Video: Dial F for Fear, Hillary Clinton and the Red Phone
Posted on Feb 29, 2008 - 5:41pm by Shallow Nation in Politics
Hillary Clinton’s new political campaign ad reminds us of the classic, 1964 Johnson “Daisy Girl” ad for playing upon voters’ fears.
Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign played the national security card in a new ad that will get plenty of free air time across the cable news networks and Internet today. It echos the “red phone” ad that Walter Mondale used successfully against Gary Hart in the 1984 Democratic presidential race.
Key line: “It’s 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep… Something’s happening in the world… Who do you want answering the phone?”
Ben Smith calls it “the scariest ad of the cycle, one that echoes, in a soft-focus way, some of President Bush’s 2004 campaign spots.”
First Read: “Does it remind anyone of that LBJ Daisy ad? Ok, that’s a little extreme… But it sure does raise the specter of fear. Of course, remember, primary voters are more likely to vote their heart than head, which may mean an ad like this won’t be as effective as it would, say, in a general election.”
Here is the Hillary Clinton ad.
Here is the Johnson 1964 “Daisy Girl” ad.
Here is the Mondale Red Phone Ad.
As Politico reports, Barack Obama has responsed to the ad.
Obama responded to Clinton’s ad in a speech to veterans in Houston today, according to prepared remarks. He accused her of playing on fear, and echoed his staff’s retort that she’s had, and blown, her red phone moment:
Now before we open this up for conversation, I just want to take a moment to respond to an ad that Sen. Clinton is apparently running today that asks, “Who do you want answering the phone in the White House when it’s 3 a.m. and something has happened in the world?”
We’ve seen these ads before. They’re the kind that play on peoples’ fears to scare up votes.
Well it won’t work this time. Because the question is not about picking up the phone. The question is — what kind of judgment will you make when you answer? We’ve had a red phone moment. It was the decision to invade Iraq. And Sen. Clinton gave the wrong answer. George Bush gave the wrong answer. John McCain gave the wrong answer.
UPDATE: The Barack Obama campaign released an ad to respond to Hillary Clinton’s “Children” a.k.a. Red Phone ad.
James Kotecki of Politico analyzes “laughable” campaign ads in general.
Video: William Shatner on “The Oprah Winfrey Show”
Posted on Feb 29, 2008 - 5:13pm by Shallow Nation in Star Trek, Television
William Shatner made an appearance on Oprah.
Today, William Shatner boldly went where he’d never been before, The Oprah Winfrey Show. Shatner was featured as one of Oprah’s ‘TV icons’ series. The show also included Happy Days’ Fonzie, Henry Winkler and soap opera singing sensation Rick Springfield (who was also Zac on the original Battlestar Galactica). No big news (besides seeing Shatner using a cane) and no questions about the new movie, but was still interesting to see Shatner in this environment.
John Tenuto’s article on Shatner’s appearance continues. Watch the video in its entirety here.
It was an endearing appearance.
Shatner’s “Star Trek” and “Boston Legal” successes are well known. He has had success in music with his 2004 album, “Has Been.” Here’s another side of William Shatner: his appearance on the Tonight Show performing “Common People” (from “Has Been”) with Joe Jackson and Ben Folds. “Common People” is a cover of a Pulp song and this is a performance as indescribable as it is compelling.
Mike Smith, Lead Singer of Dave Clark Five, Dies at 64 (Video Tribute)
Posted on Feb 29, 2008 - 10:37am by Shallow Nation in Obituary, Music
Along with the Beatles, the Dave Clark Five were part of the “British Invasion” of the 1960s. Lead singer, Mike Smith, has died. Watch a video tribute to the group right here, including rare footage from the 1960s.
From 1964, newsreel footage of The Dave Clark Five arrival in the U.S.A.
As Ken Barnes notes.
Twelve days before his band, the Dave Clark Five, was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Mike Smith — the band’s lead singer, keyboard player and chief co-writer — died of pneumonia Thursday at age 64.
Smith had developed a chest infection after a severe spinal cord injury in 2003, which left him paralyzed below the rib cage.
Until the group’s Hall of Fame election, the Dave Clark Five was one of the most underrated bands of the British Invasion. It was dismissed as a teen-appeal act because of its numerous pop hits — 16 top 30 hits from 1964 to 1967 and an astonishing 13 albums on the charts in the same period, with worldwide sales now estimated at 100 million records. The DC5 was second to The Beatles in popularity until the Rolling Stones usurped that position.
There were sound musical reasons for that popularity, and Smith’s raspy R&B-styled growl, along with his pulsating piano and versatile songwriting gifts (in tandem with group leader/drummer Clark), was a key ingredient.
He powered the band’s unique musical engine, which de-emphasized guitar heroics and leaned on drums, sax, keyboards and rhythm guitar to produce a raw, rocking roar.
Dave Clark Five, “Glad All Over” (Rare footage)
Dave Clark Five, “Catch Us If You Can”
Dave Clark Five, “Because”
