30 Seconds over MTV...
Each candidate was invited to submit a 30-second video that was aired before the debate tonight as a "get to know you". You can see them
here. Quite the mixed bag. Here's my impressions. Go spend the 4 minutes and vote for yourself.
- Edwards: Blah Very standard fare. Pretty much a 30-second campaign commercial introduced by a young black man.
- Clark: Outstanding. I'm a Dean guy, but this was the best video. It's a "not quite what you think" classic, and he pulls it off well.
- Kucinich: Not bad. Ani DiFranco is a nice touch, not a bad groove, but it just didn't quite hang together.
- Kerry: Blah. Another campaign ad. And what's with the shot of the back of his head when they first show him speaking at the podium in the middle of the spot?
- Dean: My guy. Outside of Clark, my favorite spot. Well produced, high energy, gives you a feel for what the campaign is like. You can't say anything significant about the issues in 30 seconds without sounding like a bumper sticker philosopher, so why try? Do something else. Clark did, and so did Dean.
- Braun: Why? OK, good line about her mother and "we're all in the same boat now", but a plain talking head spot isn't in the same league with the others here. Especially one that doesn't really say much of anything. I can't understand why she's still in the race. I respect her achievements, but she's just not making an impact anywhere as far as I can see.
- Lieberman: Blah. It's like watching a PowerPoint presentation after your fourth espresso.
- Sharpton: Disappointing. I have real problems with Sharpton as a candidate, but he's usually an outstanding speaker. This video shows none of it. Like Kerry's, it has shots of the back of his head. The sound is muddy. Bonus points for mentioning "537 votes in Florida", but loses them plus a few with the tag line "Walking the Talk", which makes me think of IBM middle managers who'd never heard the phrase "if you talk the talk, you gotta walk the walk" and mangled it the same way.