Tom Tancredo Ad, An X-ray of His Mind Will Soon Be on TV: A Political Campaign Ad Analysis
Nov 12th, 2007 | 13 responses
UPDATED 1:20 am MST: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3855133 ABC has uploaded the ad to its site. It’s a bit washed out, but it is all there.
Tom Tancredo’s campaign ad is designed to be “shocking,”and it has legs, though the candidate might not….
We in his home state, Colorado, are not supposed to see Representative Tom Tancredo’s ad. Neither are you. Unless you live in Iowa.
But Representative Tancredo is hoping his ‘shock’ ad will generate free publicity, so you might see it anyway. He’s hoping that media will carry it for free as ‘news.’ They likely will, actually have already, but perhaps not the way Rep. Tancredo imagined.
Terry Jessup from KCNC CBS4 affiliate in Denver reported on his conversation with Tancredo today.
Congressman Tancredo, “… told me he has to do well in Iowa or money will dry up and he’ll have to drop out of presidential race. He says the controversial new ad will definitely get him noticed.”
The ad comes at a time when Representative Tancredo’s numbers are flagging and his donations are way down. The ad is meant to provoke and inspire lots of media coverage so that the ad will infiltrate people’s living rooms over and over again… and then hopefully money will roll in again. The ad was designed to make big ad buys.
He may get bloggers, but some think he might also, without meaning to, get YouTube. From distant thunder I hear, there are parodies of his ad already in the works.
Think of the AppleHillary ad. Think of the original ad from which Tancredo’s ad appears to draw its oeuvre…1964 Lyndon Johnson anti-Goldwater ad (here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKs-bTL-pRg) showing a child counting daisy petals, then stop-motion zooming into her eye… where a mushroom cloud forms. Lyndon’s voice-over implying, Elmer Gantry style, that all of God’s children are going to die if Goldwater, ‘nuclear war monger,’ is elected.
Add ‘Eau de SNL’ to all this, and there may be a YouTube Festival revolving around scary ads… although have you seen the content in horror and disaster films teenagers not only sit through in cinema without blanching once, but also laugh over?
Tancredo goes on to say the ad is meant to make people uncomfortable… the ad shows the imaginary blowing up of a family shopping center by a terrorist. Tancredo says: “There is nothing, absolutely nothing that says this can’t happen in the United States.”
Tancredo commented about his ad depicting a seeming young person in a hoodie with backpack blowing families to Kingdom Come: “I thought it (the final ad) was a little tame. When I explained what I wanted, um and they came back with this after two or three different iterations of it, um I finally accepted it, but ( Tancredo laughs here) what I had in mind, was um a little more dramatic than this.”
Tancredo’s ad opens with him standing in a light-toned, patterned-fabric suit, next to large American flag on left screen. There’s a wall of Reader’s Digest looking “Great Books Club” hardbacks in red. green and dark yellow in the bookcase behind him. Representative Tancredo says: “Hi, I’m Tom Tancredo, and I approve this message… because someone needs to say it.”
Then an announcer comes on: a fellow sounding a lot like the man who used to do all the spooky movie preview ads, one who could just be saying, “I think I’ll go do the dishes”– and make it sound like Rodan, clawing for blood of the firstborn, has just landed again. The opening carries the sound of a heart beating hard in the background. This under-sound sort of goes into an arrhythmia in the middle of the ad, and then quits halfway through the word ‘politicians,’ near the end, an odd symbolic place to stop.
The announcer says (verbatim transcript I took down from TV ad):
“There are consequences to open borders beyond the 20 million aliens who’ve come to take our jobs. Islamic terrorists are now free to roam US soil. Jihadists who are fraught with hate, free to do here as they’ve done in London, in Spain, and Russia
“… the price we pay for spineless politicians who refuse to defend our borders against those who come to kill.”
Aside from 2 serious errors in the root logic of the ad, one of which infers that if our Southern and Northern Borders were closed tight like a vacuum-sealed coffee jar, it would prevent terrorism… it wouldn’t. The 9-11 terrorists were all here legally, had come right through government daylight channels.
The second wobbly inference in the ad, that others come illegally to take ‘our jobs’… it’s hard to imagine that the souls who scale the fence are also carrying a DayTimer and know how to run Vista (We can hardly run Vista ourselves, come on)….
but, setting aside those underlying assumptions in the ad…
The visual is a seeming young male, ‘Hoodie man,’ with backpack. Pan shopping center. Pan leg of child running in shopping center. And etc. Finally, legs of Hoodie man shown as he leaves his back pack on the floor. Bloodied child being carried. (Picture of actual child from Russia) Then,
Kaboom. Audio: a big ‘shot’ sound. Not the sound of a real explosion. Not a high powered firearm either. More like a synthetically amplified sound in echo mode on the board, with maybe some ‘concert hall’ reverb/ tremolo laid over.
The final shot then to close the ad: a black screen with the words: “Tancredo before it’s too late.”
This final screen may confuse to some extent, because the highly symbolic last shot showing a black screen, has been used since time out of mind in cinema to mean, ‘and everyone died,’ (or characters are now being sexual and ‘Shhh you aren’t allowed to peek’).
In this campaign ad simulating a terrorist act, however, the final graphic of a totally black screen with lettering reversed-out in the final message, makes the symbology appear as though everyone on earth has died…. except Representative Tancredo.
Colorado political analyst and consultant, Eric Sondermann believes “linking illegal immigration and potential terrorism is a legitimate campaign issue, but that the ad ignores the core of these complexities,” and that Tancredo attacks in typical ‘over the top’ fashion…
During the televised debates of Republicans running for nomination, Tancredo’s ‘out there’ style of thinking and speaking, has obscured with heavy smoke thus far, exactly what Rep. Tancredo’s actual problem-solving stratagems are in effective detail.
It may be that many a politician has the ability to rouse others by poking at the same sore over and over, but a politician also needs skills to heal what is wrent or injured, to better what is broken. That takes gaining and keeping cooperative coalitions to carry ideas forward, something Rep. Tancredo has yet to demonstrate.
Some think his broad statements are meant to draw attention to himself for attention’s sake. Some think he made a good many ‘not quite on-register’ comments when he used to be a sometimes guest on a weekly public access TV show in Denver long ago.
But, Sondermann, who has guided many a politician’s campaign for office, points out too, “One of the great things about having little or no chance of being elected, is it’s liberating to do whatever you want.”
There’s a point there, a tempered one: The clang is that Tancredo has used his extensive TV time today and earlier — mostly talking casually and with some chortling about how the ad is supposed raise money for him, how he thinks this ad is really going to disturb people … rather than talking about the issue he’s says is utterly critical. Safety of human beings at malls.
Tancredo told reporters today that he’d heard intelligence reports about terrorists planning to bomb shopping malls in Chicago, L.A., and other cities around the holidays.
He said he approved for the ad, a grisly graphic photo of a schoolchild hostage in Russia, because ‘he was there, he saw the aftermath firsthand.’ Some have said he visited the site quite some time afterward, but was not there when the event took place nor during recovery.
He says if this ad works in Iowa, he will use it in New Hampshire.
No one of right mind rules out that anything could happen anywhere in the world, including the United States. And that though there isn’t a terrorist under every bed, there are insane people who wish to do mass murder.
But, some are bound to ask if the image Representative Tancredo has in his mind, and now in his ad, if this is his absolute worst mind-image… and if a candidate seeking nomination believes this worst will come to pass with all his heart and mind… isn’t the idea of wanting people to give money for an election and inauguration that are 12 and 14 months away, instead of acting in ‘emergency mode’ to intervene so this ‘worst fear’ will not occur…isn’t that somehow odd?
Some will ask too, Has Representative Tancredo’s ‘accidentally or on-purpose’ bombastic style burnt so many bridges for him politically with peers in power, that those others are already working on these matters behind the scenes… and simply excluding Tancredo?
Some will notice that one of the worst terrorists in the history of the United States was not an Islamic anything. He was a homegrown Timothy McVeigh. Other groups who are Islamic, who are Latino, and who are all here legally or were born in the US for generations now, and contributed much to this land … will, and rightfully so, object to an ad claiming their groups and no others, are the ‘problem’ one more time… all in order for a politico to try to raise money on their backs. Again.
But, James Dobson from Focus on the Family hasn’t made his individual pick yet, and his office says he’s considering throwing his endorsement behind one of four Republican Candidates, using anti-abortion as his weighing scale… and Representative Tancredo is one of those four.
Yet also, Representative Tancredo has said he will not seek re-election to his Congressional seat if he doesn’t win this nomination from his party.
In the end, given all the donations he’s received to run and… the one-million-dollars Representative Tancredo says he spent on this ad… it would seem ironic for the ad to run faster and reach further, than the candidate who ponied up for it.
h/t Helaine
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13 Responses to “Tom Tancredo Ad, An X-ray of His Mind Will Soon Be on TV: A Political Campaign Ad Analysis”
[...] Tancredo is hoping his shock ad will generate free publicity, so you might see it source: Tom Tancredo Ad, An X-ray of His Mind Will Soon Be on TV: A Political Campaign Ad Analysis, The Moderate Voice Domestic and international news analysis, irreverent comments, original [...]
(This would actually work on Saturday Night Live)
* * *
It’s a warm day. People are out in short sleeves and in shorts. The scene is the outside of a sandwich shop or a pizza parlor.
Into the picture comes a guy wearing a jacket, with roving eyes. He looks around, then wanders into the building.
Shortly after that, the audience hears shouts and screams.
BOOM! The building is blown up.
As the debris falls to earth, displayed in front of the smoke, is:
[Nike swoosh]
“JUST DO IT”
DLS, you should be a writer for SNL. I think if the ad sticks in pop culture’s mind, you’ll see many comedic variations on your scenari.
I concede I neglected to put the Arabic equivalent of “JUST DO IT” underneath the English lettering.
[...] Clark Permanent Link to Tom Tancredo Ad, An X-ray of His Mind Will Soon Be on TV: A Political Campaign Ad … This Summary is from an article posted at The Moderate Voice » Domestic and international news [...]
Rather than discuss all of CPE’s slightly-coherent ramblings, let me point out how her “2 serious errors in the root logic of the ad” are wrong.
1. Everyone who’s familiar with this issue realizes that terrorists would prefer to enter legally. However, if they can’t do that – because of tightened rules – then they’ll do so illegally. To think they’ll all enter legally is fighting the last war. The FBI director, TX Congressmen, and others have warned about terrorists coming over the borders. And, if our borders were much more secure, that wouldn’t prevent terrorist infiltration, but it would make it much more difficult. Just because we can’t entirely prevent infiltration doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to prevent most of it.
2. Regarding the second point, there are millions of American citizens working low-wage jobs; obviously, CPE is oblivious to their concerns and prefers importing a third-world servant class.
Hi LonewackoDotCom, thanks for your thoughts. Here are some thoughts in return…
1. I’m think I’m pretty well on record (Clear Channel et al) that our borders need much more security. I think you are saying that you think so too? We can agree on that then, although my reasons might be different than yours. Some of them are probably the same.
2. My family and I come from the very bottom of the ‘third world servant’ class, LDC, … but that’s a story for another time. Regarding the kinds of jobs you mention… in the article, I wanted to try to analyze only the words in the ad itself… specifically the word “our.” If the wording had been as you put it, “coming to take [away] millions of American citizens’ working [class] low pay jobs,” the analysis would be quite different. And the ad itself would have been sharper aimed. No kidding, they should have hired you to be the fine tuner.
Campaign ads are fascinating and I’ll be doing more ad analysis at TMV re candidates from many /all sides, and also other kinds of ads regarding their image and audio symbology and the subtext of the words.
dr.e
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LZBjXr5CWUI
It’s on You Tube. I wonder why a shopping mall was chosen, rather than a church or workplace or school or whatever?
I’m really sick of politicians using fear as a motivator or catalyst or whatever. Blah.
If there was a place in the brain that could be manipulated by another’s finger to stir up fear, than that is an apt description of what I believe is going on here. Fear mongering works and the current administration rides upon it like a prized horse. I’m not sure the war on terror even exists outside of a bees nest in the middle east we just love to desecrate and stir if nothing else to prove the predictable: that bees do react when their nest are disturbed. Some of those bees have stingers. Some of those bees have not forgotten what we did to their queens, to their brothers and sisters, their baby children. Some of those bees may just decide we are right, that they have no right to live and just disappear themselves without a sigh as to where they have gone to.
I for one would be willing to risk the ocassional bee bite, rather than live in chronic fear and have that fear be manipulated to the tune of millions of dollars, and to have that fear result in me and you and us and them spying on each other, not to mention the undoing of some of the most important parts of the constitution.
Speaking of money making ministries, If only had invested my cookie jar savings in defense funds, war toys, or high tech security items– perhaps I could be persuaded to just shut up while collecting my check.
Living in fear of the unexpected is a sure fire way to make you a bumbling insecure parcel, a victim of catastrophic thinking. But, if you don”t shake at all and find yourself investing in the products that fear predictably produce, why you are a shrewd operator, indeed!
–Spirasol
It features larger crowds, more victims and property damage. It’s a very and possibly the most common scenario that we suspect may materialize someday. Just get a job or jobs as one of the cleaners there, or be an impostor, bring in one or more large bombs disguised as garbage cans, and set off the bomb or bombs in the food court. (Bonus points for doing it when Santa and the kids are there!) It’s not only probably the most commonly thought-of scenario, it likely was among the first or the first conceived after 9-11.
There are other scenarios possible, both attacks on groups and individual, seemingly random attacks, such as my colleagues and I discussed openly and morbidly after 9-11, but I needn’t go into detail about these other than to note that doing so in no way reveals excessive or unnecessary fear, just intellectual interest in what threats may be created.
Complainers may note that the ad could have been “worse,” i.e., more hard-hitting, if it had instead featured the fireman with the child at Oklahoma City. (Chris Fields and Baylee Almon)
It always seemed to me that one running for public office should avoid the sense of feeling desperate, or behaving desperately. Desperation is rarely pretty, and I would think that rather than inspiring confidence in potential voters – or perhaps more importantly in potential contributors – most viewers will find that Tancredo’s bombastic advert cloaks him in little more than the unappealing odor of desperation.
Yet, somehow, in some way, someone in his camp convinced him that using this type of scare tactic would make him seem strong and appealing. No doubt that’s one reason why he took the opportunity to inform the spot’s viewers that not only had he approved the message, but that “someone needs to say it.”
As one offended by the style of the message, even without discussing whether I agree or disagree with it’s content, I can’t help but to feel that it’s the lack of judgment demonstrated by his decision to run the spot, and to endorse it as he has, that instantly calls into question for me his suitability as a national leader, let alone a local one.
Wouldn’t his entire position have seemed more mature, more reasoned, more steady, and all the more “candidate like” if he had tried to teach the public about his message and opinions in a positive manner, rather than by scaring them?
The candidate may well enjoy a sugar high from this spot. After all, the only bad publicity is no publicity. But like a sugar high, any momentum which this negative advert give him will soon thereafter crash and burn, given how in the end the electorate won’t want to feel manipulated by cheap sensationalism into voting for a particular candidate.
What I say is just one reader’s opinion, of course, but wow, do I ever wish we could see an avalanche of intelligence coming from candidates, rather than truckloads of fear, scare tactics, and desperation.
[...] Pinkola Estés has identified the twisted logic in this: Two “serious errors in the root logic of the ad, one of which infers [...]