PARC Analysis "Obligation"

The Kerry campaign released this ad the day after America 's press caught wind that 380 tons of American military explosives were missing from a storage facility in Iraq . The explosives were stolen from a site U.S. forces never secured after the invasion of Iraq in March, 2003. The explosives stolen were some of the most powerful available to the world's militaries.

In national polls, Bush has consistently captured the majority of the public's approval on the topic of terrorism, continually showing higher approval ratings than John Kerry. In this ad, the president's gaffe emphasizes his fallibility on a major source of his strength for him throughout the campaign: terrorism. The commercial insinuates that Bush's mistake not only compromises America 's safety, but also accommodates and perpetuates terrorism.

Ad Assumptions

This ad attempts to portray Bush as a president embodying failure and carelessness, a leader of poor judgment. Kerry derides Bush's exemplar of commander-in-chief by highlighting the president's choice to “overextend” American troops, calling them back to service after they have served. Kerry also uses the missing explosives against the president, emphasizing their deadly potential and likelihood of being used against America in terrorist attacks. Overall, Kerry agues the president has put our soldiers at risk and has made America less secure.

This ad projects a concise message with few and simple visual effects. The commercial begins with John Kerry speaking, his upper body and head in the frame, which is imagery similar to a “talking head” ad. West (2001) defines talking head ads as those where the subject looks directly into the camera and speaks from thirty to ninety seconds without the help of film-editing. To a certain extent, Kerry's ad follows West's definition, though John Kerry's image is interrupted by the image of a newspaper headline and quotation. The background behind Kerry is an office, full of books in shelves, pictures on the walls, and the American flag. The books are significant for their symbolism of scholarship and knowledge, and the flag is symbolic in its evocation of patriotism and pride.

The ad opens with a hopeful symphonic melody in a major key. As the ad progresses, more instruments are added to the melody. A snare drum picks up, insinuating the symbolism of soldier-hood and a new low-key melody replaces the initial high-key melody that then turns into a harmony. This same song has been used in many of Kerry's recent ads, encouraging audience members to associate the music with Kerry and recognize his recurring messages of pride, honor, and hope, conveyed musically.

The first words Kerry utters, “The obligation of a commander-in-chief is to keep our country safe,” are said in a matter-of-fact tone. This sentence packs in the double message of “George Bush, as commander-in-chief, is obligated to keep America safe,” and “John Kerry, as future commander-in-chief, understands his obligation to keep the country safe.”

Kerry pauses slightly, and continues: ”In Iraq , George Bush has overextended our troops and now failed to secure 380 tons of deadly explosives, the kind used for attacks in Iraq and for terrorist bombings.” He places pauses after the phrases, “In Iraq” and “George Bush.” The pauses help viewers comprehend his message. Kerry emphasizes the words “overextended,” drawing attention to Bush's action of wrongfully overextending American troops by instituting a backdoor draft where soldiers, upon returning from war, are called back to duty. Kerry also stresses the word “now,” highlighting the recurrence and recency of another presidential mistake.

Kerry pauses between the words “secure” and “380.” Whether this is done strategically or not in unknown, but the separation between the verb “secure” and adjective-packed noun, “380 tons of deadly explosives,” draw viewers' focus to the “deadly explosives.” With these words appears the image of a newspaper clipping from the New York Times , stating “Huge Cache of Explosives Vanished from Site in Iraq : U.S. Admits the Loss of Material It was Urged to Safeguard—Inquiry Is Set.” The image of the newspaper is accompanied by the text, ”Source: New York Times” and date, “ October 25, 2004 .” This imagery serves as palpable proof for Kerry's claim. These images and words of explosives lead to the verbal clincher, “the kind used for attacks in Iraq and for terrorist bombings.” This statement is used to indicate the gravity and magnitude of Bush's blunder. Kerry's words are complemented by text stating “insurgents in Iraq may have missing cache of explosives,” also cited and dated “Source: Associated Press, October 25,2004 .” It can be argued that this fragment is inserted to dismantle Bush's strong approval ratings on terrorism.

After this quote, Kerry summarizes the warrant underlying his claims against Bush. “His Iraq misjudgments put our soldiers at risk and make our country less secure.” This message is implicit within Kerry's accusations against Bush; still he states it explicitly to drive home the effects of Bush's mistakes.

Kerry follows this statement by slightly shaking his head, and saying of Bush, “ And all he offers is more of the same. ” Kerry's voice softens, indicating a quiet indignation and inciting the viewers' incredulity toward this proposition. He pauses between the verb “offers” and the subject “more of the same,” echoing a sentence used frequently on his campaign trail. “More of the same” conveys distaste for Bush's reluctance to change.

This commercial ends with Kerry's solution: “As president, I will bring a fresh start to protect our troops and our nation.” Here, he resolves problems cited in this commercial, while strategically placing himself in the presidency. The two words “As president” indicate Kerry's preparation for the presidency. Jamieson and Waldman (2003) speculate that appearing presidential may have helped secure the spot for George Bush in 2000. While appearing prepared, Kerry rebukes the possibility of “more of the same” by saying “I will bring a fresh start. ” He also addresses how he would differ from the president, by protecting “our troops and nation” in contrast to overextending the troops and losing the explosives, putting America and Americans at risk.

Who is Talking About the Ad and the Issue

Bouckaert said displaced people with whom he was working in the Baqubah area had taken him to the warheads. "They said, 'There's stocks of weapons here and we're very concerned -- can you please inform the coalition?' " he said in a telephone interview from South Africa.

The Pentagon reported yesterday that U.S. Army soldiers removed about 250 tons of material from the Qaqaa munitions complex in April 2003, the first time defense officials have credited U.S. forces with carting away a large amount of explosives from the Iraqi site for destruction…the Army major who commanded the operation told reporters he could not say whether any of the munitions were part of the 377 tons at the center of a political firestorm this week between the campaigns of President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry.

“We've learned since the initial reports that there was some apparent movement of heavy equipment in this facility at a time when only Saddam Hussein was in control of that facility; meaning after inspectors left the country and before U.S. forces arrived to begin the liberation of the country.”

In Toledo , Ohio , Mr. Kerry hammered away for the fourth day on the Bush administration's inability to account for 380 tons of explosives in Iraq , saying the president had too many "excuses."

"The president's shifting explanations and excuses and attacks on me demonstrate once again that this president believes the buck stops everywhere but with the president of the United States."

Former West Point Professor, Bronze Star recipient and Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran Patrick Murphy: “This is another example of the Bush administration being derelict in their duties to lead and to take responsibility. As a soldier who served proudly in Iraq , I am disheartened by the former Mayor's comments…This country needs leadership not excuses. Bush tried to win the war on the cheap, he didn't give us the troops the generals asked for, the troops that were needed to secure Iraq , now his surrogates are blaming the troops for his mistakes.”

“This week's revelations about the missing explosives speaks to the president's continuing misjudgments in Iraq . According to the commanders on the ground, our forces were not ordered to secure a weapons dump in Iraq where 380 tons of explosives were stored. Now, the president's former chief weapons inspector says it's likely that these explosives are being used against our own troops. The president's shifting explanations and excuses demonstrate, once again, that this president believes the buck stops anywhere but his desk.”

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_1028c.html

Works Cited

Jamieson, Kathleen Hall and Paul Waldman. The Press Effect. New York : Oxford UP, 2003.
West, Darrell M. Air Wars: Television Advertising in Election Campaigns, 1952-2000. 3rd ed. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 2001.

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