Texas Democratic Primary Political Ju Jitsu: Obama Ad Parodies Clinton’s “Red Telephone” Ad

In a classic case of political jiu-jitsu, Democratic Senator Barack Obama has a campaign ad parodying Senator Hillary Clinton’s controversial “red telephone” ad.

We wrote about that controversy HERE and also included an early Obama campaign response. But now this ad is airing in Texas — laid out like the Clinton ad but with a decidedly different message:

My DD’s Todd Beaton thinks that in the end Clinton’s ad was a “gift” to Obama because it showed that he could respond swiftly to an attack and it also gave him a forum to lay out his own argument that he has better judgment, as Obama does here.

The question — that Tuesday’s voting will answer — is whether Democrats in primaries are as influenced by ads and campaigns that raise the fear issue when it comes to alternative Democratic candidate opponents as the American electorate in general has been during the Bush administration. Will raising Obama’s war vote be enough to trump the original Clinton ad? And will Texas Democrats feel that Obama’s wrong-from-day-one stance on the war is what they want or will some share Clinton’s view that they originally supported the war based on information they believed was corrected because they trusted the government?

No matter what the answers to those questions, you can conclude:
–The Obama ad shows quick campaign response.
–If Clinton’s ad hammered home the idea that experience not only matters but could be good for your child’s health, Obama’s ad flatly comes out and make the case judgment matters — bolstering it with specific stands (that have as the assumption that Texas Democrats will agree with them).
–The Obama ad’s use of parody showed a stylistic nimbleness since this kind of parody (which you often see in comedy shows and on cartoons such as Family Guy) is highly popular in 21st century (and still can be seen in the still thriving Mad Magazine, which was born in mid-20th century America). The duplication of the look, feel, pacing and even camera-work of the original Clinton spot is done seriously here, of course, but it displays the campaign’s quick and creative push back.