Clinton spoofs 'Sopranos' and unveils campaign song

[onehandle]

Source: Newsday/AP

WASHINGTON -- The scene: A diner and a jukebox. A nostalgic song. A long fade to black. It worked as a finale for "The Sopranos." It now marks a new beginning for "The Clintons."

Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign on Tuesday unveiled its new campaign song with a Web video that spoofs the final scene of the popular HBO mobster series.

The video and the announcement of Celine Dion's "You and I" as the official Clinton tune cap a monthlong, interactive Internet campaign that drew more than a million viewers to the Clinton campaign Web site and to YouTube, the popular online video display room.

It also illustrates the growing reliance by some of the more technologically savvy campaigns to connect with voters and potential donors in a clever, relatively inexpensive format that is infused with pop culture references, contemporary themes or intimate moments.

Read more: http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/ny-usclin0620,0,2758282.story

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Celine Dion. Kill me now.

[SharonRB]

1. But the video was brilliant.

[calimary]

21. Oh what the hell? The video certainly is clever. The song's not so

terrible, really. Think Middle America, folks. Celine has a large fan base. Granted she's not our cup of tea. I would have chosen something else, and to be honest, I love "Her Strut" by Bob Seger - as suggested elsewhere here. But hey, I'm okay with it.

[Hieronymus]

2. Celine Dion was a mistake ..

[bigscott]

4. she is FRENCH!!

french canadian that is!!

[Hieronymus]

6. You can bet the GOP will make use of the fact that she's French.

[radfringe]

56. yeah, and it will highlight how small mindness of the GOPers

the big tent isn't all that big

[customerserviceguy]

29. Outsourcing a campaign song overseas?

Hmm, maybe people in the US have a different attitude about those north of the border than they do from south of the border, but it's still a dicey move...

I voted for that Dixie Chicks song, myself!

[madrchsod]

34. actually overlakes....

[regnaD kciN]

39. Dear Hillary: Remember the last "voyage"...

...of something with a Celine Dion theme song?

"Near, far, whereeeeeeever you are..."

There may be a lot of icebergs on the ocean of Campaign 2008! :evilgrin:

[Larkspur]

3. Where's Monica Lewinsky?

Do we really want Bill near interns again?

[mzteris]

18. How

trite.

:eyes:

[Cha]

41. Yeah, it was trite

for bill to pull such a stunt.

[mzteris]

43. no - that was just plain damn

stupid.

Nothing trite about it.

But what the friggin' hell does that have to do with Senator Clinton winning the Presidency, might I ask?

[sandnsea]

5. That was very good

Celine Dion - not so much. Blech.

[pepperbear]

7. oh snap! they got johnny sac too! n/t

[jobycom]

8. One of Bill's smartest moves was going to popular audiences directly

When he was getting hammered by the MSM at every appearance for Gennifer Flowers, not inhaling, avoiding military service, and all that noise, Bill stopped making general press appearances, and instead went to closed audiences like MTV, Arsenio Hall, and Phil Donahue, to give his message directly to people. That was the start of his turnaround in 92, when everyone was writing columns about the Democrat coming in third in the polls (behind Bush and Perot).

Because of that, Bill got a high turnout amongst young voters, and that may have been his edge in the election.

Hillary is trying something similar, though not the same, it seems. She is trying to engage younger voters (18-24 crowd) in her campaign. My concern, though, is that she is doing it superficially, and not meaningfully. Bill didn't speak down to his audiences, he just addressed them directly on serious issues and how they affected them. Hillary seems more to be taking an American Idol approach, getting people involved in how the campaign is going, but not in the issues.

On the other hand, she is trying to make use of new media of communications, and trying to get a foothold before the other candidates in either party do, beyond just blogging. The Internet gets people more engaged in two-way conversations, like the fictional "town hall" movement last decade tried to do. This is different than the one way communication of the old media. The rules haven't been learned yet. I'm glad to see her experimenting. I just wonder if this is the best way to do it. So far it's given her a Canadian singer as the sound of her campaign.

Just random thoughts.

[customerserviceguy]

30. Good thoughts

One thing's for sure, media-wise, 2008 is NOT 1992. We didn't even have the Internet then, and the concept of the 24/7 news channel was not as fully developed. Those two things have changed the whole game. Besides, a 61 year old Hillary Clinton is not going to play as well to younger voters as a 45 year old Bill Clinton did.

[silverojo]

35. Um...24/7 news WAS fully developed in '92

CNN launched in 1980. By 1992, it was a 12-year veteran of 24 hour news.

You young whippersnappers need a crash course in recent history. :)

[jobycom]

64. The 24 hour news channels were what almost killed Clinton.

CNN was the giant, and everyone followed them for their leads. When CNN decided that Clinton's sex life and his political strategy were more important than the issues or Bush's history, every channel followed suit.

[geardaddy]

9. Blech. Celine Dion.

[sshan2525]

10. Celine Dion - WTF?

Clueless, just clueless.......

[Hissyspit]

11. Celine Dion?!

Someone who used her new-born baby to sell cars?

[ShortnFiery]

38. Yes, since Alice Cooper has jumped track and gone Full Bore Corporate ...

I wish HRC would have more fully considered my recommendation for her campaign's theme song. :evilgrin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C63dfJVLn10

[AnnieBW]

12. Respect

I was hoping that she'd go with "Respect".

[Sedona]

13. Celine?

OMG! and there were two U2 songs to choose from!

[Deb]

14. I liked the video

It made me smile and forget the destruction for a few seconds, an excellent choice for her campaign. Hope to see more lighthearted ads from our candidates.

[some guy]

15. OUCH?

Okay, first off, I'm not a supporter of Mrs. Clinton, but I really don't want to be too critical.

I don't own a televisopn, so I only saw portions of a couple 'The Sopranos' episodes; I do realize it was popular, but is it really a good idea for a politician to link themself to a fictional organized crime family.

Outsourcing the campaign theme song, also doesn't strike me as a brilliant move.

On the plus side, maybe it will aid her defeat in the primaries.

[Placebo]

16. I wanted "Get Ready" by: THE TEMPTATIONS dammit!

Oh well. This won't keep them from using tons of other songs out there on the campaign trail.

PS, who in the hell voted for Celine Dion? Yikes.

[ElizabethDC]

20. That's what I wanted, too.

I can't believe anyone voted for Celine. I actually like some of her songs, but not this one at all. Disappointing.

[Placebo]

22. Indeed.

Playing this song at a huge rally or something wouldn't get them riled up...it would put them to sleep. :boring:

[mzteris]

17. great video -

even though I never watched that show - I have heard about the ending.

I'm not crazy about Celine Dion - she sounds too friggin' country.

I voted for Journey.

Though I always thought THIS should be her theme song.


http://mog.com/music/Bob_Seger_%2526_The_Silver_Bullet_Band/Against_The_Wind/Her_Strut - should be her theme song.


(In reference to political power than 'sexual', btw - so don't even go there. :P)



edit typo.

[zonkers]

19. IMO, it is tasteless and unpresidential to invoke and glorify the "mafia" for a

campaign ad no matter how hip it may seem to be. Tony and all his real life counterparts are the worst part of umanity.

[Placebo]

23. HaHa

Funny.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

24. LOL

Good one.

:thumbsup:

[tabasco]

40. I agree.

Haha - the mafia's a big joke. Haha. Except for all the dead people and drug addicts, it's a real riot. Haha.

[BlueIris]

48. That was my first thought.

And how.

[IndianaGreen]

51. But Bushes are like Al Capone and the Clintons are like Lucky Luciano

This election is about which crime family is going to run the Mafia.

[Lilith Velkor]

66. That's the impression I got from it

What a creepy ad.

[JI7]

54. in the Clinton's case i can see why it would work, and not in a joking sense either

[Starbucks Anarchist]

60. Have you even seen the show?

[zonkers]

65. Yes. Great show. I am a big fan.

[yurbud]

25. great video to set up a a piece of shit song. I think she's aiming for the Kmart shoppers

maybe Minnie Pearl will be her running mate.

[William769]

26. As long as they are registered to vote!

Anyone else you want to discriminate against?

[yurbud]

44. who said being a Kmart shopper was bad? You're own freudian slip is showing.

[frylock]

27. why didn't she choose celine dion's "misled?"

seems that would have been more appropriate.

[rocktivity]

28. The lack of chemistry between them is downright alarming.

In view of all the criticism, you'd think Hillary would loosen up a little. But maybe that's at the root of her problem: she ISN'T Bill.

:headbang:
rocknation

[knoxy]

31. Bad Marketing Idea

Yeah. Let's use a television show about a crime family as a spoof. Smart one.

Whoever thought of this should be fired immediately.

[madrchsod]

33. she`s from chicago..everyone knows someone who`s connected

[KingFlorez]

36. It's not that bad

It's a spoof of a television show, it's not that big of a deal.

[madrchsod]

32. can`t help myself.....

[SKKY]

37. Celine Dion. Going after the VH1 demographic huh?

:wtf:

[peacebird]

42. even the VH1 folk generally have better taste than a snoozer like THAT for a campaign song

:eyes:

[Captain Angry]

52. Have you watched VH-1 lately?

I turned it on one time recently, and they were playing Slayer. When Slayer is VH-1 material, all bets are off.

[SKKY]

53. Slayer, IMHO, would have been a much better choice than Celine Dion...

[Captain Angry]

67. For Hillary, you're right.

War Ensemble or Raining Blood.

I kid, I kid. Hillary fans, smile.

Actually, any candidate who is still pro-war, especially with Iran, should end up with Mandatory Suicide as their song.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

45. lame lame lame lame

gimme an effin break.

not at all funny, amusing, entertaining, or exciting. Instead, it is precisely what hillary is - a programmed, AI effort at pretend. PLEASE take me out of mine misery, and gag me with mine sliver (not silver) spoon.

[mustang]

46. Fantastic

Clever, simple, and funny. I loved the carrots instead of the onion rings. Chelsea parking. The cub scouts at the table. The video is brilliant. Go Hillary.

[DrFunkenstein]

47. Wow. And I Thought Fleetwood Mac Was Bad...

I really thought she was going to go for "Don't Cry for Me Argentina."

But in all seriousness, I thought Jobycom said it best:

My concern, though, is that she is doing it superficially, and not meaningfully. Bill didn't speak down to his audiences, he just addressed them directly on serious issues and how they affected them. Hillary seems more to be taking an American Idol approach, getting people involved in how the campaign is going, but not in the issues.

Virtually all of the measures she proposes seem to be half-measures, attempts to keep any of the other candidates from owning an issue completely, rather than proposing something actually inspiring.

Maybe my mind has already been too hardened by several moves by her that left the worst kind of taste in my mouth (that may be a mixed metaphor, but it's taking too long to figure it out), but there is something that just strikes me as condescending about her attempts to get across with the "conversation" stuff.

I'm not so much afraid of her awful choices in music as I am afraid of what she'll do - and the human cost - to prove how "tough" she is, financially or militarily. I apologize if that is unfair, but I can't seem to shake the feeling.

[FVZA_Colonel]

49. You'd think people would have figured out by now that letting the Internet pick things

is not a good idea. Ever.

[IndianaGreen]

50. Celine Dion's "You and I" was done as an advertisement for Air Canada

plus Tony Soprano got wacked in the episode the Clintons are spoofing, which is why the screen went black.

Keith Olbermann had a segment about the Clinton spoof, the Air Canada ad, and Tony Soprano getting wacked.

[TheDonkey]

55. I thought the spoof was cute. The song is awful

A really terrible campaign song. Sort of sappy and mopey. Just unusual. But I think the spoof itself was well done.

[Freddie Stubbs]

57. Funny commercial--Terrible song

[Coventina]

58. I find the commercial stupid and offensive. And Celine Dion is just lame.

The "spoof" of the Sopranos assumes that everyone watched the finale. Yeah, like those of us who can't afford HBO?!?!? Or how about those of us who think that glorifying Mafia culture is just wrong?

This commercial shows all the bad stuff about the Clintons. The rich privilege, and the (perceived) lack of moral values.

FWIW, I think Hillary would be a fine president, but this commercial just proves all of the negative things that some people think about her. It was clumsy and ill-conceived.

And all for a fucking lame Celine Dion song?!?!?!
Is she going after the soccer moms with that? Otherwise, it's an inexplicable choice.

[BigDDem]

59. How dare they have a sense of humor - OUTRAGEOUS!

Of course if it were Obama and Michelle the usual suspects would be
fawning over it, but since it's Hillary....

[Starbucks Anarchist]

61. Anyone notice the man at the counter was played by "Johnny Sack"?

AKA Vince Curatola from The Sopranos?

[Melynn]

69. Yeah and I thought that was creepy

Having a gangster give the Clintons the evil eye is creepy.

[hippiechick]

62. Celine Dion? One more reason to never go to a Hillary appearance.

:puke:

[Bake]

63. I kinda liked "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"

Or Respect. But the Sopranos spoof, especially with Johnny Sack, was fabulous. At first I thought it must be a Hillary impersonator, but then they showed the Big Dog and I knew.

The Pukes just wish THEY had come up with the idea.

Bake

[killbotfactory]

68. ...

God, I hate politics.

[marshall]

70. I don't think a Sopranos connection was a good idea

I've never seen the show, all I know is that it's about the mafia and organized crime and putting hits out on enemies. Is Hillary spoofing everything the right wing media spews about her and Bill? What's next? I can't see this commercial being on her website too long--but of course it lives forever on Youtube.