i don't know why democrats would run away from the ad being intentionally politcal. who cares, its chrysler's money. this is so freakin silly, its like on one hand i love the republicans killing themselves politically over all this "contreversies". on the other hand it makes my head want to explode. a stupid contreversy every freakin day seems like
Values. Not current campaign rhetoric. A republican could watch that ad and think -- Damned straight! They've long wrapped themselves in the flag and touted the american spirit of fighting through adversity and restoring greatness through hard work. Notably absent from the ad was the scene of the Execs firing up the corporate jets to go to Washington, cap in hand. I thought it was a motherhood -- team sports (note the football connection) -- feel good about American hard work type ad. No more. Even weslinder liked it -- and he's unashamedly Republican (poor soul) and, if i recall, wasn't a big fan of the bailouts. No matter. I thought Clint Eastwood's response was good. Read into it what you want -- get off my lawn!
weslinder is way more libertarian than the current republican leadership, the only republicans criticizing this are the ones thinking about the election
Republicans are scared because the auto bailouts are a huge success. They were loudly opposed to them from the get go, and have been using them as a sign of govt. being too big since. Anything that highlights the success of the bailouts in turn highlights that the GOP was on the wrong side. Here's what the bailouts did.
People who are trying to make the advertisement purely political are just reading into it too much. The reason it was the most memorable ad from the Super Bowl is because it played on the undeniable American values of resiliency, hard work, and American exceptionalism. The cinematography and Clint Eastwood's voice made it that much more powerful. We should all be proud of Chrysler, along with GM and Ford, for making a comeback when most people thought the American auto industry was done. Whether it was politically convenient for Obama or inconvenient for the Republicans is irrelevant.
I find it odd that you didn't get the message that Detroit was making a comeback in the Eminem ad. That seemed pretty obvious to me. Anyway even following your own interpretation of the bailout message could've been read in the Eminem ad since why would people want to look at Detroit again if not for the bailout? My point though is that neither ad mentions the bailouts or even implies that the bailouts were what saved Chrysler, Detroit or America. They make it sound like hard work and unity is what did it. Why then are people making an issue out of it? As far as sounding like an Obama campaign ad of course it will sound like an Obama ad because it sounds like any other incumbent presidential campaign ad. This ad could just apply to Reagan 84 Morning in America campaign. This is about a car company getting back from tough times. It just happens this is also an election year and in elections an incumbent is going to emphasize how better things are now than they were when they took office. Karl Rove isn't saying it supports Republican values. He's spinning it to create controversy and stir up the base.
This How someone can change a "Yea America" moment into some nefarious political statement just shows how messed up we are as a country.
The ad and the story is an American success story. It's a great comeback that people from any party could be happy about. The owners of the auto industry and the unionized workers came together to make sacrifices and cuts. In addition the govt. used the nation's funds to bail the auto manufacturers out. It was a case of everyone coming together, and working hard while coming up with a success.
Yeah, it's much more messed up to read a political message in a "Yea America" moment than it is to read a sales message.
Unity between who? Chrysler was weeks away from declaring bankruptcy. The unity was between the government, the unions, and the corporation in the form of a managed bankrupcty through a government bailout. If Reagan had specifically bailed out the company making the ad, that's true. But it's not just like any other incumbent Presidential campaign ad because it directly connects to the President's policy. Chrysler exists because and only because of the bailout. Everyone knows that. It doesn't have to be explicitly said for people to make the connection. It's about a car company that was very controversially saved by one political party while being attacked by the other political party getting back from tough times. There's a big difference there. If Walmart makes this same ad, it has no political connotations. Exactly - that's the point. No one is saying it supports Republican values. That's the point. Everyone who is seeing politics in the ad on both sides of the aisle only see it pointing in one direction. This isn't a "you see what you want to see" Rorschach test. No one is seeing it as supporting the GOP message.
Forgot to respond to this part. The first ad was about Detroit trying to make a comeback. This ad was about "hey, America is struggling. Detroit *made* a comeback. The first ad didn't have things like this: It's halftime in America, too. People are out of work and they are hurting. They are all wondering what they are going to do to make a comeback. And we're all scared because this isn't a game. or I've seen a lot of tough eras, a lot of downturns in my life. Times when we didn't understand each other. It seems that we've lost our heart at times. The fog of division, discord and blame, made it hard to see what lies ahead. The visuals associated with those weren't Detroit - they were America. The messages weren't just about Detroit - they were about America. These were the types of things that made it have elements of a political message that the Eminem commercial didn't have. All the elements of that commercial were about Detroit, cars, and Chrysler.
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My only thought is that partisan political commentary has done more to destroy American journalism and entertainment than reality television. Polluting people's leisure time and information streams with self-serving, ideological neuroses.
I am so with you here. People are putting partisanship come above their nationalism. Rove must be enjoying this.
I love the righteous indignation at people seeing past a nationalistic message to see a political one in an advertisement designed to use that nationalism to get you to buy something. How could people think of politics in that ad! Ugh! What has America come to??!!
Righteous indignation that the message can be owned by any one political party is the argument to which I was contributing. The advertising ruse is a separate discussion. But if it makes you feel better, I find that disgusting, too.
lol, reason.tv shows its fantasy land delusion again. They should roll that in Detroit or any other town that still employs auto workers. The surge and pathetic legitimization of libertarianism from it's once laughing stock status comes from public apathy over partisan bickering, and a successful Republican strategy of self fulfilling prophecy by making themselves as inept and ungovernable as possible.
None of which is mentioned in the ad. This ad is a general platitude about unity. You and others are choosing to read specifics in it. Actually Reagan did bail out Chrysler but that is somewhat besides the point since the ad never directly connects to a president's policy. There is no mention of bailouts or any other specific governmental policy. Honestly do you think Chrysler wants to remind people that it was bailed out? Again I think you are reading a message in this ad, that this is about bailouts, that I don't think Chrysler intends to make. Chrysler is saying they are back, Detroit is back, and America is coming back. Those things sell which is the purpose of advertizing in the first place. As I said Rove is a political animal and it's only his nature to try to spin something to the advantage of his party. In this case riling up the base by claiming some sort of political agenda to benefit Obama on the part of Chrysler and Eastwood gets the base going.
