PARC Analysis "He's Lost, He's Desperate"

“He's Lost, He's Desperate” serves as the Kerry/Edwards campaign's immediate response to the new Bush/Cheney ad, “A Global Test,” which was released the day after the first Presidential Debate. This ad is notable, not simply as a response to criticism, but more so in that this ad marks the first time publicly that the Kerry/Edwards ticket has explicitly used the word “lying” in describing the actions/words of President Bush. “He's Lost, He's Desperate,” even in its title, seeks to both remind the viewers/voters of Kerry's strong (perhaps even winning) performance in the first debate and to publicly challenge President Bush's assertion that Kerry will not protect America from terrorism.

This advertisement assumes that viewers/voters will have seen the Bush/Cheney campaign ad, “A Global Test.” The “lying” that is referred to in “He's Lost, He's Desperate” stems from this particular attack ad. Without having seen “A Global Test,” viewers/voters may be confused as to what exactly the Kerry/Edwards campaign is refuting. Although, the original premise expands into a great “lie” by Bush, with regard to the War in Iraq , it is its response to the original attack ad from the Bush/Cheney ticket from which the strength of the Kerry/Edwards advertisement is derived.

“He's Lost, “He's Desperate” opens with a simple image – that of a tall man, standing strong at a podium, facing the bright lights of the media, and facing the audience. What is most intriguing is that the face of this person is not shown. Rather, this simple image encourages the viewer/voter to assume that this is the silhouette of John Kerry. Erickson (2000) writes that Presidents are often linked to the “sites, rituals, and occasions that serve as markers of culture, power, and/or authority” (p.141). Presidents are tall (perhaps an underlying tweak toward the current President), stand strong behind the podium, face the bright lights, and face the American people. This ad seeks to show and remind the viewers/voters that John Kerry is presidential – he proved it in the first Presidential Debate. No face is needed – the connection can be supported through visualized text. President Bush is “lying.” The man who is telling the truth, the man who is facing the American audience and the scrutiny of the media is John Kerry – even if it is in silhouette.

As mentioned previously, “He's Lost, He's Desperate” marks the first time that the Kerry/Edwards campaign has used the word “lying” in a direct criticism of the President. In fact it is ironic that in the first Presidential Debate that Kerry gave a vigorous defense of never having used “the harshest word” in describing the actions/words of President Bush. However, it would seem that the Bush/Cheney advertisement changed this Kerry/Edwards campaign “policy.”

The use of the word “lying” would also seem to be a bit strategic. The word was publicly used when the Kerry/Edwards seemed to believe that its ad could specifically and properly refute the President's accusations. Yet, it may be interesting to consider the thoughts of Postman (as cited in Nelson & Boynton, 1997). Postman discussed the imperative upon campaigns and the media to address the psychological needs of the audience. In this case, the audience is the American viewer and voter. The Kerry/Edwards campaign may have identified an important psychological need of this audience – to be told the truth. The American people do not want to be lied to and it would seem that it is important to the American psyche that citizens are treated as equals, even by their leaders. American citizens, and especially those who exercise the right to vote, may feel as if they are worthy of the truth. As the Kerry/Edwards has worked to construct itself as “the truth-telling” ticket, the use of the word “lying” may be playing into this need of the American voter.

The Kerry/Edwards campaign often employs in its advertisements the use of multiple color changes – from black and white to color and vice versa (Stephens, 1998). Although a negative ad, “He's Lost, He's Desperate” shows President Bush in a similar manner as the Kerry/Edwards ad “Cheney Halliburton” from September 17, 2004. Rather than distort the image of Bush, that of him speaking aboard an aircraft carrier, the ad chooses to allow Bush to be seen just as he was – in “living” color with no distortions.

However, Kerry/Edwards also leave the image of the troops, presumably in Iraq , in color for the same reason. The troops are living a life in color in Iraq and it is important, no matter how negative the ad may skew the war, that this experience is not distorted in any visual way.

Interestingly in the visualized text, the ad allows one word to be infused with color: War. As it flashes across the screen the word is emboldened and bright red. The use of the color red is no mistake. Red can be representative of a variety of meanings. Yet, in this advertisement, two meanings may be likely. First, the word “war” in red could represent danger – the danger of being at war or perhaps, the danger of having Bush as President. Second, “war” in red could represent the blood being shed in Iraq and Kerry's opposition to it. Regardless, the coloring of the word “war” is done deliberately to draw attention to a major distinction between the candidates.

Finally, in the imaging of Bush in this ad, the President is shown twice in the same situation – behind a podium on an aircraft carrier giving a speech. Yet, before the narrator addresses the evidence of the ad's argument, Bush is looking up and making eye contact with the audience. However, after the discussion of the War in Iraq and the issue of skewed intelligence, the image is of Bush with his head down – perhaps unwilling to make eye contact with the audience after being faced with the truth of his action. The image of the President hanging his head does not convey strength. The image of the President's inability or unwillingness to look at the audience does not convey truthfulness. And this is the exact image, one that is weak and dishonest, that the ad seeks to promote of George W. Bush.

Perhaps a clever use of the phrase “paying the price,” this ad would seem to employ a double entendre in its discussion of the War in Iraq . Two major campaign issues that the Kerry/Edwards ticket has focused upon have been the decision to engage Iraq in a military offensive and the cost of the continued fighting in the wake of economic problems at home. “Paying the Price” could certainly be seen as both a reference to the financial cost of the war to the American people and to the loss of American lives, over 1,000, at the time of this advertisement's release. Although, nuanced and subtle this phrase could certainly be viewed from either perspective.

In attempting to reify the argument that President Bush is (and has been) “lying,” the Kerry/Edwards campaign utilizes a headline from the October 3, 2004 edition of The New York Times, often considered the preeminent source of journalism in America. This headline focuses upon the acceptance and use of “skewed intelligence” by President Bush and his advisors in deciding to enter Iraq . This headline serves as the only news report shown in this ad. Yet, as it is a headline from The New York Times , the credibility of the information in the eyes of the viewer/voter would tend to increase. Thus, the reliability and national standing of The New York Times not only strengthens the value of narrator's voice describing President Bush's poor decision-making with regard to Iraq but also strengthens the argument of the President's deception to the American people.

Today, Bush-Cheney '04 announced the release of the campaign's newest television advertisement, "Global Test." The ad contrasts the Kerry doctrine that America must pass a 'global test' before defending itself with President Bush's belief that decisions about defending America should be made in the Oval Office, not in foreign capitals.

Kerry Campaign Called The President A Liar. “Within hours, the Kerry campaign responded with its own ad …‘ George Bush lost the debate,' it said. ‘Now he's lying about it .'” (Dana Milbank, “Bush Says Kerry Will Allow Foreign Vetoes,” The Washington Post , 10/3/04)

Responding to the latest desperate and false Bush ad “Global Ties,” the Kerry-Edwards campaign Saturday launched the new ad “He's Lost, He's Desperate.” The ad notes that not only is George Bush misleading about what John Kerry said in the debate, but Sunday's New York Times reports that he misled the American public about intelligence information in his rush to war in Iraq .

“He's Lost, He's Desperate” will set the record straight in the same markets the Bush campaign airs its misleading ad.

Kerry spokesman David Wade said the Massachusetts senator's new ad will run at least in all the places where Bush airs his own new ad called "Global Test." The Bush ad is scheduled to go on the air Monday on national cable networks and in select local media markets.

That ad refers to Kerry's comment in the debate that a pre-emptive strike must pass "the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons."

The Bush ad called it the "Kerry doctrine," and asked: "So we must seek permission from foreign governments before protecting America ?"

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