Desert Island Disc)
Download it here: Bookends
(I think I set up the link correctly to go through Althouse's Amazon portal)
It is supremely ironic that two of the more effective political ads - and this one IS effective - were on behalf of or in support of two candidates who wish to ban such ads.
I said, "be careful that old man is really a commie"
My dear Amanda, the preferred shortening would be "HoodlesDoodles," and "jerk" doesn't begin to cover it!
I watched the video (muted) just long enough to see the city shot CWJ mentioned at 4:25.PM. It's definitely not Charlotte, but it looks very much like Des Moines, and there appears to be an Iowa flag flying at lower left. Because The Heartland Feels The Bern.
No offense, Ann, but I think the real thing that pulled your heartstrings was nostalgia plain and simple. Nothing wrong with that but I just read a comment on Scott Adams blog which said, "I'm a 40-year-old white male and I've never heard that song." So I'm guessing it doesn't work as well on him.
Nevertheless, I'm a 60-something angry white guy and I do think the song works. It was a great song and I like the fact it ties a Democrat with the American is great theme. Trump is having an impact.
Amanda said...Looking for an America that doesn't reflect the xenophobic bigoted worldview of Trump, Palin and followers. Found it in this ad. Wonderful.
--
(Snif)..can't we all just get along?
This ad is the cumbaya you seek. A lot easier to achieve when there are no political concepts involved. But hey..better than the Occupy Berno.
AA: Boy carrying a calf. I go "aw."
I would enjoy watching a video of that cute little kid with the cute little calf. Putting Bernie Sanders in it ruins it, though.
Cute image flashing by aside, political ads always make my skin crawl. (I find just about all advertising off-putting. Nobody ever tries to appeal to the Anglelyne demographic. Why not? I have expendable income, I have a vote! Why is everyone just leaving my money and votes on the table and walking away? Do I have cooties?)
The Sixties are over.
The Sixties won't be dead until the last Baby Boomer is shoveled into the ground.
Unfortunately.
The combination of beautiful music and beautiful images is a powerful thing. For a minute there, I wanted to be a "democratic socialist", just as this has the power to make me want to be a Mormon for the five minutes it lasts. But then the rotation finishes and reality, fortunately, returns.
The ad made me glad that I identify with the kind of American it portrays. Trump could make a political ad picturing the snowy fields of Oregon and a bunch of Bundy "freedom fighters" holed up in a bird sanctuary building and occasionally venturing outside with their AR15s looking for G-men.
AllenS said...Where the colored people be?
He is white and old, so maybe separate but equal to the Bern?:
https://youtu.be/g4-1zHemLrQ (Although at the end of this ad it looks like the same collage of faces.)
Lots of white people. The black woman Bernie is hugging looked like she was trying to get away but he had a firm grip on her.
I cry at all sorts of stuff but this didn't register even 1 on the 1-10 meter for me.
If you boycott the Oscars because they are too white you gotta boycott Bernie too.
Trump Running Mate:
Tim Scott, Senator from South Carolina. Scott is Ben Carson with political skill. Lots of political skill. He beat Strom Thurmond Jr. in the Republican primary. Crushed him, actually.
That will blow their minds.
so many commenters are so freaking clueless
This ad is for Iowa and New Hampshire - that's it. A bunch of white people with a strong rural background, even if they live in a city.
And a lot of old white people who like S&G
This is hugely evocative. And I think Bernie is a crank and a hack
This ad and the two upcoming primaries are about getting dems to turn out and want to like Bernie. And this ad is a slap at Hilary, who is so unlikable.
Stop letting your bias cloud your judgement you ignorant hacks
Are Amanda and Garage the same person? She sounds like Inga, the idiot psych nurse, but you never know.
I suspect that Garage explores his feminine side through Amanda. He seems to have plenty of time on his hands.
They both sound like idiot trollers, but I find Amanda less annoying. Maybe she's hot.
... Nah!
Good ad, but if those cheering kids understood the future Bernie wants for them, they'd kick him good and hard in the shins.
Grant, Thank you! I would be surprised if every other shot couldn't be linked to or at least evoke an Iowa or New Hampshire location. Hence lack of minorities.
"Great job of connecting an old man to youth."
Sorry Althouse, I think you're close, but no cigar.
Rather, Great job of connecting old voters to their youth. OTOH, Bernie is simultaneously father/grandfather/one of us leading us to find America. As I said, the target is boomers, and this comment thread confirns that.
SteveR said...
I said, "be careful that old man is really a commie"
------------------
Ha ha. Pitch perfect.
Amanda said...
Looking for an America that doesn't reflect the xenophobic bigoted worldview of Trump, Palin and followers. Found it in this ad. Wonderful.
Ads that work on the already convinced are not all that effective, Amanda. Bernie's going to have to get the black and white middle class excited. They aren't going to be excited by this. They are too smart to be so easily deceived.
David,
The ad worked on Althouse. I think she's intelligent, don't you?
I'm surprised that no one has snarked that they should have used "Old Friends/Bookends" from the same album. Equally affective for boomers, but not in the way intended.
haha. Did nothing for me whatsoever. Except remind me how I like that song!
@ Amanda
The ad made me glad that I identify with the kind of American it portrays. Trump could make a political ad picturing the snowy fields of Oregon and a bunch of Bundy "freedom fighters" holed up in a bird sanctuary building and occasionally venturing outside with their AR15s looking for G-men.
Well, I'm glad you're glad, but let's now return back to Planet Earth, shall we?
Bernie has never built a business or hired anyone. He's a professional Marxist scold.
Trump has built several businesses (many successful, some goofy) and has hired thousands of people. That means money to buy food, clothing, transportation freely exchanged for labor. That's called a "job" - which has become unfamiliar to many glib, indebted college kids, who have no skills, but lots of wants -- but that's another story.
So, in a country of 320 million, do you thinks folks are more likely to identify with a guy who built stuff or the guy who builds nothing, but yaps about "inequality?"
Not in theory, but in practice.
Do tell.
254,000 views.
It will have over one million by Sunday.
GOP needs adverts like this. Marco could pull it off.
And David,
Bernie already HAS the white middle class excited. Who do you think were at those rallies that numbered in the thousands? The black middle class may stay with Clinton, we shall see. At any rate Trump and/or any Republican candidate does not have Black, Hispanic, or Muslim support.
I assume this targets older white voters, so it does its job well. But I didn't like it, because I hate G&F. They always struck me as pretentious phonies.
Another Good ad of this type is "Morning in America" 1984 supporting Reagan.
Bay Area Guy - "Coming to America" isn't Patriotic. Its just pro-immigration.
And Obama made Bernie, Trump and that advert possible.
Trump could make a political ad picturing the snowy fields of Oregon and a bunch of Bundy "freedom fighters" holed up in a bird sanctuary building and occasionally venturing outside with their AR15s looking for G-men.
--
Good thing we have Amanda to bring the unbiased civility..classes up the joint.
Walter, good thing y'all have Amanda to express a different point of view here. It would be pretty boring with just conservatives blabbing forth.
Great ad. Not that it moves me to vote for him.
I love that song. Most recently listening to this cover http://youtu.be/Hy70q_awGUk from the sister duo First Aid Kid after seeing them perform it for Paul Simon during a show in his honor in Sweden. I hit replay every time. It moved Paul to tears.
"Kathy, I'm lost", I said,
Though I knew she was sleeping.
"I'm empty and aching and
I don't know why."
Then Kathy woke up and looked out the window.
Alarmed when she realized where we were.
"Art" she said,
Though she knew my name is Simon.
"We're somewhere near Greece!
Why didn't you wake me up?
We should never have made that left turn back there.
We need to make America great again!"
The ad reminded me of those old issues of Soviet Life that showed happy, smiling peasants out tending their crops and cattle.
Amanda wrote -
"The ad made me glad that I identify with the kind of American it portrays."
Watch it again. Find the immigrant welcomer. You could treat it as some sort of animated "Where's Waldo" book.
Utopia: Place or not?
Hell: Place or not?
Fuck off you idiots that don't understand, fucking asshiles bithes.
WAIT
WAIT
I AM TALKING ABOUT ME HERE
Every time Althouse cites the New York Times I find something in it that makes me want to burn that left-wing shitsheet to the ground. For example, this little article by Ashley Parker. Specifically this sentence, "George W. Bush is a natural fit in South Carolina, a state rife with military bases and families, which heads to the polls on Feb. 20."
Rife? Either Ms. Parker is an ignoramus with the erudition of an underachieving high schooler, or she has tipped her hand unconsciously.
Please let it be Bernie. He would never show pictures of Cuba, Venezuela, or East Berlin. But that is exactly what his policies lead too. Trump would win 49 states, and show the world what a complete fool sanders really is.
Socialism is so good and works so well, said no one, at anytime. Why? they were too busy starving, or being rounded up for wanting freedom. Or shot trying to escape to America.
Oh, and trump does have support from Americans, some of whom are black, gay, hispanics. and a large number of dems too.
sanders is a grumpy old man, who is too stupid or too naive to understand what he advocates. Its not brotherly love, its informing on your brother because they are using too much toilet paper or eating too much meat.
Sing joyfully together:
"Assembling bombs in a New Jersey mosque.
They’ve all come to look for America."
I came looking for America when I was 12.
She took me in. I grabbed hold tight.
When I'm empty and aching and don't know why, I don't stick out my thumb.
I make my hands busy.
David Begley said...
254,000 views.
It will have over one million by Sunday.
Bathing in 500 lbs of Putty: 1,645,748 views
Suicide Squad - Official Trailer 1: 17,543,927 views
Wiz Khalifa’s See You Again would be sitting at the top of the list with 1.2 billion views and counting since April.
As noted above, it's an ad for the early primaries and is likely meant to convey a positive message regarding our future. It's surely aimed at Hillary voters and leaners. To those points, it's a nice and effective piece.
It's a pretty ad and will stir nostalgia in us oldsters.
I don't know how effective it will be getting people to the polls.
"She said that her tour group--who were all lefties--all came back sobered by their first-hand experience with the workers' paradise."
My leftist middle daughter went to Cuba a few years ago when you had to go through Mexico and risked losing your passport. I over heard her talking to a friend about her trip. She said she went to see how Socialism worked. She, unfortunately, is fluent in Spanish and said she was there a day when she realized it is a prison.
Read Michael Totten's series on Cuba. This is the first one. There are several.
Bernie already has the white middle class excited? I think I'd try: nervous, baffled, terrified, flummoxed, etc. Excited? Not so much.
Are Amanda and Garage the same person?
Aren't you the psychologist? LOL. Just kidding dude. I bet most smart people sound the same to a jughead like yourself.
Trump could make a political ad picturing the snowy fields of Oregon and a bunch of Bundy "freedom fighters" holed up in a bird sanctuary building
and it still wouldn't be as chock full of whiteness as what we just watched.
It did nothing for me. Professor, do you judge movies based on the trailers?
Rep. Diaz-Balart pushes Cuba to free dissident journalist on hunger strike
So people who are easily swayed will be voting for Sanders.
The Sanders one leaves me cold, but I am not the target audience I suppose.
I could not sit through the Obama one -- it reminded me of how creepy the aesthetic of his campaign in 2008 was. I laugh about this kind of thing when I see it in the politics of other countries, even countries for which I have a lot of affection, but it makes me genuinely queasy to see it with an American politician with actual power. I turned it off about a minute and a half in. It wasn't just the people mouthing over the words of the Leader -- though that was pretty creepy. It was when the chanting kicked in that really turned me off. This is not hyperbole for effect -- I genuinely found it off-putting.
I actually don't recall seeing that ad in 2008, although because I do not watch television and I wasn't actively clicking on Obama ads on YouTube, I suppose that isn't all that surprising. To his credit, Obama's re-election campaign didn't give off the same cult-ish vibe.
100,000 more views in one hour.
Yes, you didn't.
Socialism is a prison. Throw in some cool music and it's very appealing.
Amanda: The ad made me glad that I identify with the kind of American it portrays.
The white ones?
A song that helped get sixties guys laid with winsome girls.
As opposed to songs that get sixty-year-old guys laid with winsome girls with Daddy Issues.
I checked it on Google and I seem to be the first:
"Daddy Issue America."
This is where we are people, and this is how they vote.
"Daddy Issue America": Laslo told you.
I am Laslo.
It is an effective ad (The Sanders, one, that is) but I felt a visceral fear at the line, "I've got some real estate here in my bag."
It's good to know that in Bernie's America, just like in Bernie's Vermont, there aren't a lot of those annoying minority people.
"Simon and Garfunkel ain't gonna cut it in South Carolina."
I'm not a big fan of this ad but still this comment is obnoxious. As though South Carolina were the Deep Thinker state or something. Maybe what would "cut it" would be accusations that someone fathered a "black baby."
Get over yourself, SC. Everyone else is long over you.
Late to the party...but that was my favorite Simon and Garfunkel song evah. So long forgotten! But not by everyone it seems. Perfect evocation of Sanders' era. More real than Obama's shit.
Crap, I may even vote for col sanders after that.
Harrowgate
Expect "Let's Stay Together" for SC.
Or "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
harrogate said...
"Simon and Garfunkel ain't gonna cut it in South Carolina."
As though South Carolina were the Deep Thinker state or something.
--
Hmmm..weird interpretation..I suspect it is more along the lines of playing in Peoria..but a little hard to tell as a stand-alone line. I didn't know I needed to get over SC.
So the Bern supports the message contained in the Simon and Garfunkel ad, whatever that is might be, despite the fact that the duo have been fighting for 45 years with no end in sight. The musicians split after their Bridge Over Troubled Water album and despite a reuniting in 2004 for mutual profit, no bridge has yet been built.
The analysis that Rush Limbaugh has been making about the errors of the RNC and the success of Trump's campaign might boil down to "the days of conservatism are over and that the future is populism and nationalism." So it would seem that Bernie's people are paying attention, because this ad has all that pizzazz needed to grab both of these trends in a song and video that runs for just one minute. Matt Drudge was right if he really did write: "Old Commies never die . . . they just live forever."
For those of you who want to see the "Solisbury Hill" thing, go to YouTube and search for "recut trailer." There are bunches of re-edited trailers significantly, sometimes amazingly, changing the movie genre. The Shining may be the best.
As to this commercial, someone already recut it. Just change the music...
https://vimeo.com/152638496
Actually, for SC, where I myself proudly live, I recommend:"Cheney's Toy"
About "crying" at the .20 second mark...
Is that a lesbian couple that is shown as Paul Simon sings the word "marry" in the lyric "...we'll marry our fortunes together..."?
Is that what got you crying, Professor Althouse?
I get the impression that the AlthouseMeadehouse is lobbying the blogosphere for a Trump/Sanders race. In any casem, are you still that mad at conservatives who litigated the Obergefell cases?
I always think about the performers' approval in these ads. Is Paul Simon for Sanders? Or Clinton? What about Art Garfunkel? Would they protest this use of their music if they were Clinton supporters? (Think Rush Limbaugh/The Pretenders' "My City Was Gone.")
"Amanda said...
Walter, good thing y'all have Amanda to express a different point of view here. It would be pretty boring with just conservatives blabbing forth."
You bring nothing. You are not insightful You aren't funny. You are an empty suit that pukes out vacuous crap like this:
"Amanda said...
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."
I'd ask how the ad does any of these things, but we both know you can't. The backup will be dumber than the statement.
"Daddy Issue America": an Excerpt...
Dad left my Mom when I was thirteen, because my Dad didn't like Mom's new boyfriend. Brad...
Every other weekend I would see my Dad and we would go to McDonald's. and he would make a big deal about us sharing ketchup at the center of the plastic table with our fries; big deal, but it made him happy -- or at least a little bit less sad....
Mom: I remember when she took me to my first abortion: afterward she gave m a "Get Well" Card and we went and had Ice Cream. I LOVE Ice Cream...
Mom and I, we can talk about anything. Like once, we we're getting drunk on wine and 7-Up and she told me that she had had anal sex.
I was like "No...!"
And she was like "Yes!"
And I was like "Mom!!!!"
And she was like, "Brad."
So -- obviously -- my Dad never had Anal Sex with my Mom.
Brad once touched MY ass, but he was drunk and I think he thought I was my Mom...
I am Laslo.
Having this resonate must be what ita like for someon who thinks it's great when Trump says he wants to make Americs great again. All sentiment, no substance.
"Daddy Issue America": an Excerpt...
So I said to Brad -- "Brad -- I'm not my Mom!"
And he said "But did you like that?"
And I said "Like what?"
Ane he said "Me touching your ass."
And I said "No", but I gave that little smile that seems to drive adult men crazy, especially coming from a young teenager not wearing a bra.
So he said: "Would you like to know what I do with your Mother?"
And I said "No! Of course not!"
Then I smiled again, but then he gave me a creepy smile, like the smile you get sometimes from the old men looking at you at the bus stop.
"I have to do my homework," I said, but I went upstairs and drank some of the Jack Daniels that Brad had forgotten about because he was passed out drunk in his underwear...
I am Laslo.
"Daddy Issue America": an Excerpt...
So I told my Mom I wanted to get a Nipple Ring, and she said "No!"
So I said "Why not?"
And she said "You're not getting a Nipple Ring unless I get one with you."
Mom is Cool Like That.
So we went and got our Nipple Rings, and when we got home Brad says "So? Show me, Girls," and Mom lifts up her top, but I don't, and he says, "What is it Little Girl, are you shy?"
So I say "I'm not shy, but I'm not showing you my Nipple Ring."
He tried to smile, but looked a little sad. I think he went into the bathroom to masturbate...
I am Laslo.
Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders 2h2 hours ago
Any Supreme Court nominee of mine will make overturning Citizens United one of their first decisions.
You are moved to tears by odd things, Althouse. Different things than I.
Apparently some "bovine" stock footage and gathering crowds set to S&G.
But yet..Bernie does come off better when he's not speaking.
When I think back on all the crap I learned in Simon and Garfunkel songs, it's a wonder I can (barely) function. The obvious choice should be "Fifty Ways To Dump Your Hillary". I'd recommend using someone with a fake Bill Clinton or Barack Obama voice to sing it.
Oh..50 ways seems more a Slick Willy theme.
Umm..50 ways to use your rubber..oh..that doesn't sound like Bill.
Maybe Trump should counter with a Bridge Over Troubled Water while making America great again if we're going for the nostalgia theme.
I apparently didn't watch the same ad you did. Or maybe it's all the cute baby/kitten pictures I see on Facebook.
And the Obama ad was too long IMO.
static Ping@8:48pm
After watching the commercial you linked to, i gotta say, I get it now. That was. A moving commercial. It almost brought me to tears.
If you want to see what modern socialism looks like try visiting some European nations, start in Scandinavia. Highest happiness quotient in the world. Cuba is communist, so is China.
A Trump-y Boy Can Survive
So, WHO are those 22 conservatives who are putting out that public denouncement of Trump tomorrow?
There's a great video of Putin singing Blueberry Hill with an introductory section where Putin plays the piano, picking out Blueberry Hill. It's one of my all-time favorite comedy highs. Yet I must admit that watching it always makes me think Putin shares some humanity with me whereas he is a power-grabber to the core. Similarly, this Sanders ad makes Americans think that Bernie's long policy statements are trying to realize an ideal we all share and that isn't there right now, that's slipping away like the family farm. And it implicitly criticizes Hillary for saying everything is great like a Stopford wife. In one minute. That does make it a good ad.
Putin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV4IjHz2yIo
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