A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....09-14-04....Presidents for Sale

Billie

[Billie]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

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~ Billie, Mama_Bear, dutchess, Aquamarine ~

I found this article, "Presidents for Sale" written by Stephen Battaglio, in a recent issue of TV Guide, and thought it would be interesting to look back at some of the television ads of a few of our past Presidents. I followed a link in the article to http://www.movingimage.us , where one can view the full ads of the candidates - as opposed to the still images I posted below - for as far back as the first TV spot in 1952.

Mr. Battaglio begins with:

"'To think that an old soldier should come to this,' Dwight D. Eisenhower said while filming the first presidential campaign TV spot in 1952. But after he won, candidates have regularly called on Madison Avenue for help."

"An online exhibit from the American Museum of the Moving image called 'The Living Room Candidate' shows the wily work of all the presidents' admen. Here are some of the highlights."

Below are excerpts of Mr. Battaglio's article, citing some of the more memorable campaign ads of Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, and Bush (Senior).

The young, handsome Massachusetts senator's commercials used documentary-style footage culled from rallies and speeches that played to his strengths as a public speaker. "John F. Kennedy's campaign was really onto the importance of television in terms of onveying personality," says David Schwartz, the museum's chief curator of film. Until Kennedy came along, commercials with politicians talking to voters looked stiff and staged.

The ad showing a little girl plucking daisy petals in a countdown that ends with a nuclear explosion and mushroom cloud didn't even mention President Lyndon B. Johnson's opponent, Sen. Barry Goldwater. But viewers knew it meant Goldwater had no qualms about using the bomb. "Daisy Girl" became the most talked-about political ad ever made - even though Johnson only paid to run it once. When Republicans cried foul, the spot was pulled. But news shows ran it frequently. "Nobody has ever topped it," says Schwartz.

Based on his campaign commercials, President Nixon didn't need anyone to break into the Watergate Hotel in order to get reelected. "Richard Nixon really mastered the use of television after learning his lesson in 1960," says Schwartz. Nixon's attack ads against George McGovern employed simple visuals, such as a hand wiping away toy soldiers, planes and ships to depict the candidate's proposed defense spending cuts. Another showed a hard hat looking down at pedestrians - half of whom would be welfare recipients under a McGovern plan. "They're some of the best ads I've ever seen," says CNN senior analyst and former political consultant Jeff Greenfield. "And, given how Nixon ended his career, it seems odd that the ads were accurate."

Campaign ads are now packed with so much information that "they're like video news releases," says Deutsch. But President Reagan's reelection ad team made its point about American preparedness against the threat of Soviet nukes just by showing a bear ominously wandering through the woods (voice-over: "Isn't it smart to be as strong as the bear?"). "One of the most inventive ads ever," says Greenfield. "It never talked about what it was about. The political ad guys today are afraid of being too clever."

The senior Bush's campaign commercial with prisoners robotically going through a revolving door referred to - but did not name - Willie Horton, a Massachusetts convict who committed serious crimes while free on a experimental state furlough program. But on the campaign trail, Bush had made Horton a poster boy for his view that Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis was soft on crime, so viewers got the message. Bush's negative ads against Dukakis were so tough - and effective - that political reporters have put campaign commercials under greater scrutiny ever since. "Every day in the New York Times, they are critiquing ads that ran the night before," says Deutsch.

Mr. Battaglio didn't address any campaign ads after 1988,
so feel free to add your own personal favorites.

Have a Terrific Tuesday - only six more to go!

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 09-13-04 Military Monday

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[Mama_Bear]

Yes, I got it. Answering your mail is on my list of things to do this evening. Don't give up on me! LOL

[tame]

No problem. Just wanted to make sure it made it there :o)

[JustAmy]

"She is a little doll and a lot of fun to be around."

Oh Man ..... are you trying to soften up our Finest Friends? Don't you think you should warn them?

BTW .... by January 20th, she will be 5. She has a December 7th birthdate.

[Billie]

Speaking of which, tomorrow is going to be a Finest re-run, I'm afraid....another Play Day!! I've been so involved in helping Amy with the FR Picnic, I ran out of time and couldn't get an original post finished......but, that's okay, we can all use a "play day" every now and then, right?

I have a feeling we'll be needing lots of play days for the next 6 weeks. :)

[Billie]

Oh nooooo a rerun???? Like I've never done it LOL!!! Really enjoyed your picnic thread....and RE the November 3rd thread....Hopefully the only thing we need to say is BUSH WINS.......REALLY....100%....GIVE IT UP LIBS....HERE'S THE KLEENEX....... :o)

Hey, I may just say VOTE! on Tuesday's Nov. 2nd thread. :) (straight ticket Republican, of course!)

[Billie]

Oh my gosh...just checked out the calendar and...if things don't change...I do Wed. November 3rd. Nightmares of 2000...should I be saving flip flop pictures....Oh My Gosh.... (just kidding...we're going to be celebrating....I feel it in my bones!....plus need lots of help from you sistahs!!!! :o) )

It should be an exciting thread to do, Dutchess! Barring a LOT of fraud at the polling places, the outcome should be the right one - if there is the remotest chance we're wrong, then we'll put a black wreath up for that day, because we WILL be mourning the country. I just don't see it happening any other way than FOUR MORE YEARS!

I agree, Aqua - dutchess is the perfect one to lead the victory dance at the Finest!

[Billie]

Sleep well, Finest Friends. Thanks for stopping in today.

KittyMittens, special thoughts and prayers for you in this time of loss.

[Gabz]

(better late than never)

Good night, wonderful FReeper FRiend.

[dixie sass]

Nighters Billie!

[Kitty Mittens]

Thank you, dear friend.

(((((Billie)))))

[Mama_Bear]

Hey, we're over HERE!
Come on over!

[deadhead]

"Me too....wouldn't it be great to have a "finest gathering"!!!! Hey Aqua and Billie (dansy pippin, free and deadhead too) time to plan a DC trip in January!!!!!"

I am a day late here in replying. Sounds like a great plan to me! D.C. in January!!!

[jamaly]

Thanks for your prayers. My daughter, her twins and I made it safely home a couple of hours ago. We were very, very lucky our homes were safe with no damage at all.

I know many people from the New Orleans area are probably complaining about being told to evacuate and then nothing much happened here. My daughter and I both feel the officials made the right call. There would have been many thousands of deaths if southeast Louisiana had received a direct hit. As it was we were all inconvenienced with massive traffic jams, lines to get gas, lines to go to the restroom and too few hotel rooms. Our bank accounts are emptier by several hundred dollars and we are weary; but, we are safe.

Once again, thank you for your prayers, and most of all Thank you God!

[Gabz]

... but, we are safe.

That says it all, my FRiend, that says it all.

sleep well.

[Billie]

Thanks for your prayers. My daughter, her twins and I made it safely home a couple of hours ago. We were very, very lucky our homes were safe with no damage at all.

I'm so glad to hear from you, jamaly, and that all is well where you are. Agree - way better to take the precaution and be safe than to risk the danger of what it could have been. Thank you for letting us know!