PARC Analysis "Looking"

Demonstrating the speed with which presidential campaigns operate in the final weeks of an election, the Kerry campaign released “Looking” on October 19, 2004, as a direct response to the October 18 Bush-Cheney ad, “Risks.”

Both ads focus on matters pertaining to the candidates' records on military spending, foreign policy, and the war in Iraq . “Risks” criticizes “… Kerry and the liberals in Congress' pre-9/11 world view and asks if their policies are a risk we can afford to take today” (“Bush-Cheney '04…”). Kerry's response ad, “Looking” “…recounts the mess in Iraq Americans are seeing every day and notes Kerry's strong record on and commitment to keeping our country safe” (“New Response Ad…”). Both ads utilize fear appeals in their attacks, employing similar visual and verbal elements to warn the public of the consequences should the “other” candidate win.

However, the ads are different in their types of attack: “Risks” is an issue/negative ad, whereas “Looking” is an issue/comparative ad. These formats are reflective of the general strategies of each candidate, with Bush releasing predominately negative ads and Kerry releasing predominately comparative ads.

Windows to the Soul: the Attack

This ad's attack on President Bush is based on the evaluation that the war in Iraq is such a grievous failure that even the average citizen judges it as such. The most striking feature of this ad is the movement of the camera through a woman's eye, into her mind, and finally out of President Bush's eye. This journey echoes the movement of the camera in Bush's “Risk,” which zooms through the eye of a small boy in its attack on “the liberals in Congress” and Kerry's record on defense and intelligence spending. The camera's movement in “Looking” constructs a similar but more complex argument.

The eye plays an important role in the communication process. Looking an individual directly, the eyes uncover their innermost thoughts and feelings; that is, eyes function as “the windows on the soul.” “Looking” takes the viewer through the woman's eye to reveal her inner “thoughts” on and evaluations of the war in Iraq . Her evaluation is not positive; her “thoughts” are focused on images of violence, danger and destruction. Moreover, these “thoughts” come in rapid succession, with jerky camera movements and jarring cuts from image to image. These filmic qualities communicate to the viewer that what is appearing before them is bad; therefore, the women's feelings about Iraq are bad (West 8).

The voice-over accompanying these images, although performed by a third-party female narrator, provides further insight into the woman's thought process by revealing the inner monologue created by these images of war. This narration reveals to the viewer that the woman holds President Bush responsible for “the mess in Iraq .” It also encourages the viewer to make the same determination. The statement, “We see it with our own eyes,” creates the impression that the images going through the woman's mind are the same thoughts that are going through the viewer's mind as well. Thus, if she places the blame with Bush, the viewer should do likewise. This creation of a common ground between the woman's thoughts and the viewers is an example of Kenneth Burke's concept of consubstantiation , where persuasion is achieved through the creation of shared identities (Burke 57).

The camera's journey out of President Bush's eye achieves a similar effect, but with the opposite outcome. By coming out from behind Bush's eye, the viewer is led to understand that Bush is thinking of the same images of Iraq as the woman. However, whereas her face, as she ponders the war, is one of worry and concern, Bush's face is one of disinterest bordering on humor. Although these reaction shots are undoubtedly taken out of context, the camera movement implies that this is how Bush actually reacts to these thoughts. The inappropriateness Bush's “reaction” to the problems in Iraq should shock or offend the viewer and ultimately lead to their disapproval of the President's handing of the war.

The ad's use of an average looking woman, rather than a military expert, campaign spokesperson, or a political operative to make the evaluation of Bush's handling of the Iraq war, creates feelings of identification for the viewer. Because the woman is “just like us,” the viewer is likely to be more favorable to her assessment of the war, and thus more likely to identify her judgments as our own. Moreover, the use of the woman may be an attempt by the Kerry campaign to appeal to the “security mom” voter bloc. Over the past few weeks, Kerry has lost support amongst these female voters: Security Moms have seemingly replaced "Soccer Moms" this year as the key voting group to watch: married mothers who place security at the top of their list of voting priorities, and who pollsters, pundits and media alike have said are responsible for Bush's closing the age-old gender gap in recent weeks. These women are also considered a "swing group" because their votes can be swayed by current events — like the Russian school massacre in early September and the war in Iraq (Vlahos).

“Safer at Home, Respected in the World”: The Comparison

The shift from the first part of the ad, which issues the attack on Bush, and the second part of the ad where Kerry's record is explained, is dramatic. This shift is punctuated by a white flash of light. This flash of light helps to make the distinction between the “darkness” of the “mess in Iraq ” and the “new day” that Kerry will bring to America . Whereas the first part of the ad is dark and negative, the second part of the ad shifts to display of light and hope. In addition to the highly noticeable shift in the music and the timbre of the narrator's voice, less noticeable differences include: A change in font color from red and fiery (negative) to yellow lettering surrounded by a blue glow; A shift in the way the text appears on the screen, moving from sudden bursts of large lettering, which connotes a more confrontational style, to a letter-by-letter typing, which “places” rather than “thrusts” the text before the viewer; A shift in editing techniques from fast, jerky cuts between highly disparate (both in terms of subject and camera distance) images of the war in Iraq to a series of smooth cuts between consistent images (in terms of camera distance and Kerry's appearance) of Kerry addressing various audiences.

“Looking” uses this comparison section to directly refute the charges made against Kerry in the Bush-Cheney ad, “Risk.” The narration of the Bush ad asserts that Kerry and his “liberal” friends in Congress: opposed Reagan as he won the Cold War. Voted against the first Gulf War. Voted to slash intelligence after the first Trade Center attack. Repeatedly opposed weapons vital to winning the War on Terror. John Kerry and his liberal allies... Are they a risk we can afford to take today? (“Bush-Cheney '04”).

The narration in “Looking” gives a point-by-point response to these charges: John Kerry has voted for the largest military and intelligence budget increases in our nation's history. Endorsed by chairmen of the joint chiefs under Presidents Reagan and Clinton. [Kerry]: ‘As president, I'll stop at nothing to get the terrorists before they get us.' (“New Response Ad…”)

Kerry's claim that he is strong on defense, and was strong on defense even during the Reagan and Clinton administrations is further reinforced by the images of Former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs Adm. William Crowe (ret.) and Gen. John Shalikashvili (ret.). These two military officials, who served under Reagan and Clinton, respectively, have both endorsed the Kerry-Edwards ticket (“148 Military Brass…”)

Responding to the latest misleading Bush-Cheney ad, the Kerry-Edwards campaign Tuesday took to the airwaves with the new ad “Looking.” The ad recounts the mess in Iraq Americans are seeing every day and notes Kerry's strong record on and commitment to keeping our country safe.

“ The next commander in chief must lead us to victory in this war and you cannot win a war when you don't believe you're fighting one," Bush said in Mason City , a northern Iowa farming community. "My opponent also misunderstands our battle against insurgents and terrorists in Iraq , calling Iraq `a diversion from the war on terrorism.'"

Kerry campaigning in Waterloo , said Bush failed to grasp what the United States faces in Iraq , where more than 1,100 U.S. soldiers have been killed. "If President Bush cannot recognize the problems in Iraq , he will not fix them. I do recognize them and I will fix them."

Ad Analysis

Ad Context

Windows to the Soul: the Attack

“Safer at Home, Respected in the World”: The Comparison