When I first saw this video for John Cornyn's introduction to the Republican Party of Texas 2008 Convention this past week, I nearly spit out my Coke Zero. I thought: seriously? Take a look and then read below.
The over-produced and tad too long intro (IMHO). The corny music. The over-the-top messaging. Referring to anyone as "Big." The ending... "Senatooooorrrrrr Johhhhnnn Corrnynnnnnn."
But then I remembered the audience. I took myself out of DC for a moment and thought about what a Texan might find interesting and worth clicking/emailing to friends. Indeed, I took a closer look at how many views the video had racked up (over 20k).
And that made me re-think my doubts. I watched it again with a closer eye.
The narration, it's familiar but I can't quite place it. It reminds me of the dude from the Big Lebowski. No, not Jeff Bridges (Jeff Lebowski -- The Dude), or Steve Buscemi (Donny), or even John Goodman (Walter). That's Sam Elliot doing the narration isn't it? If not, you could have fooled me.
So I'm doing a 180 degree flip-flop and admitting it to you valued TechRepublican readers. This video is solid. It's not meant for the latte crowd or the beltway boys, it's meant for delegates to the RPT Convention. And it's really, really good. The visuals match the message and add a little sugar to help the medicine go down.
This is a great example of an excellent communicator (John Cornyn) putting together an excellent piece of rich content right for the audience, and then following-up that dish by putting it out through a modern channel (YouTube) to let it go on its own. Porridge to you Senator Cornyn et al.
(Now I just need a Shout wipe for that Coke Zero.)
Comments
Texan here
It's pretty ridiculous that you're saying the ad is appealing to Texans, who you're basically implying are too stupid to know a crappy ad when they see one.
Actually.
Will - did you even read my post?
Please, you're smarter than this.
I hope you're joking. This ad represents everything that is wrong with modern politics on BOTH sides of the political spectrum: it doesn't say anything about what the candidate has done politically in the past or what he plans to do if he is elected. Instead, it surpasses all means of logic and aims to win over the voter on solely emotional grounds. The entire ad is made up of images of a man acting as his advisors believe an "authentic Texan" would act and empty catch phrases about how he is an "authentic Texan", neither of which have anything to do with politics. Of course, short TV ads, slogans, quick fire debates, and repetitive speeches all are means of aiming for the voters' emotions, but Senator Cornyn's ad does not even attempt to feign reason. I encourage you and everyone else who cares about our nation's political process to read "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business" by Neil Postman.
Sure, this may prove to be a very effective way of winning over the voters, but you should find that more alarming than praiseworthy. His campaign, along with the campaigns of most modern politicians, has far more in common with a McDonald's commercial than it does with the Lincoln-Douglas debates. It's your responsibility as an intelligent and patriotic citizen to demand more from our politicians, as their campaign methods only hurt our country.
The critics of this ad have
The critics of this ad have it all wrong.
I'm from Texas. It's great because it's not an ad at all.
This was produced for the RPT folks, the folks who are already on his
side. Nobody is to be persuaded by it, rather this fine, over-the-top piece
was John doing a little Texas 'swagger'.
And yes, it has no more any real content than say, the
entire "hope" and "change" Obama campaign.
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