Aug 10th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
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August 10th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
errr…let’s see…oh! oh! obama is a better-defined candidate than mccain! damn i’m good.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
McCain can’t afford to be shot in HD. He already sounds like Abe Simpson, his campaign can’t afford to have him look like it too.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
They asked McCain if he wanted to make a commercial for HD sets, and he said, “What? You got your VHF, and your UHF… what kind of channels are HD?”
August 10th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Obama is better at impressing people who buy lots of expensive gadgets?
August 10th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I don’t think McCain even knows what VHF and UFH are.
Matt, someone at ThinkProgress needs to make a little URL icon (I don’t know what they’re called — I feel so much like McCain right now — but the one at the main TP site is the letters ‘TP’ in a black background) because right now it’s just a white page with a tiny globe in the center.
It is really bothering me.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Obama is better at impressing people who buy lots of expensive gadgets?
The fact is, here in the Heartland average white Americans hate TV…especially that new-fangled HD crap! Gimme bunny-ears on top of yer set and snowy static in front of my NASCAR races, or git out!
August 10th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
The wrinkly-faced white-haired dude would scare America’s children if he were in HD.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Um… They didn’t have High Def when all the stock photos and clips of McCain were made. Ever notice how all his campaign photos make him look younger? And I’m not talking about the Vietnam footage.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
p.s. Welcome to Think Progress Matt!!!
August 10th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
McCain in HD? I hope his handlers make that mistake sometime between now and November. If you think he looks old and wrinkly now, just wait until HD reveals more than you want to see.
In other words
Obama + HD = Look at me!
McCain - HD = Don’t look TOO close!
August 10th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Mmmm. Metaphors.
HD represents change. However, there are two types of people affected by this change. The Cable/Satellite subscribers and people who own HDTVs, let’s call them Democrats, look forward to this change because it will enhance their lives. On the other hand, those with old fashioned analog TVs, let’s call them Republicans, dread the change because they believe that their lives will be more complicated than what it already is because they will be forced to purchase one of those newfangled gadgets. Unfortunately, the Republicans can complain all they want but that doesn’t change the fact that HD goes into effect after the first of the year, whether they like it or not. It’s the law of the land.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Not as a metaphor, but I think this will come into, um, focus at the debates. Maybe it’s not this one, but I think probably, it will become known as the HD election. Even though not everybody has it, lots of people in Washington will see it in HD, and the contrast will be striking.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Hey, isn’t arugula just HD Lettuce?
August 10th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
McCain camp:
HD, what’s HD, is that like that iphone and internets thing????
I have a lobbyist on my campaign that wants to push back the switch over to HDTV past Feb 17, 2009. That must mean HDTV is bad, like communist, terrorist, and all those other ist people.
Damn it, there are kids on my lawn again and clouds, those stupid clouds. One day I will get those clouds.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
The thing that I can’t figure out from the commercials is how “Obama wants to increase government spending.” leads to “Fewer jobs!” The conservative argument against government spending has always been inefficiency, not unemployment.
August 10th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
One campaign has chosen to cater to the habits of a privileged and techno-savvy stratum; the second has chosen ignored that stratum, preferring a populist appeal. With the TV ads, the second campaign has failed to understand that its strategy means surrendering an important chunk of viewers while still having to fight for its target base. Too soon to tell if that applies to voters as well as viewers.
August 10th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Seems any debates will be broadcast in HD. Obama and McCain side by side in HD.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:08 am
Do you think McCain’s campaign wants him looking any older than he already is?
August 11th, 2008 at 2:47 am
Ladies and gentlemen, Krusty the Klown.
August 11th, 2008 at 5:13 am
It’s about age and appearance. Obama will look fine in HD, but imagine how much older McCain would look in high definition. Obama’s going the JFK route, while McCain is avoiding Nixon’s folly.
August 11th, 2008 at 6:19 am
McCain definately would not benefit from HD. Yes, as has been noted, he’s old & HD would make it that much more obvious, but he’s also got a bunch of scars & that weird cheek thing that could be off-putting in HD.
I guess the metaphor could be that the more scrutiny one applies to McCain’s campaign, the more unpalatable the picture becomes.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Someone on the internets opined that HDTV will do for Obama what the televised debates of 1960 did for Kennedy- make image an even bigger issue.
I think that has some merit to it. But, of course, I laughed quite loudly at your post because it’s the quintessential metaphor for this election: Change v. More of the same crap.
Or maybe I just love HDTV. and Barack Obama.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:49 am
If you were McCain would you want to be photographed in HD?
August 11th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Again, the HD commercial indicates how Obama comes from new school way of thinking. I think it is a winner for voters that are less than 50 years old.
August 11th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
McCain - Not enough pixels to lead the United States.
Splotto, I think you are on to something.
August 11th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
HD is what elitists watch on their really expensive big screen teevee’s that real american’s can’t afford cause they need to gas up the regular guy dodge hemi.
August 11th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Funny, especially after McCain was at Sturgis last week. “You appear ON a HD not IN one” he laughed at his advisor. “HD stands for Harley-Davidson, doesn’t it?”
August 11th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Funny how as I fast-forwarded through the commercials on the Olympics coverage I kept seeing Obama’s smiling face! Obama’s smiling face! Obama’s smiling face! each time a McCain spot went flashing by…
August 11th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
HD is not kind to those who have… Shall we say it, detailed skin? If McCain was more accepting of his age and appearance, he could, like Robert Redford, just wear it as a badge of experience. Those who inhabit themselves with some degree of confidence can make up for not being supermodels.
August 11th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I don’t think it matters. Have you SEEN McCain’s scary fake grin? The one he uses right after he says something really frightening? Or when he says something highly critical of Obama? It looks horrible on low def. It will look horrible on high def. If people vote on message and substance, McCain SHOULD be sunk. If people vote on image, particularly the contrast they’ll see in the debates, McCain IS sunk. This is not a candidate with a, uhhhh, selling physical presence.
August 11th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Stephen Daugherty: As a fellow Dougherty (OK, O instead of A; close enough), “detailed skin” is a great line. Thanks.
August 11th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Again, the HD commercial indicates how Obama comes from new school way of thinking. I think it is a winner for voters that are less than 50 years old.
Mind if we make that “less than 52″?
August 11th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
clarity vs. obscurity
August 12th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I think the broadcast quality of their ads is a perfect metaphor to describe their campaigns. Obama sees things with plenty of clarity, articulates his policies in greater detail and his speeches are full of vivid imagery that inspire a nation to dream of a better future. McCain prefers bland, ambiguous platitudes that are long on bluster, short on substance and hopelessly bogged down in the past. To sum up: Obama is high tech, McCain is high blood pressure.
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