I’d only planned to review the political TV ads offered up by Super-PACs, thinking they would be where the real fun stuff would appear. No reviewer worth his Bushmills, however, could possibly ignore ads currently coming from the parties’ own campaigns. My reviewing cup already runneth over, and it’s only July!
A new Obama campaign attack ad, for example, focusing on Romney’s Bain connection, opened with him singing “God Bless America.” Vocal talent of this caliber, employed to honor the country, hasn’t been seen in public since Roseanne Barr’s rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” at a 1990 San Diego Padre’s baseball game. I don’t wish to be unnecessarily harsh to Governor Romney, but when this same singing clip started leading off the nightly news on North Korean television, you know the guy might consider going back to the day job he gave up completely after 1999.
Romney’s own campaign did struck back quick and hard, however. In an ad attacking Obama for favoring campaign contributors with government favors, the President was heard warbling Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together.” I always thought the story about him running for the presidency only because be didn’t make the cut at American Idol was an urban legend. Now, well…And in retrospect, if American Idol didn’t buy his singing act, maybe the rest of us should have been more leery about buying his Hope and Change number.
It was the substance of this Romney attack ad that really got my reviewer juices flowing, though. The ad hinted, strongly implied, nay, stated boldly, that people who get elected to top public offices in Washington then do a pay-back to those who give them the money to con the voting rubes. Who could possibly have suspected such a thing actually occurs?
Shocking! Utterly shocking!
I mean like you, I had always believed the people made ambassadors to Luxembourg or Monaco got the jobs because of their proven diplomatic skills. Or money contributed to the campaigns of congressional chairmen were allocated in the belief that these statesmen would consider all points of view fairly and favor every interest equally. Or indeed, that K Street isn’t just a place where cogent political ideas are thought through for presentation to law makers, but a laundromat for special interest money operated by ex-congressional staffers.
Who knew, or even suspected such things, until this informative Romney campaign commercial dared speak out? Shocking!
One thing, though. If Obama is paying back his own past campaign backers, might a President Romney be obliged to do the same? Pay back the likes of the Koch Boys, or that Sheldon Adelson fellow, you know, the guy with the worst red hair dye job since Strom Thurmond, or maybe even since that love-struck old professor in Thomas Mann’s “Death In Venice” short story.
I’ve been hearing that Adelson is having some troubles related to a gambling deal in Macao, a deal reportedly under investigation by the present Justice Department. And Adelson is also said to have contributed millions to Republican presidential coffers.
A guy having problems with a federal investigation. The same guy giving huge sums to a party currently not controlling the White House and hence the Justice Department. Could there be a connection? Nah. Such things are just too darn shocking to even consider.
Well, gotta run. Gotta get back to my TV. No telling what the next batch of TV ads for POTUS will bring. We gotta enjoy this campaign season while it lasts because soon, one of these guys is actually gonna win and try to govern.