Bush-His Job Gone or Yours

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2004
Bush-His Job Gone or Yours
22
Tue, 08-24-2004 - 9:06pm
Celebrities Appear in New Anti-Bush Ads

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&ncid=703&e=7&u=/ap/20040824/ap_on_el_pr/celebrities_ads

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - Young blacks walk to a city polling place, only to be blocked by a menacing white cop. Businessmen unwillingly parachute into Iraq (news - web sites). When Americans begin disappearing from their jobs, actor Matt Damon says, "George Bush (news - web sites) — it's his job, or yours."



Each scenario is part of a new series of anti-Bush ads created for MoveOn.org, an upstart political group that uses the Internet and other media to skewer the president and his policies.


The release Tuesday of 10 ads coincides with the final 10 weeks of the presidential campaign. The spots draw on the talents of A-list directors like John Sayles, Rob Reiner and Doug Liman and stars that include Scarlett Johansson and Kevin Bacon.


Many of the spots likely will remain on the Internet, circling among activists, rather than appearing on television. MoveOn says that while it has committed to a multimillion-dollar ad campaign throughout the fall, it will test market the ads and commit to airing only those that have a discernible impact on voters.


"We let creative people be creative, then throw it at testing and see what sticks," said MoveOn political director Eli Pariser.


Benny Boom, a leading hip-hop video director, produced the first ad in the series MoveOn will release. The group has committed to airing it next week on cable channels that target urban voters.


"We've got to get George W. Bush out of office, and it's very important that kids understand what a serious condition the world is in with this madman," Boom said.


With a throbbing bass line and wailing sirens in the background, Boon's ad shows a white police officer confronting young blacks out to vote. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's the problem?" the officer asks. "No problem — we're here to vote," a young man says, and those in the group raise their voting cards.


In a playful animated spot voiced by Bacon, Johansson and longtime actor-activist Ed Asner, a flight attendant straps parachutes to businessmen chortling over war profits and then pushes them out over Iraq. Bacon asks, "What if the same men who profited from the war were asked to fight it?"


The ad featuring Damon reunites him with Liman, who directed their 2002 hit "The Bourne Identity." In that spot, various working people — doctors, firefighters, auto factory workers and teachers — disappear as they do their jobs. "Since George W. Bush has been in power, he has lost over 1 million jobs. That's more than any president has lost since the Great Depression. George Bush — it's his job, or yours," Damon says.


Jonathan Wilcox, a Republican strategist who teaches a course on politics and celebrity at the University of Southern California, said MoveOn's ads are not likely to resonate outside the group's core audience.


"These ads are artistic portrayals, cool and interesting, that play to only themselves," Wilcox said. "They don't intend to turn a single undecided voter."

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Thu, 08-26-2004 - 11:04am
I think Hannity gets a hold of an issue, and plays it to death, and hypes it too much, turning what should be a small issue into a larger one. This is what I really dont like about him.

I am also tired of Rush as well, but I do listen to his show sometimes when I am in the car in the early afternoon, as I prefer talk radio to the music stations, where it is 50% commercials 50% music.

I think Ann Coulter and James Carville would be an interesting matchup as they both know their stuff, and can both get extreme in explaining their points of view. It may come to blows.

I like Curtis and Kuby too. They both seem to have their heads screwed on straight, and can disagree while acknowledging that the other person's point of view is valid.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
Thu, 08-26-2004 - 11:05am
Isn't that the interview where Kerry uttered the now famous "thats not a flip-flop, thats not a flip-flop" line?

I missed it, but have seen snippets replayed either on the web or on TV. I am bummed that I did miss it, because I know that Russert doesnt back down, but remains fair.

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