Ad Analysis
Art Herbig & Ric Winston, University of Maryland
Kerry/Edwards "Despicable"
- Ad Title: “Despicable”
- Ad Sponsor: Kerry/Edwards
- Issue of Focus: Bush's attacks ads
- Type of Advertisement: Negative Advertisement
- Broadcast locations: Web based and television ad that also aired as a news story on CNN
- Release Date: September 26, 2004
- Length: 30 seconds
"Despicable" Script
“Despicable politics.” “An Un-American way to campaign.” The latest Bush/Cheney attacks against John Kerry. “George Bush and Dick Cheney are using the ‘appalling' and ‘divisive' strategy of playing politics with the war on terror.” A strategy that "undermines the efforts...to combat terrorists in America ” and puts George Bush's ‘own ambition ahead of the national good'. It's time to stop dividing America and stop playing politics with the war on terror.
Analysis of "Despicable"
The New York Times and Attack Ads
This John Kerry ad stems from a New York Times editorial. There is no author of the article, but it does take a firm stance against the Bush campaign. Along with the claims in the ad, the article argues:
It's (the Bush campaign attack ads) not just polarizing - it also undermines the efforts of the Justice Department and the Central Intelligence Agency to combat terrorists in America . Every time a member of the Bush administration suggests that Islamic extremists want to stage an attack before the election to sway the results in November, it causes patriotic Americans who do not intend to vote for the president to wonder whether the entire antiterrorism effort has been kidnapped and turned into part of the Bush re-election campaign. The people running the government clearly regard keeping Mr. Bush in office as more important than maintaining a united front on the most important threat to the nation.
This article was fertile ground for a Kerry attack ad to grow, but because it originates from an unidentified author in an opinion piece, it credibility is more questionable.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/25/opinion/25sat1.html
The Meta-Attack Ad
The Kerry campaign has run several ads, including “Juvenile” and “Not True” most recently, which have directly addressed that fact that Kerry is being attacked by conservative 527 groups or the Bush campaign. Nelson and Boynton (1997) argue that “So many replies on a middling issue signal trouble in any campaign” (p. 106). The middling issue in this instance is attacking.
Response ads are an important part of any campaign. This response ad, though, rather than addressing a campaign issues, is addressing the attack ads themselves. To that end, the ad represents a meta-campaigning issue. At no point during this ad does it point to a specific lie or deception. It functions, thus, as a name-calling ad, which is part of what this ad claims to be critiquing.
Predictably, this ad may not resonate with voters. Nelson and Boynton claim that ads focusing on obscure or seemingly small issues were one of the faults of the Dukakis campaign. Ads that stick to issues which are important resonate more with voters. Ads that can be interpreted as insignificant or without an overarching argument can hurt a campaign.
The Female Narrator
At this time, the Kerry Campaign is struggling with female voters. CNN.com published an associated press article arguing that “ In a new Associated Press poll, Bush and Kerry are running even among women voters, a group Kerry needs to win to have a chance in November.” With that in mind, it is easy to see why they would make the choice for a female narrator in this instance. While a feminine sounding narrator can soften the text of an attack ad, the Kerry campaign needs this ad to resonate with a female audience.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/24/edwards.female.voters.ap/
The Use of Visuals
The visual argument which is being made here is that these two men, Bush and Cheney, are dirty politicians. The ad opens on a picture of Bush and Cheney that has been moved to accentuate the fact that Cheney is standing slightly behind Bush. On top of the picture are the words “Despicable Politics” written in a newsprint type font and cited from the New York Times .
By tilting the picture, the view is distorted and uncomfortably puts the audience in what Meyrowitz's (1982) calls a close interpersonal distance. Meyrowitz (1982) claims that the camera can create a feeling of interpersonal intimacy between the audience and the subject through framing and distance, but that distance can become uncomfortable if we are forced to be too close to the subject and violate the norms interpersonal space, even though the distance is mediated. In this case, the camera is slowly bringing us closer to Bush and Cheney. It is as if the closer we are, the more clearly we can see into their “true” character as despicable politicians. The news type with the source helps to validate their claims. It is not just the Kerry campaign that is saying these things, so is the New York Times.
As the ad continues, the New York Times citations continue to be displayed. A more prominent headline appears and is posted on Bush and Cheney's heads. What is more important is that the word “Un-American” is now written on Cheney's forehead. In a time of terror and war, this ad tattoos Bush and Cheney as “Un-American.”
Like the placement of “Un-American,” the words “appalling…divisive” display how the creators of the ad are using the words to paint a visual picture. They link the two men in the picture by the description of their “despicable” deeds. These words literally link these two men by their negative traits. The ad also uses those negatives to play into a campaign promise that Bush made in his campaign against Gore; he is not bring the parties together, he is dividing them.
As the headline continues to connect Bush and Cheney in their “Un-American” actions, the narrator clearly articulates the points made in the article. At the end of the ad, the narrator suggests that “it's time to stop playing politics with the war on terror.” This ad is a clear indictment of both Bush and Cheney's character and patriotism.
Then, like a savior, Kerry is shown walking on to the screen saluting as a true patriot would. The image accompanies Kerry's approval of the commercial, but it also accentuates its premise. Bush and Cheney are “Un-American” and Kerry is a patriot. This argument is a direct response to the 527 ad claims that attack Kerry's character.
Who's Talking About the Ad
Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post, September 28, 2004
In New Ads for Bush and Kerry, Personal Attacks on War Views
“All told, Kerry and the Democrats have put out three response ads in 48 hours, underscoring their determination to quickly return fire but also allowing Bush and his allies to set the parameters of the battle.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55177-2004Sep27.html
From: Chad Clanton or Phil Singer, 202-464-2800, both of Kerry-Edwards 2004
To: Political Reporter from US Newswire
Kerry Campaign Releases New Response Ad: 'Stop Playing Politics with the War on Terror'
“As the truth on the ground in Iraq falls further and further out of line with the president's rhetoric, the Republicans are resorting to their smear and fear strategies and taking to the airwaves with Progress for America 's dishonest, fear mongering ad intended to divide America and cover up the president's failures.”
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=36928
Kerry accuses Bush, Cheney of 'despicable politics' in new ad
“The ad responds to one running in Iowa and Wisconsin by Progress for America Voter Fund, an affiliate of a group created by longtime Republican consultant and former Bush aide Tony Feather. The fund's ad shows Sept. 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta, Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and references terrorist attacks in Russia , Spain and the United States . ‘Would you trust Kerry against these fanatic killers?' the ad asks.”
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-26-kerry-ad_x.htm
Works Cited
- Lakoff, George. Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think. 2 nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.
- Meyrowitz, Joshua. “Television and Interpersonal Behavior: Codes of Perception and Reponse.” In Inter/Media: Interpersonal Communication in a Media World, edited by Gary Grumpert and Robert Cathcart. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982, pp. 221-241.
- Nelson, John S. and G. R. Boynton. Video Rhetorics: Televised Advertising in American Politics. Chicago: University of Illinois , 1997.
© Copyright 2004, The Center for Political Communication and Civic Leadership.