Real Life ad: Clinton Campaign Now Slowly Withering Away

[GreatGazoo]

With many primaries still ahead of us, the Clinton campaign asks supporters to stop walking away. At a time when her campaign should be expanding its reach and trying to close the deal, they are instead still trying to brow beat women and AA into supporting her and to stop walking away from their simplistic and insulting demands for unconditional support.



This new HRC ad has nothing to say about issues. It ties fiction to "reality" in an odd and, to my ear, condescending way. The ad begs us to believe the HRC is not just playing a role in a TV show but the effect is to call MORE attention to this weakness.

As a Democrat I wish that the 2 campaigns were engaged in a more productive and issue-informative battle, like that old beer commercial where they "fight" over whether the beer's best quality is that it "Tastes Great!" or is "Less Filling!" However, Team Clinton seems to announce with this new ad that they are going to continue with issue-less ads that play to bandwagon appeal. The campaign oozes numbers-driven, gutless, narrow-visioned strategy. They seem to look at all of us as only our gender or our race. It is as if they look back at how Obama beat them and think it was all about gender and race. They couldn't be much more wrong.

[SmittynMo]

1. If we could only

get the same results above 34, this race would be over.

[Baobab]

50. Younger people may be a little smarter

because of unleaded gasoline.

Seriously, I would not lie about this.. Its (an average of) 3 or 4 points higher..

In my case i grew up poor without a car...

(Even now I probably spend less time in cars and on highways than almost anybody.)

[djean111]

2. I caught a clip of Hillary speaking to her little Ybor City audience yesterday - has she always been

using Bernie's "I can't do this by myself, I need you to help me" speech? It was jarring.

Especially after her supporters have been crowing about how powerful and connected she is, and how Bernie would not be able to "get stuff done". (Again, I have no doubt Hillary would find willing GOP Congress members to get stuff done, and I have no doubt I would not like that stuff one little bit.)

[GreatGazoo]

5. She is talking I think about getting the nomination.

Sanders built his base like Obama with millions of small donors. Clinton has a smaller donor-base (with many of those maxing out) but the problem is not the total amount of money raised so much as with the lack of reach, the lack of shear numbers of committed supporters.

[Donkees]

3. "You are a resource to be exploited – nothing more."

"When you get this, their attempts to manipulate your emotions will no longer have the same affect on you."

[PWPippin]

4. I watched the ad just before I read your OP about it, GreatGazoo.

And I agree. I found the ad to be soft and "gauzy", without focus, and wondered, if I were an African American woman, how I would take it. I can't know. So, since I'm a white woman of a certain age, another demographic that is expected to support Hillary, I imagined some well known white women actresses instead - Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett - and found myself thinking it all feels so fabricated and, indeed, condescending. These woman live a life so removed from what most people experience that it comes across as acting, which it is, of course. It's a pretty ad, but I think the ad team needs to go back to the drawing board. In the end, maybe Hillary needs to stop acting, playing a role, and be herself.

[awake]

7. If I felt that Hillary was being herself I might like her

Hillary has been acting the part for so long I am not sure that even she know who her real self is, and as for acting the part of a leader she is not a very good actor. Hillary could have used her power base and have backed any number of strong woman who could have run for Pres. but Hillary's ego was too big for that instead of being the "Queen Maker" (as opposed to King Maker) she may have set back the chance of having a great woman President by years.

[GreatGazoo]

8. I have asked myself what would I do differently if Clinton was my client

I have worked on marketing campaigns for some companies that have high negatives. One of which was a very famous microcomputer software company and they told us they didn't want to do ads with phone numbers to call or even those little postcards that drop out of magazines because those would create another channel for people to voice their contempt. I've seen something similar here on DU. A new DUer observed yesterday that only 3 of the 50 threads visible on page one of GD-P had something positive to offer about Clinton (they posted it in HRC group and were banned). One of the comments in the thread was from a Clinton supporter who offered "any thread with a positive for HRC is immediately jumped on."

For corporate clients like Phillip Morris the answer was a total rebranding -- "Altria." Clinton can't do that.

I guess I would just fall back to rule #1 "sell the difference" When you focus on how you are different, don't waste airtime on the obvious. So leave out her gender because although it is a difference with appeal for some, it is obvious. Her difference over Sanders is: foreign policy experience as SoS, the Clintons' role in the economic boom of the 1990s, and ??? She is just tough to sell. Even her experience can play as a negative in a climate where the desire of the voter for more change is still front and center. Being as objective as I can be I just don't see how she wins from here.

[thereismore]

13. Nice post. She's easy to buy, hard to sell. nt

[kath]

29. Ouch. What a great line!

And way, way too true.
I can see Trump using a line like that against her if, dawg forbid, she were to get the nomination.

[thereismore]

34. It's not mine, I saw it on FB, but it's good so I'm using it. nt

[magical thyme]

28. her experience is a negative because of what she has used it for.

Bernie Sanders has decades of experience.

As "the Amendment King" he pushed hundreds of progressive amendments through GOP-led congresses
He brought GOP and DEM senators together to pass "tri-partate" agreements
His reputation among his senate colleagues is: dogged, tenacious, trustworthy, good as his word, honest, not to be underestimated

Hillary's experience leans heavily toward war-mongering and self-aggrandizing. And the Clintons have always been extremely polarizing figures. There's a reason the GOP hates them, and it's not what most people think. It's because they "stole" the GOP space and message, and forced the GOP to choose between moving to the Clinton's left or moving off the deep end right.

Imo, there's just no getting past that with people who leave the rose-colored glasses off when looking at experience.

[kath]

32. And before he became "the Amendment King", Bernie was named as one of the Top 20 Mayors in America

By USN&WR! Shows that he does great in an executive role as well.

He's been fighting the good fight for the 99% his whole life.

[Baobab]

51. I have read that too, that he was a really popular mayor with everybody.. Thats a hard thing to do.

Mayoral jobs are probably really difficult. Local politics is up close and personal.

[GreatGazoo]

33. excellent point:

they "stole" the GOP space and message, and forced the GOP to choose between moving to the Clinton's left or moving off the deep end right.

[kath]

37. I noticed that too. It's an extremely good point.

And something I don't think I've seen expressed before.

[thesquanderer]

11. re: "I imagined some well known white women actresses instead"

Well, this group was mixed, not all AA. But maybe not quite so well known? The first looked possibly familiar to me, I didn't recognize the others at all, but then, I don't watch much TV.

Regardless, it's an ad that obviously plays the gender card (and not much else!).

I think it was an interesting choice to include the words, "strong, but flawed." While she's certainly admitted mistakes when she's had to, I think that's really unusual here, to acknowledge it in a commercial, which is not adversarial like an interview/debate, something that is generally designed to show nothing but positive, and where time is at a premium. It seems she's decided that it's positive for her to acknowledge flaws, not something you'd expect in a political commercial. In a sense it's strange to hear her pitch herself as essentially, "I may not be perfect, but I'm the best you've got." But the actual intent is probably more to show her as "human" as she can come off on the cold side. Tricky, I wonder which of those is the main impression it makes to most people (and whether it matters).

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

6. It's actually a great ad.

We have a series of actors who play their various roles on in front of the camera but who are completely different people in real life supporting a candidate who plays the role of a Democrat in front of the camera but is a completely different person in real life.

[Ford_Prefect]

9. Bingo!

We are being harvested for our votes and our tax money and finally our ability to tell the truth in this post-rollerball world.

Soylent Green will be people yet! Red Bull has a plan.

[mountain grammy]

19. I have to agree..

it is a good ad.. There was one aired in Colorado narrated by Morgan Freeman. Also a good ad. My husband is a Hillary supporter and I watched him during that ad.. he was smiling and nodding.
I don't hate Hillary but have many good reasons for supporting Bernie and believe he will prevail. That said, if she does win the nomination, I hope her campaign can continue with well made, convincing messages.

[kath]

35. Boom! "plays the role of a Democrat in front of the camera but is a completely different person in

Real life".

Yep, phony to the core.

[Madam Mossfern]

10. There's nothing in that ad

that would make me switch my support to Hillary. They're trying to appeal to the people that they already have in their camp. It was, indeed not informative and kind of condescending.

[GreatGazoo]

36. Yes! It says "join us" but feels more like "hey come back" NT

[Scootaloo]

52. There's also that one lady (I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with any of them) reading off a card

"I... support Hill... ary clinton?"

[turbinetree]

12. Let me from the very first............... say one thing ..................................

I am really glad as a man that she put out this "ad", what I do not understand, is to why she did not have a Indigenous woman in that piece, I know I am being picky, but...................is it just me and my culture, my heritage that we are hardly ever represented or spoken about.

I am just wondering, because, in the Sanders endorsements and in some of the Indigenous culture he has gotten and placed qualified people on his team, and has actively been seeking this support, this speaks volumes of how someone is trying to bring us in for inclusiveness, to truly solve the issues on the reservation and in the culture-----------------this speaks volumes in my opinion, and that is why when I saw this "ad", I said to myself, Clinton, lost another great opportunity, or is it just me?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/2/24/1490934/-Bernie-Sanders-Names-Tara-Houska-Native-American-Advisor-to-the-Campaign

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2015/09/04/bernie-sanders-iowa-meskwaki-cedar-rapids/71599838/


Honk-----------------for a political Revolution Bernie 2016

[thereismore]

14. Bernie really took to heart First Nations issues.

I love it.

[turbinetree]

21. I just got goosebumps from your reply.............................

and yes he took it and is running with it----------------------he has gained so much respect from us -------------------because we believe that he will do something and try to continue some of the programs that Obama started


Cherokee (Tsalagi)

Thank you (Wado)


Honk-----------------------for a political revolution Bernie 2016

[thereismore]

26. Thank you! I want to like long enough to see a first Native American President of the US. nt

[turbinetree]

38. I also.............................

[Mike__M]

56. Yes

Mark Trahant wrote recently that our Native "Obama" is probably already a state legislator somewhere.

Meanwhile, this girl is only 14, so she won't be eligible for years; but don't be surprised if we're hearing more from her in future: Naelyn Pike speaks at Tucson rally

[turbinetree]

57. This what is needed more than ever voices......................

speaking out and understanding how the Doctrine of Discovery is being used to today just like it was from the beginning, and to have people understand with there voices that we can make a difference.....................it is out turn

And, if, I lived in Arizona and she was seeking the position for a office, to let the Apache voice be heard .
I would tell her that what she said that day, made me proud to who and what we are we are human beings also.................always have been, and that I would vote for her, we need more Indigenous people in Congress, that support progressive values, that we may all be different but we all want the same equality


Good Post


Honk-----------------------for a political revolution Bernie 2016

[GreatGazoo]

39. I have Blackfoot and Crow in my ancestry and only when I talk about that with other people do I

find out that they too have native american ancestry. There has been surprisingly low visibility for the tens of millions of Americans who have native ties. My late spouse was French and Cherokee and was instantly recognized as such when visiting the Hopi in New Mexico but nearly nowhere else. Few people know that our House and Senate structure is based on the Iroquois' with whom Washington was very familiar.

A former roommate called me one day years ago. He told me that he had had a very unusual experience while visiting New Mexico. One of the elders approached him almost at random and then confidently and accurately described me saying that he had seen me in a vision. They gave him a book to give to me and he did. It is a collection of prophecy, history and environmental messages. Goosebumps.

Life is more than what we see. Much more.

[turbinetree]

41. My mother, my Cherokee mother............never run from who you are and ......................

when we use to drive into the Black Hills, and near the Pine Ridge Reservation, she would tell me of my ancestry and heritage on how the Indigenous People of this land were the first to have a democracy-------------a true democracy.

She would tell me of my ancestors and how during a time that they used to be harassed and hunted down because of there culture, in Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Eastern Band of the (Tsalagi) Cherokee.

She, my great mother, also told me to never let your pride be ashamed of who and what you are, and to remind those that what we see in this country today, even though she is now gone, that what happens in this country repeats itself, in how it is related on the treatment of the Indigenous People.

There is a fact that showed, Indigenous people never struck there children, but when the children were removed from the culture and sent back to "schools, in the East, they came back and they would be grown up in some cases and they would have children and they would strike there children, they became a product of that environment.

She told me that when people see this relationship they then can better understand how to solve the relationship for everyone including themselves, because they really created the mess we see around us today, it was quite prophetic back then when she said it, and how it's being played out today -------------------it is amazing to just think about again


Have a great day

[ljm2002]

45. "Life is more than what we see. Much more."

Amen!

And I use the word sincerely, since the Bible talks about that in the context of faith:

Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Yes there is so much more to life than just what we can see. Thanks for the story, it gave me goosebumps too.

(btw, I am not myself a Christian; no organized religion for me thanks )

[turbinetree]

58. You are quite welcome (Ulihelisdi)..........................

Honk-----------------------for a political revolution Bernie 2016

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

15. Apparently I don't watch much TV.

I don't recognize any of those women.

[Betty Karlson]

16. Just wither away already, Clinton.

Third Way's time has come and gone, and even you must be able to read the writing on the wall. Even with your habitual inclination to try all other options before giving in and doing the right thing, you must agree that this time is not "ready for Hillary".

[thereismore]

17. It's just a creepy ad. These actresses stay in character in the ad. It's like they are not real

people. It looks like they are trying to fool you into thinking that A high-powered lawyer is for Hillary, but it's just smoke and mirrors!

Fake, fake, fake.

[Mother Of Four]

22. It reminds me

Of the "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV" commercial. Not as stilted but the same fakeness factor.

[HenryWallace]

18. She long ago conceded the issues

Without a positive vision of the future she's playing off the same emotions the Republican's do; fear.

[Gene Debs]

20. Let 'em wither, then.

[SheilaT]

23. Apparently I don't watch enough TV.

I don't recognize a single one of those women, and it was only half way through the ad that I understood they must be actors who play roles I'm supposed to be familiar with.

Obviously I don't watch enough TV.

[closeupready]

24. Meh. Not a bad ad, but not a good one, either.

[Motown_Johnny]

25. I think part of the problem with that ad is...

that they are all wearing basic black.


It screams of conformity and suppression of individuality.


Conform!

Vote For Big Sister!







Terrible campaign. Terrible candidate.

[artyteacher]

27. hard to wither away

When you've pretty much won already.

[21st Century Poet]

31. This is sadly true.

If the campaign were somehow longer, Mr Sanders would probably win as his profile rises and Mrs Clinton's falls but with so much already in the bag for Mrs Clinton, I think Mr Sanders is quickly running out of options. If he is to clinch the nomination, he has to start winning now and winning big.

[GreatGazoo]

40. um...Michigan ?

[Scootaloo]

53. Those delusions of grandeur didn't work so well in 2008.

[virtualobserver]

30. their campaign phrase is that she is "fighting for us"

I can think of times that she fought against us....she certainly fights for herself...but I can't think of a moment where she stood up and fought for US!

"fighting for us" is just a clever phrase when it comes out of her mouth and through her ads.

[mhatrw]

42. The REAL WORLD has Hillary Clinton. And MTV has the reruns! nt

[SoapBox]

43. Just say'n...

I love...

Duck season, Wabbit season, Duck season, Wabbit season...

[nxylas]

44. As you'd expect, it's all about her

Not a single mention of the issues, just a lot of blather about how awesome Hillary Clinton is. Is this a presidential primary or Dancing With The Stars?

[Yuugal]

46. Hillary: "Join us!"

Reminds me of one of my fav horror flicks......Join us! (1:52)

?t=112

[thereismore]

47. Haha, one of those women plays a liar on TV. I don't know the others.

But it fits.

[jillan]

49. LOL!!

[jillan]

48. Playing the vajayjay card as a campaign ad for a Presidential Candidate? Have we really become

that dumbed down as a society?

[YourAMIGO]

54. So Hillary doesn't want any votes from men?

I feel like she doesn't care about men. Does she not like men?

[Kalidurga]

55. Sorry I read slithering.