Obama Ringtones, AKA The Worst Idea Ever

[rodeodance]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/


Obama Ringtones, AKA The Worst Idea Ever

HuffingtonPost.com | Rachel Sklar | June 22, 2007 at 03:00 PM

Hat tip to The Daily Show for bringing this — hilariously — to our attention: Official Barack Obama campaign ringtones. Sweet Mother of God, that is the WORST IDEA EVER. Remember what we said the other day about Hillary Clinton's Soprano's spoof? That it was indicative of her surrounding herself with a great team? Yeah.

Team Obama, not so much, at least based on whoever thought it was a good idea to greenlight Obama's voice over a heavy drumbeat ringing out "We can have universal healthcare in this country! We can do that!"* or the synth disco beat behind "America, it is time to start bringing our troops home!" Seriously. Watch the Jon Stewart version here; it required little in the way of embellishment because these are ACTUAL OBAMA RINGTONES. Sheesh.

This could not be a more inappropriate forum for a soundbite, or a more jarringly incongruous audio backdrop. Yet enough people on Team Obama thought this was a good idea. Obama supporters, you are hereby enjoined from making fun of Celine Dion..........

[NYCGirl]

1. Could it be any worse than the Edwards text message fundraising?

http://techpresident.personaldemocracy.com/node/1220

Following a strong tradition of being the first regarding mobile technologies integration with US politics, The John Edwards campaign, as of last night became the first US political campaign to launch a mobile fundraising initiative. But they did not go through the carriers or Paypal to do it. Instead, they harnessed a new technology developed by Mcommons (formally Rights-Group / Politxt) that converges text messaging with a PBX API to create a seamless "call to donate" process from your cell phone. The campaign was launched last night and only lasted a couple of hours. Here is what happened. Last night over 13,000 supporters who have already opted into the Edwards text messaging campaign received a text message telling then the following:

John Edward wants 2 talk 2 you! Hit Reply. Type "CALL" & hit Send. John will call YOU right back! OR call 202-350-9749. txt STOP 2 unsub

After following those directions my phone starting ringing. I picked up the phone and heard ringing myself as if I was making a call. Suddenly I heard a message from John Edwards telling me the following:

“I’m calling to remind you that with just over a week before the end of the quarter the time to act is now. I’m not asking you to help us out-raise everyone else. I’m only asking you for what we need to get our message of real change out to voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, and other key states nationwide.”

After the message was played users had the option to either press 1 or wait to be connected to a phone bank where an Edwards operator would be ready to take down your credit card number :-) Note: If you follow the process now you will get a similar message from Edwards followed by an apology that he cannot forward you to a call bank anymore. But no worries, If you still want to give go to the campaign website where a big blue Donate link is waiting for you.

[Kurovski]

2. This kinda back-firing crap is what advisors get paid for, I guess.

Or maybe infiltrators! :D

[MADem]

3. It would be one thing if someone UNAFFILIATED with the campaign did it

...but to my old sensibilities, it seems to me like pandering. Pretty brutal pandering, too. It has a big 'Ewwwww' factor.

It's as painful as Nixon on Laugh-In...only, at least you could laugh at Nixon, so it wasn't a total waste.

What's next? Biden Big Pants, With Droopy Drawers? Kucinich teeth jewelry?

Gotta appeal to that youth vote...you know, the ones that don't make it to the polls!!!

[NYCGirl]

4. The only problem with your argument is that Nixon in Laugh-In worked in his favor.

Judy Carne was often tricked into saying "Sock it to me," which then led to her being doused with water or otherwise assaulted. "Sock it to me" became a catch phrase for the show. During the September 16, 1968, episode, Richard Nixon, who was running for President, appeared for a few seconds and asked the question, "Sock it to me?" (Nixon was not doused or assaulted after delivering the line). Five years later, during Watergate, a popular joke quoted Nixon as saying "Okay, you can stop now." An invitation was extended to Nixon's opponent, Vice-President Hubert Humphrey, but he declined. According to George Schlatter, the show's creator, "Humphrey later said that not doing it may have cost him the election." An appearance by a politician on Laugh-In in its heyday would have had the same public impact as an appearance on Saturday Night Live during the latter show's peak years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowan_&_Martin's_Laugh-In

[MADem]

5. Well, that wasn't a close election, really. Plenty of people thought he "demeaned the office" with

that appearance, but it didn't hurt enough to cut into his competition, which was pretty pathetic, unfortunately. He had a helluva machine working.

It might have made some of the younger people think the pole wasn't all that far up his ass, but I recall a lot of 'cluck-clucking' about it, and not in a terribly good way.